Green Bay - John Bonamego and Mark Duffner, two members of Mike Sherman's coaching staff with the Green Bay Packers, have landed coaching positions with other National Football League teams and it appears just a matter of time before Larry Beightol does as well.
On Friday, the New Orleans Saints announced the hiring of Bonamego as special teams coach. NFL sources said Duffner had agreed to coach linebackers for the Jacksonville Jaguars.
A source with the Detroit Lions said Beightol was "99.9%" assured of becoming offensive line coach under new coach Ron Marinelli. Beightol had interviewed for the same job with the St. Louis Rams and had conversations with the Houston Texans.
Meanwhile, a source said Sherman was en route to Houston today for an interview with new Texans coach Gary Kubiak. Sherman was offensive line coach at Texas A&M in 1992-'93 when Kubiak was beginning his coaching career as the Aggies' running backs coach.
Sherman, 51, is being considered for the job of offensive line coach and assistant head coach under Kubiak, who is 44. The Texans gave up a league-leading 68 sacks in 2005, 14 more than the runner-up team.
"Do I think he'd take it?" a source with knowledge of Sherman's situation said. "Oh, yeah. Why not? Why would you go down?"
Sherman had interviews for the head-coaching positions with the Saints and Buffalo Bills. He finished second in Buffalo to Dick Jauron and lost out in New Orleans to Sean Payton.
A source close to Sherman said his chances in New Orleans became diminished over his concerns about where his family would live in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. The three youngest of his five children are ages 6, 12 and 17.
Sherman reportedly turned down chances to interview for offensive coordinator jobs with the New York Jets and the Bills.
If Sherman takes another job, the Packers would save money. As it stands now, they owe him $3.2 million in 2006 and '07. If, for example, he accepts a job that pays $600,000 in '06, the Packers still would be responsible for the remaining $2.6 million.
Earlier in the week, former defensive coordinator Jim Bates turned down an offer from the Rams worth about $1.2 million to be their defensive coordinator. Bates apparently preferred to join Kubiak's staff in Houston, but when Kubiak decided to look elsewhere Bates had to change gears.