Finally: Jaguars ready to get to work after finalizing coaching staff

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Jaguars have finally finalized their coaching staff.

News had slowly leaked out of Meyer’s hires the last two weeks, but the team confirmed the full staff Thursday afternoon.

Offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell and defensive coordinator Joe Cullen headline the Jaguars staff, which is heavy on additions from the Ravens and Seahawks. Meyer said in his last availability on Jan. 21 that he hoped to announce his full staff the following week, but that didn’t come together until Thursday.

Meyer was hired on Jan. 14 to help rebuild the Jaguars from the foundation up. Jacksonville finished a franchise-worst 1-15 last season.

Bevell has been an offensive coordinator for 15 years and finished the season as the Lions interim head coach. Bevell has been an NFL assistant since breaking into the league with the Green Bay Packers in 2000. He served as the offensive coordinator for the Vikings, Seahawks, and Lions prior to joining the Jaguars’ staff.

Cullen has served as the defensive line coach in Baltimore for the last five seasons, a position that he also held before in Jacksonville from 2010-12. This will be Cullen’s first time as a coordinator in the NFL. The Ravens have been one of the top defensive teams in the NFL during Cullen’s time there.

Offense

Inside linebackers coach: Charlie Strong is a name area fans should know. He was an assistant on Florida’s coaching staff under Ron Zook and Meyer and went on to serve as a head coach at Texas, Louisville and South Florida. Strong worked at Alabama for a season in 2020 as a defensive analyst. He’s Meyer’s assistant head coach, and was the first coaching hire by the Jaguars.

Special teams coordinator: Brian Schneider was with the Seahawks since Pete Carroll arrived in 2010. Schneider took time away from Seattle in 2020, with his role going to Larry Izzo. Schneider returned in November. Seattle special teams units had 24 takeaways, 23 blocked kicks and had 14 touchdowns/safeties under Schneider.

Quarterbacks coach/passing game coordinator: Brian Schottenheimer followed Bevell as the Seahawks offensive coordinator. He has some local roots. After beginning his college career at Kansas, he transferred to Florida to learn under Steve Spurrier. He began his coaching career in 1997 with the St. Louis Rams. He is the son of former longtime NFL head coach Marty Schottenheimer, who died on Tuesday after a battle with Alzheimer’s.

Defensive backs coach, safeties: Chris Ash served as the defensive coordinator at Texas last season but didn’t return under new coach Steve Sarkisian. Ash was also the head coach at Rutgers and was the defensive coordinator at Arkansas, Ohio State and Wisconsin.

Tight ends coach: Tyler Bowen has been a college assistant for the past 10 years, including the last three at Penn State. Last season, Bowen added co-offensive coordinator duties to his resume with the Nittany Lions. He also coached at Maryland, Fordham and Towson.

Defensive backs coach, nickels: Joe Danna is entering his fifth season with the Jaguars, although first in this role. He has also coached defense with the Falcons, Jets and Dolphins.

Offensive quality control coach: Quinton Ganther spent the last seven seasons coaching running backs at Weber State. Played in the NFL for six seasons.

Offensive assistant coach: Will Harriger comes to the Jaguars from Atlanta, where he served as the game management coordinator last season. Also spent five seasons with the Seahawks as both assistant quarterbacks coach and quarterbacks coach.

Assistant linebackers coach: Tony Gilbert is entering his second season with the Jaguars in this role. Prior to joining the Jaguars, Gilbert coached at UCF for two seasons, and also at North Carolina for three seasons.

Wide receivers coach: Sanjay Lal has been a wide receivers coach in the NFL for over a decade. Lal started with the Raiders in 2007, and also had stops in Buffalo, Indianapolis, Dallas and the New York Jets. Lal spent last season in Seattle.

Assistant defensive line coach: Sterling Lucas was an assistant with the Ravens, starting with the team in 2016. In 2018-19, Lucas was a defensive quality control coach before being promoted to defensive line coach/defensive assistant last season.

Defensive line coach: Tosh Lupoi was the Browns defensive line coach in 2019 and joined the Falcons staff as the defensive line/run game coordinator last season. Before going into the NFL, Lupoi was on the defensive staff at Alabama under Nick Saban for five years.

Outside linebackers coach: Zachary Orr was on the Ravens staff for four seasons working alongside Cullen. He played three seasons for Baltimore before being forced to retire due to a neck/spine issue. At 28, Orr is the youngest addition to the Jaguars staff.

Running backs coach: Bernie Parmalee, who served as Atlanta’s running backs and special teams coach, is now in Jacksonville. Also served as special teams assistant/offensive assistant with Atlanta and was the Raiders running backs coach for three seasons.

Special teams assistant: Carlos Polk broke into coaching in 2009 with the Chargers, the team that drafted him in the fourth round in 2001. Polk spent four seasons with the Chargers, five with Tampa Bay and also spent 2019 working with the Cowboys as an assistant special teams coach.

Defensive quality control coach: Patrick Reilly spent the past three seasons at the University of Alabama as a defensive analyst.

Senior defensive assistant: Bob Sutton spent the last two seasons with the Falcons in this same role. Was the Chiefs defensive coordinator from 2013-18.

Offensive line coach: George Warhop has been in the NFL as an assistant since 1996 and served as the Jaguars offensive line coach each of the past two seasons.

Secondary, corners coach: Tim Walton remains on the Jaguars coaching staff for the third season and beginning his 25th year in coaching.

Assistant offensive line coach: Todd Washington spent six seasons with the Ravens and two more with the Jets.

Director of sport performance: Chris Doyle was the head strength and conditioning coach at Iowa from 1999-2019 before leaving amidst allegations of racism and mistreatment of players.

Head strength and conditioning: Anthony Schlegel was Ohio State’s associate director of football sport performance under Meyer from 2011-15.

Assistant strength coach: Brandon Ireland

Assistant strength coach: Adam Potts

Assistant strength coach: Cedric Scott

Chief of staff: Fernando Lovo

Assistant to the head coach: ElizaBeth Mayers

Director of team administration: Tyler Wolf