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.
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