Jaguars Hire Joe Danna As Asst. Secondary Coach
- The Saints were interested in hiring former Jaguars head coach Gus Bradley as their linebackers coach if he didn’t secure a defensive coordinator job this year, tweets Ian Rapoport of NFL.com. Bradley, one of the more respected defensive minds in the league, drew a wide swath of DC interest, as the Redskins, 49ers, and Chargers — who ultimately hired him — all interviewed him for their coordinator position. New Orleans, meanwhile, continues to interview candidates for its LBs coach vacancy.
- Ex-Jets defensive backs coach Joe Danna is joining the Jaguars as the club’s assistant secondary coach, per Alex Marvez of SiriusXM NFL Radio (Twitter link). Danna spent the past two seasons in New York.
Mike Nolan Out Of Running To Be Jaguars' LBs Coach
- Speaking of Nolan, Marvez tweets that the longtime coach has taken himself out of the running to become the Jaguars linebackers coach. However, the former 49ers head coach is still “considering other opportunities.” The 57-year-old last worked in the NFL as the Chargers’ linebackers coach in 2015.
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Jaguars Hire Keenan McCardell As WRs Coach
- The Jaguars announced that they’ve named Keenan McCardell their new wide receivers coach. The former wideout played six seasons in Jacksonville, with his best season coming in 2000 (94 receptions, 1,207 yards, five touchdowns). The two-time Pro Bowler previously served as receivers coach for the Redskins and Maryland.
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Jaguars Interviewing Keenan McCardell For WRs Coach
- Former Jaguars great Keenan McCardell will interview to become their wide receivers coach, according to Hays Carlyon of 1010XL. McCardell most recently coached the Redskins’ receivers from 2014-15, but he’s best known for his illustrious career as an NFL wideout from 1992-2007. Most of McCardell’s success came in Jacksonville, where he hauled in 499 passes and 30 touchdowns between 1996-2001. All told, McCardell combined for 883 catches and 63 scores with five teams.
- Dees is replacing Tony Sparano Jr., whom the Jaguars have hired as their assistant O-line coach, relays Adam Caplan of ESPN (Twitter link).
Chip Kelly To Meet With Patriots?
Following the Jaguars’ decision not to hire Chip Kelly as their offensive coordinator, the recently fired coach plans to meet with the Patriots, Chris Mortensen of ESPN.com reports. Details of this meeting are scarce, but Mortensen points to Kelly having an advocate for a place in the NFL in Bill Belichick. The perennially successful Patriots coach and Kelly have exchanged football concepts since Kelly’s days at Oregon, per Mortensen.
Tom Coughlin was behind the push for Kelly to receive an extensive look for the Jags’ OC job, and the former Eagles and 49ers coach believed he would be offered the position during his interview earlier this week. Although Coughlin urged Doug Marrone to explore adding Kelly to the Jacksonville staff as OC or in another offensive capacity, Marrone didn’t end up seeing a fit. The Jags gave the job to interim OC Nathaniel Hackett, but Kelly could have a chance to interview for a consultant-type role with the Patriots.
New England obviously has an offensive coordinator after Josh McDaniels announced he was withdrawing his name from consideration for the 49ers’ HC job. But the Patriots have a recent history in bringing coaches as unspecified assistants.
After an unmemorable stint as the Rams’ OC, McDaniels returned to New England during the 2011 playoffs despite Bill O’Brien‘s then-presence as the team’s OC. However, O’Brien had announced he was taking the Penn State job in the days prior, so a more logical role existed for McDaniels than one would for Kelly. Brian Daboll also rejoined his former team during the 2012 playoffs after being fired by the Chiefs, adding to the unique history here.
The Jaguars’ job and this prospective summit represent the only known NFL offseason interest for Kelly, whom the 49ers fired after a 2-14 season.
Executive Blasts Jaguars' Doug Marrone Hiring
In the aftermath of this offseason’s head coaching searches across the NFL, Greg A. Bedard of SI.com asked three executives from successful franchises their thoughts on this year’s hirings. One opined that the league’s owners “have absolutely no idea what they’re doing” and that “most of these places are screwed up.” He also blasted the Jaguars’ decision to elevate Doug Marrone from interim head coach to the full-time position. “Look at Jacksonville. They keep Marrone—I mean, he was an assistant head coach on that team the past two years [8–24], was he not?—and say he’s by far the best candidate,” he stated. “After speaking to (Josh) McDaniels, (Kyle) Shanahan and Mike Smith? Are you kidding?”
Marrone coached the final two games of the Jaguars’ season, during which they went 1-1, after the firing of Gus Bradley. Before joining Jacksonville’s staff in 2015, Marrone worked as the Bills’ head coach and went 15-17 in two years. The club finished 9-7 on his watch in 2014, but Marrone then elected to opt out of his contract.
Jaguars To Hire Jason Rebrovich As Assistant DL Coach
- The Jaguars are set to hire Jason Rebrovich as their assistant defensive line coach, tweets Adam Caplan of ESPN. Jacksonville will be Rebrovich’s third stop under head coach Doug Marrone. He previously served on Marrone-led staffs at Syracuse and in Buffalo.
Jaguars Name Nathaniel Hackett OC
The Jaguars have announced that Nathaniel Hackett will be retained as the club’s offensive coordinator. Hackett was promoted from quarterbacks coach to interim offensive coordinator in late October following the firing of previous OC Greg Olson.
[RELATED: 2017 Offensive/Defensive Coordinator Search Tracker]
“After taking over as the play-caller in 2016, the offensive unit made a significant jump under the direction of Nathaniel Hackett,” Jaguars executive vice president of football operations Tom Coughlin said in a written statement. “Nathaniel comes from a coaching family and is truly ardent about the game of football, which is contagious to his players and the assistants. He has a long history of working alongside Coach [Doug] Marrone and we are fortunate to have him on our coaching staff.”
Hackett, 37, has a strong professional relationship with the new Jaguars head coach, having worked as Marrone’s offensive play-caller at Syracuse and with the Bills in the past. He’ll now be tasked with resurrecting a Jacksonville offense that regressed mightily in 2016, and specifically will be asked to continue the development of quarterback Blake Bortles. Hackett becomes the second coordinator to retain his title under Marrone, as defensive play-caller Todd Wash will also return in his same role.
Of course, Hackett’s hiring means that former 49ers/Eagles head coach Chip Kelly — the only other known candidate for the Jaguars OC position — won’t be joining the staff, at least as the play-caller. At present, the Jets and Bills are the only clubs still searching for offensive coordinators (technically, the Rams are as well, but new head coach Sean McVay has announced he will call the plays).
NFLPA Announces Cap Carryover Amounts
The NFL Players Association has announced all 32 teams’ salary cap carryover amounts for the 2017 season (Twitter link). Next season’s cap figure isn’t yet known, but it’s likely to be in the $165MM range. When that becomes official, it can be added to each team’s carryover amount to determine that club’s official spending room for 2017.
Here are this year’s carryover totals:
- Cleveland Browns: $50,123,269
- Jacksonville Jaguars: $39,314,310
- San Francisco 49ers: $38,708,916
- Tennessee Titans: $24,046,522
- Washington Redskins: $15,055,131
- Carolina Panthers: $13,208,020
- Miami Dolphins: $8,363,708
- Chicago Bears: $8,103,197
- Oakland Raiders: $8,000,000
- Green Bay Packers: $7,984,687
- Philadelphia Eagles: $7,933,869
- Denver Broncos: $7,243,248
- Indianapolis Colts: $6,614,106
- Cincinnati Bengals: $6,578,866
- New Orleans Saints: $5,754,000
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers: $5,330,779
- New England Patriots: $5,292,335
- Kansas City Chiefs: $5,002,168
- Houston Texans: $4,935,924
- Detroit Lions: $4,725,644
- Arizona Cardinals: $4,405,068
- Pittsburgh Steelers: $3,269,367
- Buffalo Bills: $2,837,222
- Baltimore Ravens: $2,553,126
- Dallas Cowboys: $2,401,553
- Seattle Seahawks: $2,065,865
- New York Giants: $1,800,000
- Atlanta Falcons: $926,541
- Minnesota Vikings: $400,184
- New York Jets: $371,487
- Los Angeles Rams: $304,311
- Los Angeles Chargers: $113,693
Jaguars To Interview Jason Rebrovich
- Bills outside linebackers coach Jason Rebrovich is likely to interview with the Jaguars on Wednesday for a job on their defensive staff, tweets Adam Caplan of ESPN. Rebrovich previously worked under newly named Jags head coach Doug Marrone in Buffalo and at Syracuse.