Press Taylor - Pro Football Rumors

Jaguars Hire Press Taylor As OC

February 10th, 2022 at 1:47pm CST by Adam La Rose

One of the names immediately linked to Doug Pederson in Jacksonville is being hired, and for a notable role. Press Taylor is set to become the Jaguars’ new offensive coordinator (Twitter link via NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero).

Taylor, the younger brother of Bengals HC Zac Taylor, was thought to be a candidate to join Pederson right away. The role he was expected to have, however, was lower ranking than that of OC. That made Pep Hamilton the first known candidate for the position when he was linked to the Jaguars on Monday. Instead, Taylor will indeed take on an OC role for the first time in his career.

Taylor’s connection to Pederson dates back to their time together in Philadelphia. The 34-year-old worked with the Eagles from 2013 to 2020, acting as passing game coordinator in his final season. He spent this past campaign with the Colts as a senior offensive assistant.

The news comes one day after it was announced the Jaguars are also hiring Jim Bob Cooter to be their passing game coordinator, a role for which Taylor was mentioned as a candidate. Now, the head assistants on both the offensive and defensive sides of the ball are in place, as Mike Caldwell was brought in as Jacksonville’s DC earlier this week.

With most of the new staff assembled, Pederson and the Jaguars can now look to the offseason to begin reshaping the AFC’s worst team in 2021.

Jaguars Plan To Hire Jim Bob Cooter

February 9th, 2022 at 3:15pm CST by Sam Robinson

Former Lions offensive coordinator Jim Bob Cooter will be one of the key voices in charge of getting Trevor Lawrence on track next season. The Jaguars are hiring the young assistant, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets.

Cooter will serve as the passing-game coordinator under Doug Pederson in Jacksonville. This will be Cooter’s most notable role since his time as Detroit’s OC (2015-18). Previously, the 37-year-old staffer worked as a consultant with the Eagles.

The Lions hired Cooter to be Matthew Stafford‘s position coach in 2014 and quickly bumped him up to OC. The Jim Caldwell-era assistant stuck around for one season under Matt Patricia but was not retained for the 2019 campaign. Cooter spent the next two seasons as the Jets’ running backs coach.

Ex-Eagles coach Press Taylor was also in the mix for this job, per the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Jeff McLane (on Twitter). A former Pederson lieutenant, Taylor spent the 2021 season with the Colts.

Pederson called plays with the Eagles and said he will do so with the Jags as well. The Jags attempted to interview Texans assistant Pep Hamilton for their OC vacancy, but new Houston HC Lovie Smith promoted him. The Jags have hired ex-Chargers HC Mike McCoy as their quarterbacks coach but do not employ a nominal OC yet. For now, Pederson, McCoy and Cooter will be in charge of developing Lawrence.

Candidates For Doug Pederson’s Jaguars Staff

February 4th, 2022 at 8:50am CST by Adam La Rose

With Doug Pederson in place as the new head coach of the Jaguars, his focus will now turn to building a staff. Two of the early candidates to be named for consideration are Colts offensive assistant Press Taylor and Buccaneers inside linebackers coach Mike Caldwell (Twitter link via Mike Garafolo of NFL Network).

Taylor has a connection to Pederson dating back to the latter’s time in Philadelphia. The 34-year-old’s NFL coaching career began with the Eagles in 2013. Two years later, he started working with the team’s quarterbacks, something that continued throughout his tenure. 2020 saw him add the title of passing game coordinator, though the Eagles ranked at the bottom of the league in most major passing categories that year. He spent this past season with former Eagles offensive coordinator Frank Reich in Indianapolis.

Caldwell would also be a familiar face for Pederson. He started on the sidelines with the Eagles, after an 11-year playing career as a middle linebacker (which included one year of overlap with Pederson during his playing days). He’s coached that position with the Eagles, Cardinals, Jets and, for the past three seasons, Bucs. The 50-year-old interviewed for the defensive coordinator vacancy in Baltimore earlier this month.

Garafolo doesn’t specify what position Taylor might be in consideration for, but notes that Caldwell is a candidate for what would be his first DC post. At a minimum, the hiring process for Pederson’s staff figures to be much more straightforward than that of the HC search.

Colts Expected To Hire Press Taylor

January 29th, 2021 at 3:14pm CST by Sam Robinson

One of Doug Pederson‘s top lieutenants will receive another chance in a similar offensive system. Former Eagles OC Frank Reich will add Press Taylor to his Colts staff, Albert Breer of SI.com tweets.

This move continues a Philadelphia-Indianapolis pipeline, only it will see a staffer going west this time. The Eagles just hired Colts OC Nick Sirianni as head coach, Jonathan Gannon as defensive coordinator, Kevin Patullo as passing-game coordinator and Jason Michael as tight ends coach. Each was with the Colts last season. Now, Reich will bring over a former coworker to help his offensive staff.

Sirianni did not opt to retain Taylor for 2021. The Eagles’ passing attack encountered major struggles this past season, which came after Pederson promoted Taylor to the team’s passing-game coordinator. The Eagles ranked either 31st or 32nd in the NFL in passer rating, completion percentage, yards per attempt and interceptions thrown this season.

Taylor, 33, had been with the Eagles since 2013. That tenure overlapped with Reich’s Philly stay. Along with new OC Marcus Brady and QBs coach Scott Milanovich, this duo will preside over a Colts offense again entering the offseason with a quarterback issue.

Coaching Notes: Chargers, Steelers, Ravens, Taylor, Marrone

January 25th, 2021 at 7:41pm CST by Ben Levine

After adding Joe Lombardi as offensive coordinator and Renaldo Hill as defensive coordinator, Brandon Staley has found the coach who will lead his special teams unit. The Chargers announced this evening that they’ve hired Derius Swinton as their special teams coordinator.

The 35-year-old has made his way up the coaching ranks over the past decade-plus, spending time with the Rams, Chiefs, Broncos, Bears, 49ers, Lions, and Cardinals. He served as San Francisco’s special teams coordinator in 2016, and he helped the 49ers improve their kickoff return average by nearly six yards that season.

We’ve already heard of some other additions to the Chargers’ coaching staff. The team added Joe Barry as their defensive passing game coordinator, and they’ve hired Frank Smith to be their new offensive line coach and run game coordinator.

Let’s check out some more coaching notes…

Today, the Steelers officially announced the promotion of Matt Canada to offensive coordinator. Canada served as quarterbacks coach during the 2020 season, and Ben Roethlisberger finished with one of the lowest interception rates (1.6) and sack totals (13) of his career. As Teresa Varley of Steelers.com points out, Canada helped implement jet sweeps and pre-snap motions to the Steelers’ offense.
The Ravens have added D’Anton Lynn as their new defensive backs coach, per ESPN’s Jamison Hensley (via Twitter). The 31-year-old previously spent time on the Jets, Bills, Chargers, and Texans coaching staff, and he earned a promotion to Houston’s defensive backs coach for the 2020 campaign.
Press Taylor won’t be back in Philly next season. Mike Kaye of NJ.com reports (via Twitter) that the Eagles won’t be retaining their quarterbacks coach/passing game coordinator. The 33-year-old had been with the organization since the 2013 season, and after serving as QBs coach in 2018 and 2019, he took on the additional role of passing game coordinator in 2020. The Eagles passing game was dreadful this past season, ranking either 31st or 32nd in the NFL in passer rating, completion percentage, yards per attempt, and interceptions.
Doug Marrone is joining the Alabama coaching staff as offensive line coach, per a team announcement. Marrone, of course, spent the past four seasons as the Jaguars head coach, including a 2017 campaign that saw him make the AFC Championship. The 56-year-old has plenty of familiarity with new Crimson Tide offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien, as the two coaches worked alongside each other during their stints with Georgia Tech back in the 1990s.

NFC East Notes: Wentz, Smith, Cowboys

January 19th, 2021 at 7:29pm CST by Sam Robinson

Carson Wentz‘s status has fluctuated considerably over the past month and change, with the veteran quarterback having gone from starter to backup and then trade candidate to a player around whom the Eagles again want to build. The fifth-year passer’s issues with the since-fired Doug Pederson began well before the December benching, with the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Jeff McLane noting the quarterback would randomly audible out of Pederson play calls down the stretch this season. This helped lead to Pederson benching Wentz on his own. During training camp, however, Eagles staffers saw warning signs of a potential decline, per McLane, who adds that some within the organization were concerned about passing-game coordinator Press Taylor‘s promotion. The proposition of a Pederson-Wentz-Taylor offensive power structure returning next season did not sit well with Lurie. The Eagles promoted Taylor last year but brought in Rich Scangarello and Marty Mornhinweg to help the offense as well; the latter two will not be back next season.

The Eagles are in the process of hiring Pederson’s replacement. Colts OC Nick Sirianni and Cowboys OC Kellen Moore interviewed Tuesday. Here is the latest from Philly and the other NFC East cities:

Alex Smith said at season’s end he would take a few weeks before deciding if he wanted to play a 17th season. He is under contract through 2022. But the Washington quarterback indicated during a 60 Minutes interview (via CBSNews.com) that the 2020 comeback season “has only emboldened for me that I can, you know, play at this level.” After cutting Dwayne Haskins, Washington has Smith and Kyle Allen under contract for next season. Though, Taylor Heinicke is a restricted free agent. Washington cutting Smith — an onerous proposition in 2019 and ’20 — would save the franchise $14.7MM in cap space, however, creating a complex situation for the QB-needy team.
Cowboys wide receiver Amari Cooper recently underwent ankle surgery, but Clarence Hill of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram described it as a cleanup procedure (Twitter link). The Cowboys are not concerned about their top wideout missing much offseason time.
On that note, Giants left tackle Andrew Thomas also went under the knife recently. Last year’s No. 4 overall pick also underwent ankle surgery. Thomas played through ankle pain for much of the season, per Dan Duggan of The Athletic, who adds (via Twitter) the Giants expect Thomas to be ready for their offseason program.
The Eagles will have a new linebackers coach next season. Ken Flajole will not be back, according to Alex Marvez of Sirius XM Radio (on Twitter). The 66-year-old assistant joined the Eagles as part of Pederson’s first staff in 2016. After spending most of the 1980s and ’90s as a college coach, Flajole has been an NFL assistant for 22 seasons.

Eagles Promote Press Taylor

February 5th, 2020 at 11:21am CST by Zachary Links

The Eagles’ revamped coaching staff is starting to come together. This week, the Eagles promoted quarterbacks coach Press Taylor by tacking on the title of passing game coordinator, as Tom Pelissero of NFL.com tweets. The club is also set to hire former Broncos offensive coordinator Rich Scangarello for a staff position, Pelissero hears.

It’s not immediately clear what position Scangarello will occupy, or what this all means for the Eagles’ own OC vacancy. Scangarello served as the Broncos’ OC in 2019, but the results were not pretty. After finishing out as the No. 14 team in offensive DVOA in 2018, they regressed to 26th in the NFL. Still, as we’ve seen before, teams aren’t always looking at a coach’s latest results, and Scangarello rolled into Denver with plenty of hype thanks to his previous work in San Francisco.

Taylor, meanwhile, was being considered for the OC position as recently as January 31st. Although he hasn’t been explicitly ruled out for the post, his additional title seems to indicate that he’s no longer in the running for the job. Taylor, 32, has been on the Eagles’ staff since 2013 but has only served as a position coach for the last two years. He is perhaps best known for his role in the Eagles’ legendary “Philly Special” that helped them capture their long-awaited Super Bowl ring.

The Eagles fired Mike Groh just after their early playoff exit, despite previous comments from head coach Doug Pederson indicating that he’d be staying on board. Weeks later, the Eagles are still looking for his replacement.

Eagles Interview Press Taylor For OC

January 31st, 2020 at 4:24pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Eagles fired Mike Groh shortly after their first-round playoff loss but have taken their time in an effort to replace him. After three weeks, the position remains unfilled.

An internal candidate received a look for the job, however. Quarterbacks coach Press Taylor interviewed to replace Groh as OC, Tim McManus of ESPN.com reports.

Taylor is just 32 and has only been a position coach for two seasons, moving to the QBs coach role after John DeFilippo defected to the Vikings after the 2017 season. Taylor, though, has been on Philadelphia’s staff since 2013. He is credited with unearthing the “Philly Special” play that became a storied Eagles moment.

Philly’s offensive coordinator role is not as important as the position is elsewhere, with ex-Kansas City OC Doug Pederson calling the Eagles’ plays. But the team has met with USC OC Graham Harrell and had the likes of Jim Caldwell, Kevin O’Connell, Chiefs QBs coach Mike Kafka and Ravens QBs coach James Urban on their radar. Only Caldwell remains unattached. Harrell is staying at USC; the Rams hired O’Connell as their OC. Neither the Chiefs nor Ravens will allow their assistants to interview, with the position not expected to come with play-calling responsibilities.

NFC East Notes: Eagles, Redskins, Cowboys

February 13th, 2018 at 8:04pm CST by Ryan Posner

While the Eagles might not name an offensive coordinator, they have likely found their next quarterbacks coach. Assistant quarterbacks coach Press Taylor is expected to be promoted to the primary role, tweets Ian Rapoport of NFL.com. Taylor will replace John DeFilippo, who was hired as the Vikings’ new offensive coordinator over the weekend. The 30-year-old Taylor joined Philadelphia under former head coach Chip Kelly, but was kept on staff when Doug Pederson came aboard in 2016. Next season, he’ll work with a rehabbing Carson Wentz and — if he’s not traded — Super Bowl MVP/backup Nick Foles.

Here’s more from the NFC East:

Defensive back Su’a Cravens applied for reinstatement on Monday, and the Redskins are expected to meet with the former second-round pick at the combine, reports John Keim of ESPN.com. Cravens, of course, didn’t play in 2017 after “retiring” — and then reversing his decision — before the season began. One talent evaluator tells Keim Washington could likely recoup a third-round pick by trading Cravens — that is, if the versatile defender didn’t come with any off-field questions. Given his saga over the past six months or so, Cravens would likely garner far less than a Day 2 selection.
The Cowboys have yet to fill their vacant tight ends coach position, and the club has interviewed two other coaches about the role, according to Todd Archer of ESPN.com. Longtime collegiate offensive coordinator Doug Nussmeier (who recently took a job with LSU), and Brian Pariani, who has served as a tight ends coach for multiple NFL teams, are both in consideration for the job, per Archer. Dallas also lost one assistant today, as defensive staffer Turner West left the club to join Austin Peay, tweets Archer.
Dane Brugler of the Dallas Morning News identified six prospects the Cowboys may want to look into either trading up or down for in the first round of the draft. Atop the list of players to trade up for was Virginia Tech linebacker Tremaine Edmunds, whom Brugler believes would require the Cowboys, who hold the 19th overall pick, to move into the top 12 selections. Brugler also pointed to Alabama wide receiver Calvin Ridley and Washington defensive tackle Vita Vea as trade-up candidates. As for players to trade down for, of note was South Dakota State tight end Dallas Goedert, who Brugler believes the team could groom as a replacement for Jason Witten.
The Giants have several ways to open cap space this offseason and SNY’s Ralph Vacchiano goes over players who could end up being salary-cap cuts. Veterans Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie ($8.5MM cap hit in 2018), Brandon Marshall ($6.1MM cap hit), and Janoris Jenkins ($13MM) were the most notable of the potential cuts. Vacchiano also listed Eli Apple, who the team took in the first round of the 2016 draft, as an option to clear cap space. Apple would have a $4.13MM cap hit next season.

Coaching Rumors: Judge, Lions, Fins, Eagles

February 9th, 2018 at 3:44pm CST by Sam Robinson

Other teams besides the Colts were interested in adding Patriots special teams coach Joe Judge, Mike Reiss of ESPN.com reports, but Judge and the Pats are finalizing a deal that will keep him in New England. The 36-year-old assistant will be the team’s special teams coordinator for a fourth season. The sides are ironing out minor details, but Reiss reports the deal to retain Judge is imminent, as Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reported earlier this week. Judge was a possible defection candidate if McDaniels had followed through on taking the Colts’ HC job.

Here’s the latest from the coaching circuit as we head into the offseason’s first official weekend.

Staying with special teams, the Lions are not going to overhaul their ST staff as they did their defensive coaching contingent. ST coordinator Joe Marciano and assistant ST coach Devin Fitzimmons will return next season, Alex Marvez of the Sporting News reports. An NFL special teams coach since 1986, Marciano has been with the Lions since 2015.
Detroit continued to configure its defensive staff on Thursday, hiring Bo Davis to instruct its defensive linemen, the team announced. Davis will join the Lions after spending most of the past two decades on Nick Saban‘s staffs at LSU, the Dolphins and Alabama. However, Davis’ Crimson Tide tenure — one that included coaching current Lions lineman A’Shawn Robinson, ended in 2016 when he resigned from Alabama due to NCAA violations. Davis, however, resurfaced at Texas-San Antonio last season and coached first-round defensive end hopeful Marcus Davenport.
The Eagles have lost their quarterbacks coach, but they are prepared to fill the void internally. Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer expects the team to move receivers coach Mike Groh to quarterbacks coach and assistant quarterbacks coach Press Taylor to WRs coach (Twitter link).
Former Dolphins safety Renaldo Hill will now work with the team as a coach, being hired as Miami’s assistant defensive backs coach. The team notes this is the 10th former Dolphins player to serve as a Fins coach. Hill, who played 10 NFL seasons and spent three seasons (2006-08) in Miami, has coached at Wyoming and the University of Pittsburgh since 2012. This will be his first NFL coaching gig.
Prior to hiring Tom Bradley to be their new defensive backs coach, the Steelers interviewed South Florida DBs coach Blue Adams, Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette tweets. Mike Tomlin coached Adams while he was an assistant at the University of Cincinnati.
Despite the Texans blocking the Broncos from interviewing Wes Welker, the Broncos will see their six-year strength and conditioning coach depart for Houston. Luke Richesson will become the Texans’ strength coach, 9News’ Mike Klis reports, with the team set to give him a bigger role than he had in Denver.

Zach Links contributed to this report.