Ryan Stamper

Jaguars Make Several Front Office Moves

The Jaguars have made a number of updates to their front office staff this week, per Neil Stratton of SucceedinFootball.com. These updates included five promotions, a move to different role, and one new hire.

John Stevenson, Ryan Stamper, Tyler Walker, Mickeel Stewart, and Holden McAbee are the recipients of the promotions. Stevenson has spent the past three years as a national scout for the Jaguars after six years in San Francisco. He’ll now serve as assistant director of college scouting. Stamper will take Stevenson’s old role of national scout after previously serving as director of player assessment. This will be his fourth season with Jacksonville after joining from Ohio State.

Walker, Stewart, and McAbee have all been promoted to college scouts. Walker has spent the last three years as a scouting assistant after time at Oregon. Similarly, Stewart was a scouting assistant, joining the team in 2022 after a little over a year at West Virginia. McAbee also moves up from a scouting assistant role he’s held for two years. He previously served as director of player personnel at Gardner-Webb University.

After 17 years with the Jaguars working in college scouting, Jason DesJarlais will become a pro scout. He joined the team in 2006 as a scouting intern before moving into a role as the BLESTO scout for the southeast and midwest areas. Prior to his time in Duval, DesJarlais was a special teams coordinator and defensive assistant at Yale.

The new hire in the group is Max Rosenthal. After a playing career as a fullback and tight end at Michigan State and Illinois, Rosenthal worked as an offensive and special teams quality control coach with the Illini, helping out specifically with the tight ends group. Now he makes his way to Jacksonville for a scouting assistant position, filling one of the roles vacated by Walker, Stewart, and McAbee.

Latest On Jaguars Coaching Staff

With Urban Meyer officially joining the Jaguars as their new head coach, his staff is beginning to take shape. One name that has emerged as an offensive coordinator candidate is Scott Linehan, according to Todd Archer and Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com (on Twitter). NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport echoes this sentiment (on Twitter), noting that Linehan “is the favorite” for the gig.

The 57-year-old Linehan has had a long coaching career, including a stint as the head coach of the Rams. He’s been an offensive coordinator with four different organizations (Vikings, Dolphins, Lions, Cowboys), and his most recent NFL gig saw him leading the offense in Dallas. After spending a year away from football in 2019, Linehan served as the passing-game coordinator for LSU in 2020.

While Meyer and Linehan have never worked alongside each other, their lengthy stints in the collegiate ranks has established a camaraderie between the two (per Fowler).

Let’s check out more coaching notes out of Jacksonville…

  • For the defensive coordinator vacancy, Meyer is eyeing Ravens defensive line coach Joe Cullen, with Rapoport describing Cullen as the “top target.” Cullen actually served as the Jaguars defensive line coach from 2010 and 2012. Following brief stints with the Browns and Buccaneers, the coach found a home in Baltimore. The 53-year-old has served as Baltimore’s defensive line coach since 2016, and he’s played a major role in the development of Brandon Williams, Michael Pierce, and Timmy Jernigan.
  • Ryan Stamper will be joining the Jaguars as director of player assessment, per Pete Thamel of Yahoo (on Twitter). Stamper, a Jacksonville native, has spent the past nine years serving as the ‘assistant athletic director, player development’ with Ohio State. Meyer, who served as Ohio State’s head coach from 2012 through 2018, had previously made it clear that we wouldn’t poach the Buckeyes’ staff, but Stamper was apparently an exception. Stamper also played for Meyer at Florida.
  • Charlie Strong is heading to Jacksonville, likely as the team’s linebackers coach, per Brett McMurphy of Stadium (via Twitter). Following stints as head coach of Louisville, Texas, and South Florida, the 60-year-old Strong spent the 2020 season serving as a defensive analyst for Alabama.