The National Football League will host the second annual Coach Accelerator Program at the spring meetings next week in Minneapolis. The Coach Accelerator will run from May 21-23 and will include 40 coaches who are viewed as potential future head-coaching candidates.
Some on the list have interviewed for head-coaching vacancies before, and most are currently with an NFL team.
The Coach Accelerator program and the Front Office Accelerator began last year.
Representing the Washington Commanders will be running backs coach Randy Jordan. Jordan, a former NFL running back, has been with Washington since 2014 and transitioned from Jay Gruden’s staff to Ron Rivera’s staff. The 52-year-old Jordan played 10 years in the NFL and immediately jumped into coaching in 2003 after his retirement.
Another familiar name from his time in Washington is Drew Terrell. Terrell spent the past three seasons with Washington before the Commanders reshaped their offensive coaching staff under new offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy. Terrell took a job with the Arizona Cardinals as wide receivers coach/passing game coordinator.
Here’s a press release from the NFL regarding the Coach Accelerator:
The Coach Accelerator aims to increase exposure between owners, executives, and diverse coaching talent, providing ample opportunity to develop and build upon their relationships. In a change to the nomination process this year, clubs were able to nominate those from outside of their organization.
The 40 participants this year are attending based on their high potential to be considered for a Head Coach position in the future. Sixteen of the participants will be returning from the May 2022 Accelerator cohort.
In addition to networking, further development of the participants is a critical component of the accelerator, with curated content sessions scheduled that will further engage each participant on the advancement of their executive leadership skills and business acumen.
“In the year since its inception, we’ve been encouraged by the positive response to the Accelerator from both club owners and participants,” said NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. “We look forward to continuing to build on an incredible program that supports diverse talent.”