Nate Tice covers the latest coaching news with Andrew Siciliano before diving in to his latest 2026 NFL mock draft. Andrew Siciliano kicks off the show with Nate to give his thoughts on the Cleveland Browns hiring HC Todd Monken, the Los Angeles Chargers hiring OC Mike McDaniel and a slew of other NFL coaching cycle news (plus a quick Winter Olympics preview).
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Next, Nate reveals his latest first-round mock draft and dives deep into his favorite player-team fits, prospects to watch and more. Nate breaks down why he mocked Fernando Mendoza to the Las Vegas Raiders, RB Jeremiyah Love to the Kansas City Chiefs, Denzel Boston to the Los Angeles Rams and more.
(3:00) – Browns hire HC Todd Monken
(18:30) – Chargers hire OC Mike McDaniel
(31:20) – Other coaching cycle news
(47:50) – 2026 NFL Mock Draft picks 1-10
(56:50) – 2026 NFL Mock Draft picks 11-20
(1:05:30) – 2026 NFL Mock Draft picks 21-32
MIAMI GARDENS, FLORIDA – JANUARY 19: Fernando Mendoza #15 of the Indiana Hoosiers celebrates after the College Football Playoff National Championship between the Indiana Hoosiers and the Miami Hurricanes at Hard Rock Stadium on January 19, 2026 in Miami Gardens, Florida. The Indiana Hoosiers defeated the Miami Hurricanes 27-21. (Photo by CFP/Getty Images)
SAN DIEGO â Brooks Koepkaâs first round back on the PGA Tour felt rather ordinary on Thursday afternoon.
He didnât play exceptionally well or hit any true highlights on the South Course at Torrey Pines, and there werenât any real issues, either, on the course or off.
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But once Koepkaâs final putt dropped and he got his scorecard for the first round of the Farmers Insurance Open signed and turned in, there appeared to be a sense of relief. His return to the PGA Tour, something he has been thinking about in some fashion for months now, was officially behind him.
âIt was good to get that out of the way, I think,â Koepka said.
Koepka posted a 1-over 73 on Thursday to kick off his first non-major Tour event in nearly four years. He made 15 pars on the day, with only two bogeys and a lone birdie at the 18th green. Koepka is the first person to leave LIV Golf under the new âReturning Memberâs Program,â something that was created earlier this month and comes with significant penalties, both financial and otherwise. He has repeatedly said he’s willing to do just about whatever the Tour wants in order to make his return happen. Leaving LIV Golf, he explained earlier in the week, was a family decision after a rough few months away from the game.
But Koepka has had to picture his return to the Tour â where he won nine times, including at five major championships before the rupture in the golf world â for months now, even before he knew the specifics of what it would take to get back. So naturally, there were a lot of nerves when he stepped up to the first tee Thursday. Thatâs something that, at least from the outside looking in, is a bit unusual.
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â[I was nervous] just because I care,â he explained. âI think I’ve fallen back in love with the game. And honestly, watching my son play a little bit and wanting ⌠him to watch me play well and realize how much this gameâs given me, how fun it is and how cool it is to just be out here.â
Any fear of heckling or a poor reception from fans was completely unfounded,. The contingent following Koepka around grew throughout the morning and was certainly the largest on the course at times. As Koepka walked from one green to the next tee or down through the fairway after a shot, the fans following him seemed thrilled that he was back. Koepka was constantly getting some variation of âWelcome back, Brooks!â from the first hole to the last. He stopped to sign autographs and take photos with nearly everyone who asked him outside the clubhouse, too.
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The âuneasyâ feeling he might’ve had about how he would be received quickly dissipated.
âIt was pretty much every hole, which is great,â he said of the fan support. âI loved to hear it, and I’m excited for the next few days.â
It was that perception of him that Koepka seemed to care about the most.
âI care what everybodyâs thinking out here, what everybodyâs doing, and [Iâm] just trying to be as good of a person and good of a player as I can be,â he said. âI just wanted a warm reception. Just like everybody else, you walk into a room, nobody wants to feel exiled. They just want to be loved. I mean, thatâs human nature, I think.â
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While the round is now behind him, Koepka has a long way to go to get into contention in what is the third Tour stop of the season. He was tied for 96th on the leaderboard when he entered the clubhouse, 11 shots back from the leader. That deficit only grew as the rest of the field finished. Koepka will play the North Course at Torrey Pines on Friday in his second round, and he’ll try to make the cut on the side that seemed to score much better than the South Course on Thursday.
Whether he makes the cut or not doesnât really matter. Koepka can finally start to move forward.
âIâm the only one in the entire world thatâs going through this situation, so itâs very difficult to explain,â he said. âBut Iâm enjoying it, I really am.â
The Philadelphia Eagles are hiring Green Bay Packers quarterbacks coach Sean Mannion as their offensive coordinator, the team announced Thursday.
Mannion, 33, will replace Kevin Patullo, whom the Eagles fired after their wild-card loss to the San Francisco 49ers.
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Philadelphia’s search targeted bigger names as well. Two of their top choices reportedly were former head coaches Mike McDaniel and Brian Daboll, who took OC jobs with the Los Angeles Chargers and Tennessee Titans, respectively.
Mannion is just two seasons removed from his career as an NFL quarterback. The Rams selected him out of Oregon State in the third round of the 2015 draft, and he spent nine years in the league. He appeared in 14 games, making three starts â one for the Rams and two for the Minnesota Vikings, with whom he played in 2019-20 and part of the 2021 season. He finished his playing career with the Seattle Seahawks in 2023. Coincidentally, his lone career touchdown pass came against Green Bay.
Packers head coach Matt LaFleur hired Mannion as an offensive assistant ahead of the 2024 season. Mannion then earned the promotion to quarterbacks coach.
“I’m thrilled to have Sean Mannion on board as the new offensive coordinator of the Philadelphia Eagles,” head coach Nick Sirianni said in a statement Thursday.
“My goal throughout this process was to operate with an open mind regarding the future of our offense to find the best fit for the Eagles. Over the last few weeks, I had an opportunity to meet with a number of talented candidates and great offensive minds. I am appreciative of the time I was able to spend with each of them. Some came with years of experience running an offense and calling plays. Others were young, sharp and dynamic coaches on the rise. I felt it was important to be patient and thorough to allow the right fit to reveal himself to us. Sean did just that.”
The Eagles’ offense regressed in 2025. The unit ranked 19th in points per game (22.3), 24th in total yards per game (311.2) and 24th in third-down conversion rate (37.1%). For reference, during their Super Bowl season in 2024, the Eagles were seventh in points per game (27.2), eighth in total yards per game (367.2) and 10th in third-down conversion rate (41.7%).
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With practically the same offensive personnel this time around, Philadelphia struggled to rediscover its offensive consistency. It was the story of the Eagles’ season, and it’s why Patullo â a first-time play-caller whom Sirianni promoted after Kellen Moore took over as the New Orleans Saints’ head coach â was under so much fire.
After moving on from Patullo, Sirianni explained that he wants his offense to “continue to evolve.” Patullo was widely criticized for his predictability as a play-caller. The Eagles used quarterback Jalen Hurts less in the run game, and wide receiver A.J. Brown’s involvement, or lack thereof, was constantly discussed.
Mannion will now be tasked with maximizing the talents of a star-studded offense. He’s considered a rising star in NFL circles, according to ESPN. Mannion played a part in the latest chapter of development for Packers quarterback Jordan Love, who completed 66.3% of his passes and tossed 23 touchdowns against six picks this season. Plus, Mannion worked with Malik Willis, who impressed in his two extended appearances and could start elsewhere next season.
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In Sirianni’s statement Thursday, he mentioned that Mannion has accrued “a wealth of knowledge” while working with some of the best coaches in the NFL.
During Mannion’s 11 years in the league, including his playing days, he has crossed paths with Sean McVay, Zac Taylor, Jedd Fisch, Klint Kubiak, Kevin O’Connell, Dave Canales, Kevin Stefanski and LaFleur, among others, as reported by The Athletic. But Mannion lacks play-calling experience. The same was true of Patullo when he took over the offense.
The pressure will be on Mannion to deliver better results.
Will the Bills actually be able to make a Super Bowl after promoting Joe Brady from offensive coordinator to head coach? Yahoo Sports’ Andrew Siciliano, Charles Robinson and Ben Fawkes talk about Buffaloâs next chapter before diving into Robert Saleh and Jesse Minterâs introductory press conferences. They also break down the Philadelphia Eaglesâ hiring Sean Mannion for their OC job and Bill Polianâs defense of his Hall of Fame vote. Plus, Jori Epstein joins Andrew from the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Alabama!
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(3:38) – Joe Brady introduced as Billsâ head coach
(15:18) – Ravens introduce Jesse Minter as head coach
(20:28) – Robert Saleh welcomed as Titansâ next head coach
The Atlanta Falcons added to their revamped front office Thursday, hiring Chicago Bears assistant general manager Ian Cunningham as their new GM. The team officially announced Cunningham’s addition Thursday evening.
Cunningham, 40, previously interviewed for the Falcons’ president of football position, then interviewed twice for the GM opening after Matt Ryan was hired. Given his experience in college scouting and player personnel, his responsibilities alongside Ryan and new head coach Kevin Stefanski seem apparent.
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Ryan will reportedly have authority over decisions in Atlanta’s front office, which means the Bears will not receive two compensatory third-round draft picks for losing Cunningham. That was a condition of the “Rooney Rule,” intended to encourage promoting minority candidates.
However, the NFL considers Ryan the primary football executive with the Falcons, according to reports. Thus, Cunningham is essentially making a lateral move, even if he has the general manager title. (Because of that, the Bears could have blocked Cunningham from going to the Falcons, according to Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio.)
Cunningham’s background in player personnel likely gave him the edge over Houston Texans assistant GM James Liipfert, with whom the Falcons also conducted a second interview.
For the past three years, Cunningham has been the Bears’ assistant GM under Ryan Poles. His NFL front-office career began in 2008 with the Baltimore Ravens, where he worked as a personnel assistant before advancing to area scout during his eight years.
Cunningham moved to the Philadelphia Eagles in 2017, spending two years as director of college scouting before becoming assistant director of player personnel. Cunningham was eventually promoted to director of player personnel, a role he held for a year before leaving for Chicago.
Prior to his front-office work, Cunningham spent one season with the Kansas City Chiefs as a practice squad player. An offensive lineman, he played college football at Virginia, making 31 career starts for the Cavaliers.
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Over the past two years, Cunningham interviewed for GM openings with the Washington Commanders and Jacksonville Jaguars. He now replaces Terry Fontenot, who was fired along with head coach Raheem Morris after Atlanta’s Week 18 regular-season finale.
Milton Williams has a different view of the New England Patriots now that he plays for the team and is about to play in Super Bowl LX.
Speaking to reporters Thursday, Williams admitted that he was not a Patriots fan as a young football watcher.
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“I always tell people, and y’all gonna kill me when I say this, but I did not like the Patriots,” Williams said in front of his locker, via NBC10’s Nicole Menner.
Williams was like so many NFL fans, tired of seeing the Patriots win the Super Bowl during the Bill Belichick-Tom Brady era. He wanted to see somebody different hold up the Lombardi Trophy at the end of the season.
Asked if that opinion has changed, considering which team he now plays for, Williams said, “Oh, for sure.”
“I mean, I’m here now so I love the Patriots,” he added with a smile.
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Local reporters pushed a bit more, inquiring as to what motivated Williams’ past dislike of the Patriots. Did he hate Brady?
“I wasn’t a Tom Brady hater,” Williams said. “You know when somebody always wins? It’s like, let somebody else win. But when you really get in it, and you really understand what comes with it and the work you gotta put into it, to consistently be doing that over and over again, you really can’t say nothing.”
Growing up in Crowley, Texas, and playing college football at Louisiana Tech, Williams had no local reason to root for or admire the Patriots. (Though local ties don’t always affect someone’s rooting interests.)
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Drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles in 2021, he also didn’t have to contend with New England being a playoff contender or potential Super Bowl opponent as his first four NFL seasons coincided with the Patriots’ decline after Brady left for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Facing a Washington Wizards team that previously had the fewest wins in the NBA with 11, the Bucks lost 109-99 and fell to 18-28. They still sit in 12th place in the Eastern Conference, 4.5 games out of a playoff spot.
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Antetokounmpo hasn’t played since last Friday due to a calf strain and is expected to miss 4-to-6 weeks. In his absence, Myles Turner led the Bucks in scoring with 21 points plus a team-high 14 rebounds and 6 blocks. As a team, Milwaukee shot 41 of 98 (41.8%) from the field and 10 of 38 (26.3) from 3-point range, while getting outrebounded 61-43.
The win actually moves the Wizards from the worst record in basketball to only fourth-worst at 12-34, as the 12-36 Indiana Pacers, 12-37 Sacramento Kings and 12-37 New Orleans Pelicans all have worse win percentages right now. Given the stakes of the 2026 NBA Draft, that’s not necessarily a triumph.
The Bucks are not in a good place right now. (Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images)
(Scott Taetsch via Getty Images)
In an ESPN article published Tuesday, the Bucks were reportedly described by potential trade partners to be “more open than ever” to moving on from Antetokounmpo. Milwaukee has been consistently hesitant about such a move, but the franchise’s recent struggles and Antetkounmpo’s potential decline at 31 years old have made the idea more feasible than ever.
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The Bucks don’t need to move the 10-time All-Star at next month’s NBA trade deadline, especially if they believe they can get more for him during the summer. If the gates are indeed open, there is no shortage of contenders who will be interested.
Olympic gold medal sprinter Sha’Carri Richardson was arrested and charged with speeding in Florida on Thursday, according to the Orange County, Florida sheriff’s office.
Richardson, 25, was arrested for allegedly driving 104 mph on a highway in the Orlando area. She was “dangerously tailgating and traveling across lanes of travel to pass other motorists,” said a sheriff’s department spokesperson (via The Associated Press).
Under Florida’s new “super speeder” law, it is illegal to drive 50 mph over the speed limit or over 100 mph, according to NBC News. A first conviction results in a prison term of up to 30 days or a $500 fine. A second or subsequent conviction is punishable by a 90-day prison term or $1,000 fine. If that second conviction comes within five years, driving privileges are revoked for at least 180 days.
In July, Richardson was arrested for domestic violence after shoving her boyfriend at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. The arrest was made based on security camera footage. Her companion, fellow U.S. sprinter Christian Coleman, declined to press charges. As a result, the case was cleared.
No NBA player younger than Cooper Flagg has scored more points than Flagg did on Thursday.
Facing the Charlotte Hornets and his former Duke roommate, Kon Knueppel, Flagg posted a career-high 49 points in a 123-121 loss for the Dallas Mavericks. No teenager has ever scored that many points in NBA history, and it’s also a Mavericks rookie record.
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The latter record was previously co-owned by Flagg and Mark Aguirre. In a fun twist of fate, the Mavericks were retiring Aguirre’s No. 24 on Thursday night.
Knueppel also posted a career high with 34 points on 10-of-16 shooting, including a franchise-record eight made 3-pointers, plus 4 rebounds and 3 assists. In addition to finishing one point shy of 50, Flagg had 10 rebounds and 3 assists while shooting 20-of-29.
The game came down to both players. Flagg tied the game at 121 with a 3-pointer with 34 seconds left, but Knueppel got a steal at his expense on the next Dallas possession and ended up shooting a pair of free throws to take the lead.
Flagg had a chance to tie the game and hit the half-century mark, but his buzzer-beater missed long after shooting through a double team.
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Regardless of the result, Flagg continued to enter rare company at only 19 years old. In addition to having the most points by a teenager, he is now one of three players to post multiple 40-point games at 19 or younger, joining LeBron James and Anthony Edwards.
The win is a welcome one for the 21-28 Hornets, who are now 2.5 games back from the Chicago Bulls for the final play-in spot in the Eastern Conference. Knueppel’s star performance continued a strong rookie year for the No. 4 pick pick, who ranks second among NBA rookies in points per game with 18.9, behind only Flagg.
MOBILE, Ala. â As the Dallas Cowboys scoured defensive coaches to replace coordinator Matt Eberflus, they expected to glean a plan for defensive improvement from candidates.
The Cowboys knew they wanted to employ more five-man fronts next season to capitalize on their trio of talented defensive tackles.
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They knew they wanted to shore up their coverage in the secondary, tamping down on the explosive plays they allowed in 2025.
What the Cowboys anticipated less, but nonetheless learned more about while interviewing defensive coordinators: the value of receiver George Pickens.
âTalking to these defensive guys we brought in, we were a pain for them,â Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones told Yahoo Sports from Senior Bowl practices. âThey start talking about, âOh my gosh, when we had to play you guys, that was a problem.â They have to decide, âHey, put your best cornerback on one and double the other,â or do a lot of moving parts how they did it âŚ
â[Candidates] said: âYour offense caused a lot of problems.ââ
The Cowboys dealt the Pittsburgh Steelers a 2026 third-round draft pick (and swapped a 2027 fifth for sixth) to acquire Pickens in May despite already having a No. 1 receiver in four-time Pro Bowler CeeDee Lamb. In the season that followed, Lamb still had 1,077 receiving yards and three touchdowns in 14 games. But Pickens posted a career-best 1,429 receiving yards and nine touchdowns in 17 contests.
With that duo, quarterback Dak Prescott led the league with 404 pass completions, ranking second with 600 attempts and third with 4,552 passing yards. The Cowboys ranked second in overall offensive production and seventh in scoring.
The Cowboys knew when they traded for Pickens that just one year remained on the contract of the talented but mercurial player. A trial season, to determine whether Pickens thrived in head coach Brian Schottenheimerâs offense and to determine whether he would stay out of trouble, ensued. Pickens was benched to start the Las Vegas Raiders game after he missed curfew on the road trip following a series of late arrivals to meetings.
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He returned to play 45 of 67 offensive snaps and caught nine of 11 targets for 144 yards and a touchdown.
The Cowboys must decide now how much they value Pickens and how to act on that value. If Dallas wants to retain Pickens in 2026 but doesnât yet feel confident enough to offer a long-term deal, the club could place the franchise tag on him. A franchise tag could also buy time from March to July to negotiate a multiyear deal.
Executives and talent evaluators from several teams at Senior Bowl practices this week told Yahoo Sports they would keep Pickens if they were the Cowboys, though they disagreed on how they would approach that continued union. Some preferred a multiyear deal over a franchise tag projected to cost $28 million, per Over The Cap, all of which would hit the cap in 2026. Others preferred to see Pickensâ off-field behavior another season before a long-term commitment, one NFC executive saying the âcost of certaintyâ on the difference in average annual value would be worth it. Another NFC executive wondered if Pickensâ cost would make Lamb a trade candidate in 2026 or 2027, the executive projecting Pickens to command a price range similar to Lambâs $34 million per year average annual value.
Jones wasnât looking to negotiate publicly, but he did voice confidence they would keep Pickens past the looming expiration of his current contract.
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âThat’s just something we’ll have to work through,â Jones told Yahoo Sports from Senior Bowl practice. âObviously, we think George is going to be back and we can effectuate that. But at the same time, we want to be open-minded to anything.â
George Pickens is looking at a hefty raise after one season with the Cowboys. (Photo by Cooper Neill/Getty Images)
(Cooper Neill via Getty Images)
Why Cowboys believe Christian Parker can save their defense
In 13 seasons coaching, including seven in the NFL, Parker has learned defense from some of the leagueâs best coordinators in Vic Fangio and Vance Joseph. Parker communicated in interviews a philosophy reflecting each of their influences but also some of his own twists, Jones said. The Cowboys valued Parkerâs vision for individual players like linebacker DeMarvion Overshown, cornerback Shavon Revel Jr. and cornerback DaRon Bland as well as his plans to employ five-man fronts.
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âThe bigger thing, which is we started to do some but we didnât get to do it much in camp so it was kind of on the fly, but a lot of five-man fronts,â Jones said. âWhen we ran those five-man fronts, [it] creates a lot of one-on-ones for our better players going the three big guys plus [Donovan] Ezeiruaku and whether itâs a [Jadeveon Clowney] or someone like that.
âThe things you can do with the exotic pressures ⌠we obviously have a lot of interest in. We felt like we could have done a better job last year of getting more pressure and then obviously we need to cover better.â
Trading three-time All-Pro edge rusher Micah Parsons to the Green Bay Packers one week before kickoff challenged the Cowboysâ defense this season. A slow acclimation to Eberflusâ principles, including his zone coverage assignments, further left Dallas defenders often misaligned. Some improvement followed the trade-deadline acquisition of defensive tackle Quinnen Williams, bolstering an interior defensive front that already featured Osa Odighizuwa and Kenny Clark. But the growth wasnât linear.
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The Cowboys own two first-round picks, 12th and 20th overall, in April. Edge rusher and cornerback are their top needs and targets, though they donât believe in passing up a far more talented player for a position of need as they showed when selecting Lamb in 2020.
With Parker in house, the Cowboys are optimistic about their ability to develop players. The Philadelphia Eagles selected cornerbacks Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean in 2024, needing quick acclimation from each after salary-cap resources tilted heavily toward offense.
Parker didnât just help the young defensive backs improve their technique in areas theyâd already worked in college, former colleagues say. He helped DeJean master the spatial awareness and route feel to become a first-team All-Pro slot cornerback in his second year despite playing outside cornerback in college. And Parker helped Mitchell pick up the nuances of press coverage, improving his footwork, transition skills and physicality at the point of attack.
Colleagues from past stops rave about Parkerâs schematic and emotional intelligence.
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âHeâs a genius,â one former colleague told Yahoo Sports. âTalking about somebody who has a true understanding of the game, big picture conceptually, he understands the whys behind things and he is able to teach them. It’s extremely relatable. And he’s able to teach those whys.
âHe has principles that he stands on, but he’s also reasonable. So let’s say they get a veteran player who’s used to being taught one thing one way. He’s not so stubborn that he’s going to be like, âNo, you have to do it.â
âIf it’s reasonable to him, he’ll be amicable.â
