On Friday, the Jacksonville Jaguars hired former Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive coordinator Liam Coen to be their next head coach. The Jaguars began interviewing for their open defensive coordinator position on Monday.
Their first candidate is Daronte Jones, who has spent the past two seasons as the Minnesota Vikings’ defensive backs/passing game coordinator. Jacksonville interviewed him Monday morning, per NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero.
https://x.com/TomPelissero/status/1883883648073830578
Jones has mostly been a position coach during his coaching career, but he did serve as LSU’s defensive coordinator in 2021. This came after spending the 2020 season as defensive backs coach under Mike Zimmer.
This was Jones’ second defensive coordinator interview. He interviewed with the Chicago Bears over the weekend, although they hired former New Orleans Saints head coach Dennis Allen.
Jones is one of many Vikings coaches who has drawn interest from teams around the league this offseason. Brian Flores interviewed for several head coaching positions. Josh McCown has been interviewed for several offensive coordinator openings and the New York Jets head coaching job. And assistant quarterbacks coach Grant Udinski interviewed for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ vacant offensive coordinator position over the weekend.
McCown and Flores will likely stay with the Vikings in 2025, but Jones joins Udinski as position coaches who could leave for promotions elsewhere. Although the Vikings would prefer to keep their staff in place, it’s encouraging to see teams around the league take notice of the talented staff they’ve assembled.
