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Washington Redskins promote Matt Cavanaugh, Greg Manusky to coordinator positions

By The Sports Xchange
Former Indianapolis Colts defensive coordinator Greg Manusky stands on the sidelines in the first quarter against the New York Giants in an NFL preseason game at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey on August 18, 2013. UPI /John Angelillo
Former Indianapolis Colts defensive coordinator Greg Manusky stands on the sidelines in the first quarter against the New York Giants in an NFL preseason game at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey on August 18, 2013. UPI /John Angelillo | License Photo

The Washington Redskins officially promoted Matt Cavanaugh to offensive coordinator and Greg Manusky to defensive coordinator on Monday.

In addition, the Redskins hired Jim Tomsula, who spent one season as the head coach of the San Francisco 49ers, to be in charge of the defensive line on head coach Jay Gruden's staff

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Cavanaugh, 60, brings 33 years of NFL experience as a coach and player to the role, including 14 as a quarterback with the New England Patriots, San Francisco 49ers, Philadelphia Eagles and New York Giants from 1978-91. His resume also includes 12 seasons as an offensive coordinator at the collegiate and professional levels.

Cavanaugh served as the Redskins' quarterbacks coach from 2015-16, presiding over the most prolific two-year passing attack in team history. Washington's 8,853 passing yards across those two seasons marked the team's most in a two-year stretch.

Under Cavanaugh's guidance, quarterback Kirk Cousins finished 2016 with single-season team records in attempts (606), completions (406) and passing yards (4,917) and matched his team record for 300-yard passing games (seven). Cousins' also posted the third-highest completion percentage (67.0) and tied for the sixth-most passing touchdowns in a season in team history (25). He became the first quarterback in team history to average 300 passing yards per game in a season (307.3), surpassing the previous franchise mark of 269.1, set by Mark Rypien in 1989.

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Manusky, 50, brings 28 combined seasons of NFL experience to the role, including 16 as a coach and 12 as a player. Prior to returning to the Redskins as the team's outside linebackers coach in 2016, Manusky spent nine seasons as a defensive coordinator with the Indianapolis Colts (2012-15), San Diego Chargers (2011) and 49ers (2007-10).

Last season, Manusky helped guide linebacker Ryan Kerrigan to his second career Pro Bowl selection. Kerrigan posted 11 sacks, becoming only the fifth player in team history to record multiple 10-sack seasons.

Under Manusky, linebacker Trent Murphy had a breakout campaign in 2016, a year in which the third-year pro recorded 9.0 sacks after totaling 6.0 across his first two NFL seasons in 2014-15.

Tomsula, 48, joins the Redskins with more than three decades of coaching experience, including nine seasons at the NFL level. Prior to spending one season as head coach in San Francisco in 2015, Tomsula served as the 49ers' defensive line coach for eight seasons from 2007-14.

The Redskins also hired Kevin O'Connell as quarterbacks coach, promoted Chad Englehart to head strength and conditioning coach, and hired Kavan Latham as assistant strength and conditioning coach.

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O'Connell, 31, joins the Redskins after spending the 2016 season overseeing special projects for the 49ers. In 2015, he served as quarterbacks coach for the Cleveland Browns.

O'Connell began his NFL career with the Patriots backing up Tom Brady. He spent five seasons in the NFL (2008-12).

The Redskins also announced the re-signing of long snapper Nick Sundberg to a four-year deal. He has been with the team since 2010.

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