Category: Darrell Bevell

Former Jaguars interim coach Darrell Bevell set to land with Dolphins

Bevell is taking over as the quarterbacks coach and passing game coordinator on Mike McDaniel’s staff in Miami.

Former Jaguars offensive coordinator — and later, interim coach — Darrell Bevell will have a fairly soft landing after he wasn’t retained by new head coach Doug Pederson.

According to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, the Miami Dolphins are hiring Bevell to serve as the quarterbacks coach and passing-game coordinator under new head coach Mike McDaniel, who was previously the offensive coordinator for the San Francisco 49ers.

Bevell only lasted one season with the Jaguars, as he was brought in by former coach Urban Meyer. When Meyer was let go after 13 games this season, Bevell guided the team down the stretch. Under his guidance, the team won its third game of the year in Week 18 by ending rival Indianapolis’ playoff hopes.

Regardless of the thoughts about his Jacksonville tenure, this is a move that makes quite a bit of sense for Miami, who hired a coach with just one year of coordinator experience. Bevell is a seasoned NFL play-caller who has held an offensive coordinator position in the league since 2006.

Before he was with the Jaguars, he had prior stops with Minnesota, Seattle (where he won a Super Bowl in the 2013 season), and Detroit. He also served as interim coach for the latter after Matt Patricia was fired.

The Dolphins hope that Tua Tagovailoa will develop into a franchise quarterback, and he’ll have a veteran quarterback coach to help him out.

Jaguars interim HC Darrell Bevell to interview for permanent coaching job

Bevell was just 1-3 as the interim coach this season, but he said that he will be one of the names that owner Shad Khan interviews for the opening.

With the 2021 season now officially in the books, the Jaguars turn their attention to the offseason. First on the docket is the search to replace Urban Meyer as head coach, which has been underway for several weeks now as a result of the new NFL rule allowing teams to begin interviewing candidates up to two weeks before the end of the regular season.

The list of reported interviewees is long and contains both experienced head coaches and up-and-coming coordinators, but one name that will reportedly be added to that list is the man currently running the show, interim head coach Darrell Bevell.

Bevell was put in a tough spot after the Jags fired Meyer, and he won just one game guiding the team through the final four weeks of the season. But that win was certainly a big one, as Jacksonville upset the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday to help knock them out of the playoff race despite being massive underdogs.

Though that win won’t do much for the franchise in the long run, it seems it was enough to secure an interview for Bevell, who told the media on Monday that he will have the chance to plead his case for the full-time job.

Before Jags fans get too concerned, this is likely mostly a formality. Interim coaches getting a chance to interview for the permanent position is fairly common, and it makes sense that Bevell, an experienced NFL coordinator who has been an interim before, would get that opportunity.

However, the Jags have cast a very wide net for this search, and it seems unlikely that they will choose to go with someone who was a member of a dysfunctional staff in 2021 and whose offense seemed to regress down the stretch of the season.

The Jaguars will probably try to get this hire done soon to make sure they get the most out of the decision to fire Meyer mid-season, as they will now be competing with several other openings. Those openings include vacancies in Minnesota, Denver, Chicago, and Miami, all of which made coaching changes following Week 18.

Darrell Bevell ‘understands’ frustration of fans leading the KhlownOut movement

Interim coach Darrell Bevell says he understands where the fans are coming from when it comes to being frustrated with the Jags.

This year has been arguably the most disappointing in Jacksonville Jaguars’ history, and it’s clear that drastic change is needed heading forward. After a 2021 offseason where the team made some intriguing moves, the results haven’t been drastically different than last season’s, and the team is now just one win ahead of where it previously was.

Despite their struggles, though, just a few weeks ago it was announced that the Jags would be retaining a key part of what’s been a terrible season in general manager Trent Baalke. This brought fans together to express their frustrations towards the job that owner Shad Khan has done, and as a result, the #KhlownOut movement was made.

Now, with just one home game remaining, some of the fanbase is planning to show up in clown attire to get the point across about their disappointment. And while Khan has yet to address the fanbase, interim head coach Darrell Bevell was asked about the movement and said he shared the same frustrations though he wasn’t quite aware of the concept of it.

“I do understand the frustration they have,” Bevell said Wednesday. “There’s a level of frustration here in the building. I mean, the players are frustrated and we’re frustrated with what’s going on and we want it to be better as well”

In all fairness, some of the issues the Jags are having go beyond Bevell as Baalke didn’t do all that great of a job acquiring talent around Trevor Lawrence this offseason despite having plenty of resources (draft picks and cap space). While Bevell has made questionable play calls himself, the Jags haven’t had a lot to work with, either.

Simply put, there is enough blame to go around for the whole organization, but at least someone from the organization has come out to say they understand the fans. Hopefully, sweeping changes will be the result of how things have gone, and those within the KhlownOut movement could see a scenario where the right people are put in place to turn the franchise around this offseason.

Jaguars interim coach Darrell Bevell interested in the permanent job

Bevell is not currently set to interview for the job, but he said on Wednesday that he would be interested.

Jacksonville is conducting another coaching search after less than a year, as Urban Meyer’s foray into the NFL didn’t go as planned. The three-time national championship-winning coach at the collegiate level had a Jaguars tenure plagued by controversy and poor performances on the field, and he was fired 13 games into his first season.

Offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell has led the team in the last two games as the interim coach, and it hasn’t resulted in much of a change as the Jags lost to two of the worst teams in the AFC in the New York Jets and Houston Texans.

The team has already put in several requests for interviews in a search that seems like it will be much more thorough than it was last time around when owner Shad Khan had his sights set on Meyer from the start. Still, that doesn’t mean fans can rule out the coach currently in that role, and on Wednesday, Bevell said he would be interested in the full-time head coaching job.

“I’ve not had any conversations about that up to this point, you know, up to this point,” Bevell said Wednesday, according to John Reid of the Florida Times-Union. “Right now, we’re mired in this COVID-19 stuff, you know just trying to get a team out there. But as far as being interested, I would be, yes.”

Keeping an interim coach around certainly wouldn’t be unprecedented for Khan. When he fired coach Gus Bradley before the end of the season in 2016, he elected to promote interim coach Doug Marrone instead of making a hire from outside the organization. With that being said, Bevell is not among the list of names the Jaguars currently intend to interview in the coming weeks.

Given the unmitigated disaster that the 2021 season has been, it seems unlikely that the organization will choose a coach that was on the previous staff. But at the same time, it seemed unlikely that general manager Trent Baalke would stick around, and yet that appears to be the case (for now, at least).

Anytime there’s a coaching change, you can expect that the interim will get at least a brief look, and it should come as no surprise that Bevell, who has been an NFL offensive coordinator since 2006 and now has two separate stints as an interim coach, would be interested in the Jaguars job.

Darrell Bevell says he will likely hand play-calling duties off to Brian Schottenheimer vs. Jets

With Darrell Bevell moving into an interim head coach role, he says he’s likely to hand over play-calling duties to Brian Schottenheimer.

When the Jacksonville Jaguars take the field Sunday, they will have a new play-caller directing the offense. According to interim head coach Darrell Bevell, who has called the plays all season, those responsibilities will be given to passing-game coordinator Brian Schottenheimer as Bevell will have to move into the role of being an overall manager.

Bevell added that he’s confident in Schottenheimer, who isn’t foreign to calling plays and has done so before, like at his last stop with the Seattle Seahawks.

“Yeah, so what I’ve done, I’ve thought about it as I told you guys I would—I thought about it a lot, had some conversations with [Jaguars General Manager] Trent [Baalke] and everybody. I think what I’m going to do is I’m going to turn the play calling over to [Passing Game Coordinator] Brian Schottenheimer to really help on the offensive side of the ball. I think it helps us in a lot of ways. No. 1, it helps me take more on of the head coach role that I’m being asked to do, with that added responsibility.”

But also, we have another really accomplished play caller in our midst. We’ll be able to let Brian take an opportunity at it and put his own personality into the offense as well. We’ll be obviously in constant communication, we game plan together a lot anyways. So, I’m really confident and happy that I’m going to be able to turn that to him.”

With Schottenheimer set to take over calling the plays, he’ll be scheming against a New York Jets team that he once worked for and was the offensive coordinator for six seasons (2006-11). He split that time working under Eric Mangini and Rex Ryan, who brought in mixed results overall.

As an NFL play-caller for over 10 years, many felt it would be difficult for Bevell to relinquish something he’s done for so long, but he said his confidence in Schottenheimer helped, and having one less responsibility would make managing easier.

“I mean we’ll see,” he said when asked how hard it was to give up play-calling. “I know it’s going to be hard but one of the things I think that makes it easier for me is how much confidence I have in Schotty. He’s done a great job, he’s had a great career, so I have 100 percent confidence in him.”

Only time will tell if there is a drastic change in the Jags’ offensive performance as they’ve been anemic for the most part since the bye week. However, they were able to garner 16 points in their last game, which marked progress, and maybe there is something from Week 15’s game against Houston to build on for Schottenheimer.

3 things to know about Jaguars interim head coach Darrell Bevell

Get to know the new leader of the Jaguars a bit better.

After the latest scandal involving the first-year head coach, Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shad Khan fired head coach Urban Meyer early on Thursday morning. Taking his place in the interim role will be offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell, who was a member of Matt Patricia’s Detroit Lions staff last season before Meyer brought him in to develop quarterback Trevor Lawrence.

But after a disastrous first 13 games in 2021, Meyer is gone and this is Bevell’s team, at least for the next four weeks. A recent rule change allowing teams to interview coaching candidates up to two weeks before the end of the regular season almost certainly played a role in expediting a decision on Meyer, but that doesn’t necessarily mean Bevell couldn’t be in the running for the full-time position.

It certainly wouldn’t be unprecedented for owner Shad Khan to promote an interim. He fired Gus Bradley with two games to go in 2016, and interim coach Doug Marrone eventually had the “interim” taken out of his title. There are certainly a lot of more exciting options, such as Tampa Bay offensive coordinator and former Jags quarterback Byron Leftwich, but we can’t rule Bevell out as a candidate.

With that in mind, here are three things to know about him.

OC Darrell Bevell discusses Jags’ lack of explosive plays, third-down success

Bevell said that both factors are limiting the #Jaguars’ offensive success.

Jacksonville’s offense hasn’t been the team’s biggest problem this season, but even with the defense playing its best game all year against the Buffalo Bills on Sunday, it couldn’t get much going Week 9.

A major reason for that has been third-down success (or lack thereof). The team was just 2-of-15 in that regard against Buffalo, and on the season, it’s converting at below a 30% clip.

Offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell said that needs to change if the team is going to find success on offense.

“Third down is an issue for us,” Bevell said. “It’s a major focus. We’ve got to continue to work on it. It all works together. No. 1, there has to be protection to be able to push the ball downfield. You have to be on time with the ball. Guys have to get open and when guys get open, you have to make the throw.”

But the offense’s issues don’t start on third-down. The lack of explosive plays on first and second down is also plaguing this team. Over the last three games, the team has just one play over 30 yards. That won’t cut it, especially with the team’s lack of consistency on third-downs.

Bevell said those factors are related and that both need to be addressed moving forward.

“Both are critical factors,” Bevell said. “You have to be able to convert third downs to stay on the field. And to think you’re going to go 10, 12 plays against all these NFL defenses … it’s hard to hang your hat on that. We need to be able to find those explosive plays.

“It’s something we talk about all the time. It’s something we’re continuing to look for. We’re going to continue to work on both those areas.”

With a rookie quarterback, some offensive struggles were to be expected. But the Jags also continue to put Lawrence in difficult positions and dropped passes on potential big plays have been a problem.

Only time will tell if the defense has truly turned a corner, but the offense is currently not living up to its potential, even with injury issues at receiver and along the offensive line.

Jaguars OC Darrell Bevell discusses the matchup with Buffalo’s ferocious defense

The Jaguars will certainly have their hands full against the league’s best defense on Sunday.

Jacksonville quarterback Trevor Lawrence has had to face some tough defenses as a rookie. The team as a whole struggled mightily against one of the NFL’s best in the Denver Broncos back in Week 2, but this week’s challenge will be the toughest yet.

The Buffalo Bills come to town, and in addition to an explosive offense led by MVP candidate Josh Allen, they boast the league’s best defense. Buffalo ranks No. 1 in total defense, pass defense, turnover differential, and points allowed per game. Its relative weakness, its run defense, still ranks fifth in football.

Jacksonville offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell said that the Jags will have their hands full this week after struggling to get things going against one of the league’s worst defenses in Seattle last weekend.

“Outstanding defense, really at all three levels from the back end all the way forward,” Bevell said. “Obviously best against the pass, really good against the run, I think also the thing that really stands out is they’re No. 1 in turnovers, as well. They’ve got 18, they’re turning it over in all kinds of ways so we’re going to have to match their execution. They’re a very well-coached team and have a very sound scheme. The guys are in the right place and they do a really nice job.”

The Bills do a great job of forcing takeaways, as they have a +13 turnover differential on the season, and that will make it very important for Lawrence to make good decisions with the ball to avoid interceptions, which have been a bit of a problem for him this season.

This week will also present a bit of a unique challenge as Buffalo runs a 4-3 defense as opposed to the 3-4 base defense that most NFL teams are running these days. With four down linemen, Jacksonville’s strategy may change a bit, and Bevell said that could open up some opportunities to run.

However, if the run game is going to be established, it may have to be done without James Robinson available. Bevell couldn’t confirm his status for Sunday, but it sounds as if the team is preparing for him to be unavailable, which would obviously be a major loss for an already overmatched offense.

The Bills are one of the league’s best teams and arguably the strongest Super Bowl contender in the AFC right now. Pulling off a win in this game would prove to be perhaps the biggest upset in the NFL so far this season, and doing so will not come easy.

Stock up, stock down following the Jags’ preseason loss to the Saints

The Jags’ second preseason game against the Saints wasn’t pretty at all, but nonetheless we were able to put together a stock report after the 23-21 loss.

The Jacksonville Jaguars have wrapped up stop No. 2 of their preseason tour after sustaining another loss, but this time it was to the New Orleans Saints in the form of a 23-21 final score.

It was a game where the starters on offense and defense didn’t exactly come out how fans wanted, leaving several concerns as the preseason heads into its final week. As always, though, there also were a few good things to take away from the process, too.

Here’s a stock report of both members on the team who are ascending and some who are descending as the Jags have passed the mid-way point of their 2021 preseason:

Jags OC Darrell Bevell says Lawrence likely to start vs. Saints but competition continues

Bevell said the Jags are likely to start Trevor Lawrence vs. the Saints, but it appears the QB competition isn’t done just yet.

Since the Jacksonville Jaguars’ preseason opener against the Cleveland Browns on Saturday night, it’s been fairly obvious that Trevor Lawrence is the best option at quarterback for the team. It wasn’t exactly a stellar debut for the first-overall pick, but he was sharper than veteran Gardner Minshew II, whose role on the team is now seriously in question.

However, fans who were hopeful that Lawrence would be named the team’s regular season starter ahead of preseason game No. 2 will be disappointed. Offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell said that while it’s likely Lawrence will start Monday against New Orleans, the team would be further discussing it as the week closes.

“Not at this moment,” Bevell said when asked if a starter has been decided. “It probably is going to be Trevor [Lawrence], but we are still continuing to talk about it.”

It’s likely that Lawrence will see an expanded role in the second preseason game against New Orleans after getting just two offensive series in the opener. However, the fact that Lawrence started that game should be a good indicator of the state of the competition.

Bevell said that the decision isn’t being based on the results of a preseason game, though.

“I’ve been doing it a long time here, so I have a lot of experiences, as well as the other coaches that we have on the offensive staff,” he said. “I’ll say it doesn’t really matter at this point. What matters is what we’re going to do here, how we’re going to handle it. We’ve talked to [Head] Coach [Urban Meyer] about it and we’ve given our thoughts and his thoughts, and we’ll continue kind of in that direction.”

It seems likely that Lawrence and Minshew will continue to split reps in practice as the preseason continues. Bevell said that will be the case until a decision has been made.

“We are still going to handle it that way until we end up making the final decision, so right now they are still status quo,” he said. “We’re trying to make everybody better and we want competition at each and every position. I think both guys are getting better because of it.”

Though the coaching staff has hinted that Lawrence is winning the competition, they may not name him the starter until the week leading up to the season opener against Houston (if not later). Still, it seems like it’s only a matter of time before it becomes official that he will take the first snap against the Houston Texans.