New Jacksonville Jaguars coach Doug Pederson has been working hard to put his staff together ever since he signed the dotted line, and he’s made significant progress in the last few days. That includes on the defensive side where the Jags and Pederson are working to make Tampa Bay Bucs assistant Mike Caldwell a defensive coordinator.
However, Pederson hasn’t stopped there and is continuing to look for options atop the defensive staff. That includes interviewing a former player for the Jags organization in Gerald Alexander for a defensive coordinator role, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.
#Dolphins DBs coach Gerald Alexander is in Jacksonville today interviewing for the vacant DC position under Doug Pederson, source said. A former Jags player, Alexander has risen quickly.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) February 9, 2022
Alexander played safety for the Jags from 2009-10 under Jack Del Rio after spending time with the Detroit Lions initially. Afterward, he spent time with the Carolina Panthers, Dolphins, and New York Jets, respectively.
After his NFL career, he began his coaching career as an undergraduate assistant for Arkansas State (2013). He then followed that up by coaching at Washington (2014) as a graduate assistant and also held other roles as a collegiate coach with Indiana State (2015), Montana State (2016), and California (2017-19), all of which employed him as a defensive backs coach. He also had stints as an intern in the NFL with Tennessee (2015) and Tampa (2016).
Alexander eventually landed a role as an NFL defensive backs coach in 2020 under Brian Flores, and it appears he has plans to remain an NFL coach this season and possibly longer.
It’s unclear if Caldwell has officially signed with the Jags, but even if he has, that doesn’t mean the Jags can’t assign Alexander a role as a defensive coordinator. In 2020, Pederson had an assistant coordinator on defense in Dino Vasso. The possibility of Alexander being a passing game defensive coordinator could be on the table, too.