The Jacksonville Jaguars agreed to terms with Press Taylor to be their offensive coordinator on Thursday, and they’ve now locked in their defensive coordinator. As expected, that assistant will be Tampa Bay Bucs interior linebackers coach Mike Caldwell, who has officially put pen to paper to rejoin his former teammate from his days with the Philadelphia Eagles in Doug Pederson.
Earlier in the week, NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo was the one who reported that Caldwell was the Jags’ top option to be their defensive coordinator and that both sides were in talks to finalize it. Then on Friday, ESPN’s Field Yates reported that it was official, while Garafolo confirmed the addition.
The Jaguars have now officially hired Bucs LB Mike Caldwell as their defensive coordinator, per source.
A deal that has been expected gets past the goal line.
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) February 11, 2022
Caldwell not only played alongside Pederson with the Eagles, but the two were also assistant coaches for the team at the same time under Andy Reid from 2009-12.
However, Caldwell initially joined the Eagles as a coach in 2008 as a defensive quality control coach. He then held that role until 2010 when he became the team’s assistant linebackers coach. After holding that title for a year, Caldwell shed the assistant part and became their linebackers coach in 2012, which was Reid’s last season with the team.
Caldwell then found himself coaching under head coach Bruce Arians and defensive coordinator Todd Bowles in Arizona as an inside linebackers coach for two seasons (2013-14). But when Bowles became the head coach of the New York Jets in 2015, Caldwell joined him as an assistant head coach and inside linebackers coach from 2015-18. However, when Bowles was fired, both reunited with Arians in 2019 when he became the coach of the Tampa Bay Bucs.
Caldwell will join the Jags after a 2021 season where he helped the Bucs make it to the postseason and were third overall against the rush (allowing a 92.5 average) and first in pressures (219). It appears he could run a similar scheme to what the Jags ran last season where they were a blitz-heavy unit from the 3-4 alignment predominantly.
The Jags still have some assistant roles to fill on their staff, but Pederson has made a great deal of progress this week. At the rate he’s moving, the staffing process should be done soon, and once that happens, fans can expect an official announcement on the hires from the team.