Report: Jaguars should hire Darrell Bevell as offensive coordinator

The Jacksonville Jaguars have reportedly found the team’s new offensive coordinator. According to NFL Network Tom Pelissero and Mike Garafolo, head coach Urban Meyer will call on Darrell Bevell to lead the offense.

Meyer recently said he won’t be calling the games, so the duty will likely fall on Bevell, and Meyer has also focused on building an “elite” staff. Bevell will be the team’s fourth offensive coordinator in the past four seasons.

“I’m not going to be the player who calls,” Meyer said during his introductory press conference. “I have been very active in calls to play throughout my career in attacking and (the) kicking game. In defense, I am not. I will hire the best defensive coaches. I think something that I did half decent is know what it looks like and what it looks like and the fundamentals, but basically the NFL is different.

Bevell recently spent time with the Detroit Lions as offensive coordinator and ultimately interim head coach after Matt Patricia was fired after Thanksgiving. Under Bevell in 2020, the Lions placed squarely in the middle of the pack in offensive DVOA, placing 16th, according to Football Outsiders.

Detroit ranked 20th for total yards per game (350.2), 10th for passing yards per game (256.5), 30th for rushing yards per game (93.7) and 20th for points scored per game (23.6)

Our friends at Pride of Detroit had this to say about Bevell’s 2020 season:

Bevell made a quick impression in Detroit after taking a year off in 2018. He appeared to revive Matthew Stafford’s career, allowing him to release the deep ball once again. Although Stafford was not so brilliant in 2020, Bevell again impressed by taking over as interim head coach for the last five games of the season. Although Detroit went 1-4 in those games, the squad was noticeably more loose and energetic on play days. Plus, once head coach Matt Patricia left, gunslinger Matthew Stafford returned.

Prior to his move to Detroit, Bevell spent several seasons with the Seattle Seahawks from 2011 to 2017. He helped prepare Russell Wilson, and was the playmaker for a Seattle team that made five consecutive playoff appearances. playoffs, two Super Bowl appearances and won one Super Bowl Championship.

Of course, Bevell will always be remembered for the play call in Super Bowl XLIX against the New England Patriots, when instead of giving the ball to Marshawn Lynch at the yard line with 26 seconds to do (and a timeout on the left), Bevell called a skinny post on a set of two receivers (which head coach Pete Carroll approved). The result was an interception by Malcolm Butler on Wilson’s pass, which sealed the victory for the Patriots. Overall, though, Bevell had a pretty successful run with the Seahawks, and I personally don’t think a single play call should derail that.

Prior to traveling to Seattle, Bevell was the offensive coordinator for the Minnesota Vikings from 2006 to 2010. He also served as a quarterback coach for the Green Bay Packers from 2003 to 2005 and an assistant quarterback coach with Green Bay from 2000 to 2002.

In addition to his coaching experience in the NFL, which will be invaluable to Meyer during his first year in the NFL, Bevell also has college coaching experience. He began his coaching career in 1996 at Westmar University in Iowa in 1996 as a passing coordinator and quarterbacks coach. He then took a graduate assistant role at Iowa State in 1997, and moved to Connecticut in 1998 and 1999 as a catcher’s coach.

Bevell played college football for the Wisconsin Badgers in the 1990s and was the team’s starting quarterback from 1992 to 1995.

Bevell will likely now have the chance to work with No. 1 pick Trevor Lawrence in 2021.

Jacksonville has also reportedly found its defensive coordinator in Joe Cullen.