JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Jaguars are filling their defensive coordinator position with Atlanta’s Ryan Nielsen, leaning on an up-and-coming coach to revitalize a defense that imploded down the stretch as Jacksonville missed the playoffs.
Nielsen, 44, spent last year as the defensive coordinator with Atlanta. The Jaguars initially requested to interview Nielsen after firing Mike Caldwell, but the Falcons blocked the interview request. But that was nullified when Atlanta fired head coach Arthur Smith after the season.
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“We’re excited to welcome Ryan and have him lead our defense moving forward,” said Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson said in a statement. “Ryan is an outstanding football coach and his defenses with the Falcons and Saints were always fundamentally sound in both their physicality and concepts.
“He has the rare ability to both teach and connect with his players. He builds lasting, two-way relationships predicated on trust. He establishes accountability, first from himself, then the players. What I’ve most admired about Ryan’s defenses — and we saw this in London back in October — was their shared intensity and enthusiasm to get the job done and impact the game.”
Nielsen was in Atlanta for just one season and led a significant improvement on the defensive side of the ball. He was in New Orleans prior to that as the defensive line coach. Atlanta allowed 362.1 yards and 22.7 points per game in 2022. The yards average ranked 27th in the league and the points were 23rd. Under Nielsen, Atlanta improved to 321.1 yards allowed, a jump to the 11th-best in the NFL.
Atlanta was 18th in points (21.9), one spot behind Jacksonville. His defense tends to be man-coverage heavy, but Nielsen said at his introductory press conference in Atlanta that he didn’t want to commit to strictly a base 4-3 or 3-4 defense. The 4-3 means four players on the line of scrimmage, or down linemen, and three linebackers. The 3-4 is the opposite of that. Caldwell used a mix of man and zone coverages — but heavier zone — and his defense was essentially a 3-4 at its core.
Nielsen takes over for Caldwell, whose two seasons running the defense were a mixed bag. Pederson fired Caldwell and essentially the entire defensive staff just hours after his final press conference of the season. Jacksonville’s defense was ragged down the stretch, allowing nearly 30 points per game as the team imploded with a 1-5 finish. The lone win was a 26-0 victory over Carolina, which was the league’s worst team.