Jacksonville may have taken 49 days to hire its head coach in Doug Pederson, but Pederson himself put together a staff much more expeditiously. That group is now complete, and the Jaguars announced the full lineup on Thursday.
This group features a good mix of experienced guys and younger, up-and-comers. On the offensive side of the ball, the highlights include offensive coordinator Press Taylor, the brother of Bengals coach Zac Taylor who was previously an offensive assistant with Indianapolis.
He’s joined by passing game coordinator Jim Bob Cooter and quarterbacks coach Mike McCoy, who will both work closely with quarterback Trevor Lawrence.
The pair has worked with Peyton Manning in the past, and both are experienced offensive play-callers with McCoy also touting head coaching experience.
Introducing Doug Pederson’s 2022 coaching staff!#DUUUVAL
— Jacksonville Jaguars (@Jaguars) February 17, 2022
Offensive line coach Phil Rauscher also notably worked under Bill Callahan, a former head coach and longtime OL coach, in Washington.
The defensive side is arguably more impressive. Defensive coordinator Mike Caldwell comes from Tampa Bay, where he was an inside linebackers coach. Caldwell worked with Todd Bowles in Arizona and New York, then followed him to the Buccaneers.
Defensive line coach Brentson Buckner has served in the same role for several other teams and has a good reputation around the league. Meanwhile, cornerbacks coach and defensive passing game coordinator Deshea Townsend carries a lot of wisdom from his 13-year playing career (in which he won two Super Bowls with the Pittsburgh Steelers) in addition to a decade as an NFL assistant.
Townsend also played for legendary Steelers defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau, which almost certainly had at least some impact on his philosophy.
Overall, this is a solid group. It may not be the flashiest, but it has several guys who have made their rounds around the league in addition to a couple of gambles on younger guys.
It would be hard to grade this staff any lower than a B, in my opinion, but we want to hear from you. What grade would you give Pederson’s new staff in Jacksonville?
Let us know in the poll below.
