Former Commanders assistant RBs coach Jennifer King accepts similar role with NFC team

Jennifer King lands with another NFC team.

Ron Rivera’s former staff members continue to find work elsewhere after he was fired last month by the Washington Commanders.

On Tuesday, Jennifer King, who was Rivera’s assistant running backs coach for the past three seasons in Washington, accepted a similar role with the Chicago Bears, according to Bridget Condon of the NFL Network.

King, 39, followed Rivera to Washington in 2020. Rivera first gave her a coaching opportunity in 2018 with the Panthers as a wide receivers coaching intern. In 2019, she was a running backs coach intern. When Rivera was hired by Washington in 2020, she began as a coaching intern, and in 2021, Rivera named her the assistant running backs coach under veteran position coach Randy Jordan.

When King was promoted to assistant running backs coach, she became the first Black woman to be a full-time NFL coach.

King was one of 40 women who attended the NFL’s Women’s Forum in 2018, where she met Rivera to express an interest in coaching.

Before getting into football coaching, King spent time as a flight attendant, police officer, and college basketball coach.

New Titans RBs coach Randy Jordan: 3 things to know

Three things to know about new Titans RBs coach Randy Jordan.

The Tennessee Titans are hiring long-time Washington Commanders running backs coach Randy Jordan to the same role, according to reports.

Jordan will be replacing now-former running backs coach Justin Outten, who the Titans are reportedly keeping but switching to tight ends coach.

Jordan is a solid hire for the Titans, as he brings a lot of experience from two decades of coaching, both in college and the pros. And, he has an extensive connection to a very prominent coach on Tennessee’s new staff.

We’ll talk about that and more as we take a look at three things to know about Tennessee’s new running backs coach.

RB coach Randy Jordan leaves Commanders for Titans

Randy Jordan spent 10 seasons in Washington, and reunites with his mentor in Tennessee.

Randy Jordan has determined, after 10 seasons with the Commanders, he is leaving Washington for Nashville.

Jordan was hired by Jay Gruden to be on Gruden’s first Washington staff for the 2014 season. The former North Carolina Tar Heel running back in that 2014 season was beginning a 10-year era of coaching Washington running backs that would persevere all the way through the 2023 season.

The Tennessee Titans are now Jordan’s new employer. The Titans this offseason moved on from head coach Mike Vrabel and have hired Brian Callahan, son of former Redskins coach Bill Callahan.

The Tennessee Titans have been led by four-time Pro-Bowl running back Derrick Henry. Henry has rushed over a thousand yards in five seasons, including two seasons when the former Crimson Tide back led the NFL in rushing.

In 2019, Henry rushed for 1,540 yards while leading the NFL with 16 rushing touchdowns and an NFL-high 102.7 rushing yards per game. The following season, Henry was even better with 2,027 rushing yards, 17 rushing touchdowns and 126.7 rushing yards per game.

In 119 NFL games, Henry has rushed for 9,502 yards and 90 rushing touchdowns, averaging 4.7 yards a carry. Henry is now age 30, and is expected by most NFL analysts to be moving on next season. Henry recently expressed he wants to win a Super Bowl and is not ready to retire.

Jordan was himself an NFL running back, playing for the Raiders (1993), Jaguars (1995-97) and once again the Raiders (1998-2002). Following his playing career, he launched his coaching career with the Raiders in 2003. He then moved on to Nebraska (2004-07), Texas A&M (2008-11) and North Carolina (2012-13) before joining Jay Gruden and the Redskins in 2014.

He rejoins Bill Callahan, whom he has a long history with, in Tennessee.

Titans hiring Randy Jordan as RBs coach

The Titans are reportedly hiring Commanders RBs coach Randy Jordan to the same role.

The Tennessee Titans have reportedly found their man for their vacant running backs coach position.

According to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, the Titans are hiring Washington Commanders running backs coach Randy Jordan to the same role.

Jordan spent 10 seasons with the Commanders and was kept on staff after the team fired Jay Gruden, who originally hired him. He had senior offensive assistant added to his title in 2023.

Jordan first got into coaching in 2003 as an assistant with the Raiders. He then served as running backs coach at Nebraska (2004-07), Texas A&M (2008-11) and North Carolina (2012-13).

Prior to his coaching career, Jordan spent nine seasons in the NFL, playing with the Raiders and Jacksonville Jaguars.

The 53-year-old coach has a connection to Titans offensive line coach Bill Callahan, who he first crossed paths with as a player during Callahan’s stint with the Raiders.

Callahan then hired Jordan while he served as the head coach at Nebraska. Jordan also worked with Callahan in Washington from 2015-19, when Callahan was the team’s offensive line coach and assistant head coach before becoming the interim head coach in 2019.

It was thought the Titans might stand pat at running backs coach after the team reportedly denied interview requests with now-former backs coach and run-game coordinator Justin Outten, but that is not the case.

That doesn’t mean Outten won’t stay, but he’ll obviously be taking on a different role if so.

Nevertheless, this is a great hire for Tennessee, as Jordan brings a ton of experience to a coaching staff that has a first-time head coach and offensive coordinator.

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Commanders announce official coaching promotions for 2023

All four moves are on the offensive side of the ball.

The Washington Commanders announced four new coaching promotions Tuesday, ahead of their Week 1 game against the Arizona Cardinals.

Former tight ends coach Juan Castillo is now the run game coordinator. Former assistant tight ends coach Todd Storm replaces Castillo as tight ends coach. Former assistant offensive line coach Travelle Wharton is the new offensive line coach. He replaced John Matsko, who was fired in March. Running backs coach Randy Jordan is now the senior offensive assistant/running backs coach.

All of these coaches have been working in their new roles for months. Head coach Ron Rivera said earlier this year the moves couldn’t be official until the team was sold. New owner Josh Harris officially took over on July 20.

Castillo is a longtime NFL assistant offensive line coach — his second season with the Commanders — and has been helping out Wharton this offseason. Castillo will also assist Storm, who is entering his fourth season in Washington. Jordan is entering his 10th season with Washington, where assistant running backs coach Jennifer King has assisted him since 2020.

Randy Jordan to participate in the NFL Coach Accelerator Program

The NFL will hold the Coach Accelerator program at the owners meetings next week. Commanders RBs coach Randy Jordan will attend.

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.”

 

WATCH: Brian Robinson returns to the Commanders

Brian Robinson Jr. was back at team headquarters Wednesday. And he brought Oreos.

Two days after being shot in an attempted robbery in Washington, D.C., rookie running back Brian Robinson Jr. was released from the hospital and back at team headquarters.

With a bag of Oreos in hand, Robinson came through the front door at the Commanders headquarters in Ashburn Tuesday and was treated by several members of the organization, including head coach Ron Rivera.

Robinson was smiling as he greeted running backs coach Randy Jordan, assistant running backs coach Jennifer King and Rivera.

The Commanders finalized their first 53-man roster of the season on Tuesday and included Robinson. There was some thought he could be placed on the non-football injury (NFI) list and miss the first four games of the season. However, there is optimism that he could return sooner than later.

While Robinson could still miss several games to start the season, keeping him on the active roster gives the Commanders options.

As for the Oreos, Robinson was fulfilling his rookie duties.

It’s good to see Robinson smiling after such a horrific ordeal.

Washington RBs coach Randy Jordan wants to see Antonio Gibson catching more passes in 2021

Washington running back Antonio Gibson had a stellar rookie season in 2020. Now, Washington wants to see the former college receiver more involved in the passing game in 2021.

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When the Washington Football Team selected running back Antonio Gibson in the third round of the 2020 NFL draft, no one believed he would lead the team in rushing as a rookie.

After all, Washington was bringing back Derrius Guice and Adrian Peterson in 2020. Fast forward to training camp, and Guice was released due to off-field issues, and Peterson was let go because the team loved what it saw from Gibson.

Gibson would go on to rush for 795 yards and 11 touchdowns while averaging 4.7 yards per rush. It’s also worth noting that Gibson battled a toe injury the entire month of December.

One element where Gibson could improve in 2021 is as a receiver. During his career at Memphis, Gibson split time between running back and wide receiver. Many WFT fans thought he’d be more involved as a pass-catcher as a rookie, but the J.D. McKissic on the roster, Gibson wasn’t used in that role too often.

McKissic, one of the top receiving backs in the NFL, caught 80 passes in 2020. Gibson finished with 36 receptions, but for only 247 yards.

Washington running backs coach Randy Jordan believes in Gibson’s ability as a receiver.

“I think that’s something we haven’t really tapped into a lot,” Jordan said after minicamp, per Zach Selby of washingtonfootball.com. “I think the biggest thing for him is utilizing his ability to catch the ball because he has caught the ball in college.”

Jordan is right. In 2019, Gibson finished with 38 receptions for 735 yards and eight touchdowns. He averaged over 19 yards per receptions, proving his ability as a big-play guy.

Offensive coordinator Scott Turner wants his running backs to be versatile, which fits both Gibson and McKissic to a tee. In addition, Gibson has spoken of wanting to be more involved as a receiver, but it comes down to how much of the playbook he retains.

For Jordan, it’s all about practice.

“First and foremost, he’s a football player,” Jordan said. “The more he does it, the more opportunities he has to do it; he’ll get better at it.”

The more Washington uses Gibson as a pass-catcher, the more dangerous this new-look offense will be in 2021. Paired with McKissic, Washington has one of the more versatile backfields in the NFL.

 

 

Randy Jordan says Adrian Peterson was born to be a football player

With perfect size and an undeniable work-ethic, Peterson has proved that there’s no job he’s better suited for than NFL running back.

Sometimes you see a person moving through life and you can’t help but think that they’re doing exactly what they were meant to do.

For Washington’s running backs coach Randy Jordan, he looks at Adrian Peterson and knows that he was meant to play football. At 6-foot-1, 217 pounds, and approximately zero percent body fat, it’s hard to look at AP and think that he’d be better suited doing anything different than playing as a running back in the NFL. Even at age 35 — which is ancient for an RB — it’s hard to argue that he should be anywhere else, especially as he continues to mow people over without showing a hint of regression or age.

As we enter yet another year, questions will still come up about AP’s health, and whether or not Father Time will be coming to collect rent this year. We’ll see what Peterson has to say this year. If it’s anything like years past, retirement will be sent packing.

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Top Quotes: RB coach Randy Jordan thrilled with talent and depth in backfield

Coach Jordan is one of the few to hold over in Washington under Ron Rivera, and his experience with this group of players could be valuable.

While many of the position coaches who will have a say on what the Washington Football Team looks like in 2020 are new to most fans, running backs coach Randy Jordan is one of the few holdovers from the previous staff. When Ron Rivera took over as the head coach, he chose to keep Jordan around, hoping that his familiarity with the current roster in Washington would help push that position to new heights.

Judging by the talent that currently stands in the Washington backfield, he won’t have to push very hard, as long as everyone is able to stay healthy.

On Friday afternoon, Jordan sat down with media members in Washington to discuss this abnormal offseason, as well as what to expect going forward. Here are some of his top quotes.

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