Jaguars Add Bernie Parmalee To Staff
- Urban Meyer is adding veteran NFL running backs coach Bernie Parmalee to his Jaguars staff, according to Adam Caplan of Sirius XM Radio (on Twitter). The former NFL running back has coached a few different areas in his relatively short coaching career, having helmed running backs, tight ends and special teams units. Parmalee spent the past three seasons in Atlanta and served as the Falcons’ ST coordinator in 2020.
Jags Add Former Ravens LB Zach Orr To Staff
- Zach Orr is going to be back on an NFL sideline. An UDFA linebacker in 2014, he became a full-time starter with the Ravens and was a second-team All-Pro in 2016. Unfortunately that would be his final season, as a spinal condition cut his career short prematurely. Orr stayed with Baltimore in a front office role, and now he’s getting into coaching as Urban Meyer’s new linebackers coach with the Jaguars, Dan Graziano of ESPN.com tweets. Still only 28, it’ll be great to see Orr back on the field in some capacity.
- Robert Saleh continues to build his inaugural Jets staff, and he has now hired Mike Rutenberg to be his linebackers coach, Ian Rapoport of NFL Neetwork tweets. Rutenberg was a passing game specialist under Saleh in San Francisco this past season, and before that had been an assistant with the Jaguars.
Jaguars Plan To Hire Bob Sutton
Shortly after making Joe Cullen a first-time NFL defensive coordinator, the Jaguars are bringing in some experience to work with him. They are finalizing a deal to add Bob Sutton to their defensive staff, Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports tweets.
Sutton, 70, spent the past two seasons as a senior defensive assistant with the Falcons. He stands to serve in a similar capacity in Jacksonville, per JLC. Sutton has been in coaching since the early 1970s and on NFL staffs since 2000. He recently interviewed for the Packers’ defensive coordinator position.
Best known for his six-year stay as Chiefs defensive coordinator, Sutton spent his first 13 NFL seasons with the Jets. The Jets also employed Sutton as DC during Eric Mangini‘s tenure, from 2006-08, and Rex Ryan kept him on board as a position coach during his run as Gang Green’s HC. New Jags hire Brian Schottenheimer worked with Sutton in New York for several seasons.
Sutton’s first four Chiefs defenses ranked as top-10 scoring units, helping Andy Reid quickly turn the franchise around in the mid-2010s. However, the Chiefs saw their defense regress significantly as Sutton’s tenure waned. Their 2018 defense played the lead role in keeping MVP Patrick Mahomes from reaching the Super Bowl that season, with the Chiefs leading the league in total offense and ranking 31st in yards allowed.
Jaguars Hire Chris Ash
- Urban Meyer continues to build his inaugural Jaguars staff, and now he’s settled on a secondary coach. Chris Ash has agreed to fill that role, Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com tweets. Ash, the former head coach at Rutgers, is a pretty big name by secondary coach standards. Meyer continues to surround himself with guys who have coordinating and head coaching experience, most recently adding Brian Schottenheimer to the staff. Ash has an extensive college coaching history, but this will be his first NFL gig. He was Meyer’s co-defensive coordinator for a couple of years at Ohio State, so there’s plenty of familiarity here. He’ll work under new Jacksonville DC Joe Cullen.
Jaguars Add Brian Schottenheimer To Coaching Staff
Urban Meyer is making some final touches to his coaching staff. NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero reports (via Twitter) that the Jaguars are hiring Brian Schottenheimer as their new passing game coordinator.
In Jacksonville, the 47-year-old will likely be in charge of a new-look passing attack. It seems like a foregone conclusion that the Jaguars will select Trevor Lawrence with the first-overall pick, and the organization is still rostering Gardner Minshew and Jake Luton. Schottenheimer will be working under new offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell.
We learned last week that Meyer was eyeing a number of candidates for the role of quarterbacks coach, including Mark Brunell (who has since joined the Lions), former Chargers HC Mike McCoy, and former Buccaneers and Giants OC Mike Sullivan. It’s uncertain if Schottenheimer will inherit the responsibilities of that role, or perhaps the Jaguars will look to add yet another offensive mind to their coaching staff.
Schottenheimer has been coaching for more than two decades. He got his first crack at being an offensive coordinator with the Jets in 2006, and he proceeded to spend six years in New York. He later served as offensive coordinator for the Rams and at Georgia. Following his brief collegiate stint, he returned to the NFL as the Colts quarterbacks coach. In 2018, he was hired as the Seahawks offensive coordinator, where he replaced (coincidentally) Bevell. He spent three seasons in Seattle, and despite the Seahawks setting a franchise record for points scored in a season, he was let go following the 2020 campaign.
Lions To Hire Mark Brunell As QBs Coach
4:40pm: A reality in which the top quarterback in Jaguars history mentors the passer the franchise hopes will surpass him in that regard will not come to pass. Brunell’s interview with the Lions is expected to him signing on as their QBs coach, Tom Pelissero of NFL.com tweets. Rather than coaching Lawrence, Jacksonville’s presumptive first-round pick, Brunell may well be in line to work with a first-round passer in Detroit. The Lions, who hold the No. 7 overall pick, are expected to move on from Matthew Stafford soon.
4:29pm: Former Pro Bowl quarterback Mark Brunell is back on the NFL radar, this time as a coach. Despite Brunell having worked in the media industry in recent years, he is on multiple teams’ radars as a prospective quarterbacks coach.
Both the Jaguars and Lions are interested in Brunell for that job, according to Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle and NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport (Twitter links). Brunell is interviewing for Detroit’s QBs coach position Thursday, Rapoport notes.
New Jaguars coach Urban Meyer is interested in Brunell, former Chargers HC Mike McCoy and former Buccaneers and Giants OC Mike Sullivan for the job, per Wilson. Jacksonville’s next QBs coach will work under OC Darrell Bevell and will hold one of the NFL’s higher-profile position coach gigs, with Trevor Lawrence likely ticketed for Jacksonville.
Sullivan was most recently Denver’s QBs coach in 2018, but the veteran assistant began his NFL career in Jacksonville in 2002. The Steelers, however, have discussed their QBs coach position with Sullivan recently, Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette tweets.
While McCoy was the Broncos’ play-caller during Peyton Manning‘s first season in Denver (2012) and led the Chargers to the playoffs in 2013, he has experienced a rocky path in recent years. The Chargers ended his four-year stay as head coach after the 2016 season, and both the Broncos and Cardinals fired him as OC in-season in 2017 and ’18, respectively.
Brunell, 50, is the top quarterback in Jaguars history. He led the team to four straight playoff berths in his first four years as the team’s full-time starter, 1996-99, and twice guided the Jags to AFC championship games. Brunell was an NFL starter until 2006, his third season with Washington, and played in the league until age 41 before retiring in 2012. Brunell finished his career with the Jets, his multiyear stay overlapping with Anthony Lynn‘s time as Gang Green’s running backs coach. The Lions hired Lynn as their new offensive coordinator this week.
Coaching Notes: Pack, Rathman, McCardell
The Packers are making a change on special teams. They are firing ST coordinator Shawn Mennenga, according to Tom Pelissero of NFL.com (on Twitter). A longtime college coach, Mennenga had previously served as Browns assistant ST coach before joining Matt LaFleur‘s staff in 2019. The Packers are expected to promote assistant ST coach Maurice Drayton to replace Mennenga, Pelissero tweets. At least one other team was interested in Drayton for such a role, according to Tom Silverstein of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Drayton was in contention for this job two years ago.
Here is the latest out of Green Bay and from around the league:
- Mike Pettine may not be locked in as Packers defensive coordinator next season. The veteran DC opted not to sign an extension last year, and Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com notes his contract is up. The Packers invested heavily in their pass rush and used three first-round picks on defenders from 2018-19 but dropped from 15th in defensive DVOA in 2019 to 17th this past season. Pettine is a holdover from Mike McCarthy‘s staff, having arrived in 2018.
- Colts running backs coach Tom Rathman announced his retirement Thursday. The Colts hired Rathman in 2017, after his eight-year tenure as 49ers running backs coach ended. Rathman attempted to retire in 2019 and ’20, but the Colts successfully lobbied him to stay on, per The Athletic’s Stephen Holder (on Twitter). A decorated fullback who won two Super Bowls with the 49ers, Rathman coached running backs from 1997-2020. Sixteen of those years came in San Francisco.
- Staying with the Colts, they are hiring former Jaguars QBs coach Scott Milanovich to replace Marcus Brady in that position, Joel Erickson of the Indianapolis Star tweets. Milanovich was Jacksonville’s QBs coach from 2017-19. Otherwise, he has spent his career in the CFL, having coached the Toronto Argonauts and, in 2020, the Edmonton Eskimos. The Colts promoted Brady to OC last week.
- Longtime NFL wideout Keenan McCardell will resurface in Minnesota. The Vikings are hiring McCardell as receivers coach, per Gene Frenette of the Florida Times-Union (on Twitter). A longtime Jaguars pass catcher who broke into the coaching ranks in 2010, McCardell served as Jacksonville’s receivers coach from 2017-20 under Doug Marrone.
- Ex-Colts DC Ted Monachino will be the Falcons‘ outside linebackers coach under Arthur Smith next season. Monachino, Indy’s DC from 2016-17, spent the past two years with the Bears. The Falcons also hired Jon Hoke to coach defensive backs. The older brother of Maryland HC Brady Hoke, Jon was the Terrapins’ defensive coordinator from 2019-20 but has coached NFL DBs for several seasons.
Jaguars Hire Tom Gamble, Part Ways With John Idzik
Jacksonville’s Urban Meyer-led operation continues to take shape, and a familiar face has resumed working with GM Trent Baalke in the front office. The Jaguars hired former 49ers assistant GM Tom Gamble, Adam Caplan of Sirius XM Radio tweets.
Baalke and Gamble were together in San Francisco for several years, and the latter will return to right-hand-man status in an NFL front office. Gamble spent last season with the CFL’s Montreal Alouettes.
Shad Khan interviewed Gamble for the GM job Dave Caldwell landed in 2013. Gamble ended up with the Eagles that year but spent most of his modern NFL tenure with the 49ers. Baalke and Gamble worked together in San Francisco from 2005-12 and again from 2015-16, with Gamble holding titles of assistant GM and director of player personnel. Baalke has not specified Gamble’s current title.
Gamble’s arrival coincides with the departure of former Jets GM John Idzik, who had been working in the Jags’ front office since 2015. Operating as special assistant to the GM with an emphasis on salary cap-related responsibilities, Idzik will follow Caldwell out of Jacksonville, Mike Garafolo of NFL.com tweets. Idzik, who served as Jets GM from 2013-14, has been an NFL exec since 1996.
Jaguars Expected To Hire Brian Schneider As ST Coordinator
After adding a new offensive and defensive coordinator to his staff, Jaguars head coach Urban Meyer has found his special teams coordinator. NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero reports (via Twitter) that long-time Seahawks coach Brian Schneider is expected to be hired as Jacksonville’s new special teams coordinator.
Pelissero adds (via Twitter) that Larry Izzo will be taking Schneider‘s place in Seattle, as the former player has been promoted to full-time special teams coordinator.
Schneider had been with the Seahawks since 2010. He was apart of nine playoff runs in Seattle, including a 2013 Super Bowl win that saw Percy Harvin return an 87-yard kickoff for a score. During his stint with the Seahawks, the special teams unit consistently ranked toward the top of the league in takeaways, blocked kicks, and touchdowns/safeties scored.
Schneider stepped away from his role early last season for personal reasons, and Izzo was named interim special teams coordinator. When Schneider returned in November, Izzo retained the gig, and he’ll now have some job security heading into the 2021 season. Izzo earned a pair of Pro Bowl nods and three Super Bowl rings during his eight years playing with the Patriots, and he jumped right into coaching following his retirement. The 46-year-old served as the Texans special teams coordinator in 2016 and 2017.
Jaguars Plan To Hire Darrell Bevell As OC
Darrell Bevell may soon land on his feet. The veteran offensive coordinator and recent interim Lions head coach has spent multiple days in Jacksonville this week, according to the Detroit Free Press’ Dave Birkett, who tweets the Jaguars are close to hiring him as OC.
The partnership is expected to take place. Urban Meyer intends to hire Bevell, Tom Pelissero and Mike Garafolo of NFL.com report (on Twitter). With Meyer not planning to call plays in Jacksonville, Bevell will be thrust into a crucial role with the rebuilding team — which is expected to draft Trevor Lawrence in April.
The former Seahawks and Vikings OC spent the past two years in Detroit and interviewed for the Lions HC position that went to Dan Campbell. Bevell, 51, was in the mix for the job and has been an NFL offensive coordinator in all but one season since 2006.
His most notable role came in Seattle, when Bevell served as the play-caller for the Russell Wilson– and Marshawn Lynch-centered offenses that helped the Seahawks rise to back-to-back Super Bowls. While the ending to the second of those Super Bowls brought tremendous scrutiny, Bevell remained with the Seahawks through the 2017 season.
Under Bevell in 2019, Matthew Stafford ranked sixth in QBR at the midseason point — prior to going down with a season-ending injury. The Lions ranked 20th in points and yards this season and went 1-4 under Bevell as interim HC. Detroit’s offense, however, encountered key injuries — most notably to Stafford and Kenny Golladay, who missed most of this season — in each of Bevell’s two years in charge. He is set for an interesting opportunity in Jacksonville, being tasked with developing Lawrence.