Jim

O'Neil

It was part of an announcement of eight names that the Jets had preliminary interviews with, those other names are: Browns safeties coach Ephraim Banda, Packers defensive run game coordinator DeMarcus Covington, Vikings defensive passing game coordinator and cornerbacks coach Daronte Jones, Broncos assistant head coach and defensive passing game coordinator Jim Leonhard, internal Jets DB coach and defensive pass game coordinator Chris Harris, and Lions safeties coach Jim O’Neil. (Mathieu Araujo, the Dolphins cornerbacks coach, was also revealed earlier today.) Martindale hasn’t had any outside interest since last offseason, when he interviewed for the Falcons and Colts defensive coordinator roles.

As expected. The Bills granted the Browns permission to speak to O’Neil early Monday, and Cleveland announced the hiring this evening. O’Neil has one year of previous defensive coordinator experience -- 2005 at Towson University. He spent one year with the Bills after being on the Jets staff for four seasons with new Browns coach Mike Pettine. O’Neil actually played for Pettine’s father in high school. Pettine will call defensive plays in 2014, while O’Neil gets a feel for the job. He will likely see an expanded role the following season.

The interview is considered a mere formality now that the Bills haven’t blocked the hire. O’Neil played for Mike Pettine’s father in high school at Central Bucks West outside of Philadelphia and has been working under the younger Pettine since 2009. The duo will make the talented Browns defense a strong candidate to stop underachieving in 2014.

Marrone believes O’Neil is following former Bills DC Mike Pettine to Cleveland to the “best of his knowledge.” The move is just a formality after the Bills granted O’Neil permission to interview with his old boss. It should become official within the next 48 hours.

San Francisco is scraping the bottom of the barrel after striking out on Texans LBs coach Mike Vrabel. Current LBs coach Jason Tarver and Ravens LBs coach Don Martindale are also candidates. O’Neil’s defenses struggled in Cleveland, and coaching opposite Chip Kelly’s fast-paced scheme has proven to be a major challenge. The 49ers defense will likely take a step back next season.

San Francisco has had to go in a different direction since Texans LBs coach Mike Vrabel turned down the team’s defensive coordinator job last week. The Niners are also considering LBs coach Jason Tarver and Ravens LBs coach Don Martindale. O’Neil and ex-Browns head coach Mike Pettine have worked together since 2009 but Pettine said he’s planning to take a year off from coaching. Ray Horton replaced O’Neil as Cleveland’s DC last week.

The team has not made it official, but O’Neil was not on the list of four assistants Cleveland asked to stick around until a new coach is found. O’Neil’s units ranked in the bottom ten of total defense both of his seasons in charge, and he likely would have been let go even if ex-coach Mike Pettine had been retained. O’Neil has worked with Pettine since 2009.

It’s a thoroughly uninspiring hire, but coach Chip Kelly had few to choose from. His fast-paced offense makes glory hard to come by for his defenses, which are forced to stay on the field for long periods of time, often leading to skewed statistics. O’Neil oversaw a decent Browns defense in 2014 before it hollowed out almost completely in 2015. O’Neil’s unit was destroyed by the run and struggled against the pass. San Francisco’s defense figures to be unrecognizable from the Jim Harbaugh/Vic Fangio days next season.