The Jacksonville Jaguars underwent a significant overhaul in their coaching staff on Monday, with head coach Doug Pederson announcing the departure of defensive coordinator Mike Caldwell and several other defensive assistants. Despite earlier indications that Pederson needed time to evaluate the season’s disappointing outcome before making any staff decisions, he moved swiftly to make changes.
The formal announcement of the coaching dismissals came Monday night, with Pederson acknowledging the team’s below-par performance, stating, “It’s not where we want to be, and I’ve got to take all of this into consideration.”
The casualties included Deshea Townsend, who held the roles of defensive coordinator and cornerbacks coach. Tony Gilbert, the inside linebackers coach. Cody Grimm, the safeties coach. Bob Sutton, the senior defensive assistant. Tee Mitchell and Sean Cullina serve as defensive quality control coaches, and Brentson Buckner is the defensive line coach.
Nonetheless, a few members of the coaching staff were able to hold onto their jobs, including assistant defensive line coach Rory Segrest, defensive quality control coach Patrick Reilly, and outside linebackers coach Bill Shuey.
Mike Caldwell, who spent three seasons as Todd Bowles’ inside linebackers coach in Tampa, took a temporary leave of absence in 2022. Pederson later appointed him the defensive coordinator. Despite having an 8-3 record at the beginning of the 2023 season, the club struggled defensively and saw a downturn.
The Jaguars lost five of their final six games of the season, giving up 146.8 yards and 29.2 points per game on average. Notably, the only win during this run of play was a commanding 26-0 shutout of Carolina, the NFL’s bottom-seeded club.
With nineteenth-best rushing defense (103.1 yards per game), twenty-sixth-best passing defense (239.8 yards per game), seventeenth-best scoring (21.8 points per game), and twenty-second-best total defense (342.8 yards per game), the 2023 defense struggled in several categories. Though generating 27 turnovers, the defense was not without its problems, especially in a pivotal game against Tennessee when the Titans ran for two touchdowns and gained 175 yards. Derrick Henry’s spectacular effort, which included 153 yards and a touchdown run—the second-highest amount of running yards allowed by the Jaguars all season—fueled this.
