Senior Bowl look-back: John Lilly seeking NFL job, former pro wideout was UGA coaching target
The Senior Bowl isn’t just a time for a selected group of all-star football players to showcase its talents in front of NFL scouts, coaches and general managers.
It’s also a time for coaches and executives at both the college and professional levels to network and meet one another, given the early offseason is one of the few down-time periods when just about everyone is in a good mood.
As it pertains to Georgia – past or present – there were a few nuggets of interest The Telegraph learned after spending four days last week in Mobile, Alabama, for Senior Bowl practices.
LILLY SEEKING NFL JOB
One familiar face present during Senior Bowl week was former tight ends coach John Lilly, who was spotted mingling with quite a few NFL staffers. Lilly, who coached under Mark Richt at Georgia the previous eight years, is looking for a new job and would prefer for it to be in the NFL ranks — which is the main reason why he was in Mobile.
It remains to be seen what role Lilly could have as an NFL assistant. He could coach tight ends, or he could wind up as a special teams coach or as a position coach’s assistant to start his NFL coaching career. His resume does allow for multiple options when it comes to a professional role.
After Georgia’s TaxSlayer Bowl win over Penn State, Lilly got a bit emotional about leaving the Georgia program, given the amount of time he spent coaching and recruiting.
He has put together quite the track record as tight ends Orson Charles and Arthur Lynch came through the Georgia program under his watch. He’s 2-0 as a play-caller, as he was the acting offensive coordinator in Georgia’s previous two bowl games. Lilly would appear to be an ideal candidate to put on an NFL staff, even if it’s in a low-level role to start.
FORMER NFL WIDEOUT WAS POSSIBLE TARGET FOR ASSISTANT JOB
When Kirby Smart was searching for a receivers coach, there weren’t too many names floated out in the public. Ultimately, Smart decided on James Coley, which is great for recruiting given his recruiting ties to south Florida. While Coley hasn’t coached receivers before, his experience as an offensive coordinator should be enough for him to do a fine job.
Doing its due diligence, however, Coley obviously wasn’t the only one Georgia spoke to. In the process, offensive coordinator Jim Chaney spoke to Keenan McCardell, the former NFL wideout who played professionally for 17 years with numerous teams, including the Cleveland Browns, Jacksonville Jaguars and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. McCardell was most recently coaching receivers at Maryland, where he tutored Stefon Diggs, who is now with the Minnesota Vikings.
According to a source, McCardell was quite interested in the opportunity to join Georgia. But as it was expressed to McCardell, Smart would make the final call — which he did by going with Coley. McCardell became available after new Maryland head coach D.J. Durkin cleaned house after taking over for Randy Edsall. McCardell, regarded as a great recruiter, is still available and looking for a job.
BUZZ AROUND MITCHELL’S WEEK LEGIT
Malcolm Mitchell could wind up being one of the fastest-rising players after the NFL Scouting Combine, similar to what former teammate Chris Conley did a year ago. Mitchell has been viewed as a late-round prospect early in the process, but he has a lot of room to potentially make up.
An NFL assistant said Mitchell could work his way up to a day-two pick, which is what Conley did in 2015, thanks to a stellar combine performance. Mitchell obviously looked better on tape before tearing his anterior cruciate ligament in 2013, but he also had Aaron Murray throwing him the football. Post-injury, his two quarterbacks at Georgia were Hutson Mason and Greyson Lambert, and the offenses opted to rely on the ground game first and foremost.
Mitchell elected not to participate in the Senior Bowl game as a precaution to prevent injury, according to a source. He will be good to go for the combine in late February.
The recent tape and the statistics put on paper might not measure what Mitchell can actually do at the next level. It should be noted that while Lambert didn’t throw for 2,000 yards in 2015, Mitchell was still able to post 865 yards and five touchdowns (although 60 yards came from Faton Bauta against Florida and 46 yards came from Brice Ramsey in three games). Mitchell impressed during Senior Bowl practices with both his route-running and catching ability. The combine figures to be a big chance for Mitchell to show he can produce at the next level.
This story was originally published February 1, 2016 at 2:23 PM with the headline "Senior Bowl look-back: John Lilly seeking NFL job, former pro wideout was UGA coaching target."