New Look Coaching Staff in Jacksonville

By Jeremy Philipson

The Jags, clearly out to distance themselves from a dismal 2-14 campaign, cleaned house this offseason, hiring a new general manager, head coach, offensive coordinator, and defensive coordinator. Who are the new faces in North Florida? Let’s find out.

(Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports)

General Manager: David Caldwell, a native of Buffalo, NY, takes the helm as the GM after working his way up the league food chain for the past 17 years. Caldwell started as a scouting assistant for the Panthers under then-GM Bill Polian, moved to a regional scout for the Colts (also under Polian), then to the Falcons director of college scouting, and finally as the Falcons director of player personnel and the right hand man of current GM Thomas Dimitroff. 

Caldwell brings sound experience in scouting and player personnel, two areas the Jaguars clearly need to upgrade. With many holes on the roster and $22 million in cap space to play around with in free agency, Caldwell has his work cut out for him. Many of the players hitting free agency are expendable, which gives Caldwell the opportunity to focus on signing new players and improving his team through the draft. NFL teams are not built overnight, and with a team with as many holes as the Jaguars, fans need to be patient. It may be 3-4 years before Jacksonville can realistically contend in the AFC South, but steady improvement over those years will signal a turning of the tides.

Head Coach: With teams more focused on offense and scoring, the Jaguars are looking at the other side of the ball and have hired defensive guru Gus Bradley as their next head coach. Bradley has spent the past four years as the defensive coordinator for the Seattle Seahawks, and in the process, transformed a below-average defense into one of the best in the league. The Seahawks ranked in the bottom quarter of the league in total yards and points per game in Bradley’s first two seasons, but turned the corner in his final two years, and ranked in the top third in both categories. In two years, Bradley took a defense giving up over 25 points per game to a defense giving up 15.3 points per game, the best mark in the league. Now, he inherits a team that was 30^th in total defense in 2012. If Bradley can turn around the Jacksonville defense the way he did Seattle, he will be thought of as one of the games brightest defensive minds.

Offensive Coordinator: Many new coaches hire past colleagues to work on their staff, just as Doug Marrone did when he hired Nathaniel Hackett to run the offense in Buffalo. Gus Bradley is no different, and hired Jedd Fisch as his offensive coordinator. Fisch spent the past two years as the OC for Miami Hurricanes, and ranked 33^rd in total offense in his first year. The two worked together in 2010 with Seattle, when Bradley was defensive coordinator and Fisch the quarterbacks coach.

 Although only 36, Fisch has plenty of experience in the NFL, serving as a coach for four different teams on both sides of the ball. Bradley hopes Fisch can bring his quarterback magic to Jacksonville, where the team hopes Blaine Gabbert can make significant strides in his third season and entrench himself as the quarterback of the future. With weapons like Justin Blackmon, Cecil Shorts, Laurent Robinson, and Maurice Jones-Drew, Fisch can be very creative with his offense and give Gabbert the best chance to succeed.

Defensive Coordinator: Bradley once again went with familiarity, hiring Bob Babich as his defensive coordinator. When Babich was head coach at North Dakota State from 1997-2002, Bradley served as a defensive assistant. Now, the roles are reversed. After serving under Lovie Smith for the past nine seasons in Chicago, Babich is ready for a change. 

With the Bears, he gained experience as linebackers coach, assistant head coach, and defensive coordinator, positions he held at different times during his time in Chicago. Babich brings 29 years of coaching experience to Jacksonville, with 10 in the NFL and six as a college head coach. 

As mentioned previously, the Jaguars defense was a mess last season, and Babich will need all the help he can get to turn it around. Look for new GM David Caldwell to spend some money and high draft picks on the defensive side of the ball. As offensive numbers skyrocket at historic rates, it will only be a matter of time before the defense catches up. Babich, along with Bradley and Caldwell, hope Jacksonville will be the first.