The Jacksonville Jaguars have received plenty of praise for their hiring of defensive coordinator Ryan Nielsen last month. This week, some of his former players made it clear why.
One of the players to heap praise on Nielsen is New Orleans Saints inside linebacker Demario Davis, who spent several years with Nielsen in New Orleans as he served as the defensive line coach and eventually co-defensive coordinator.
“Coach Nielsen is a phenomenal coach, a phenomenal defensive mind. Definitely made our defense better, especially from a front-seven standpoint," Davis told Juston Lewis of the Florida Times-Union at the Pro Bowl in Orlando.
"I don’t know if there’s a better coach in the game, not to take anything away from anybody, but I think anybody who’s played on his defensive line just understands from a technique standpoint, from an intensity standpoint, from a detail standpoint.”
Nielsen, who just spent his first year as defensive coordinator for the Atlanta Falcons, was one of the Jaguars' early targets before the Falcons blocked their interview request. Eventually, the Falcons lifted the restriction, ultimately leading to Nielsen becoming Pederson's new defensive coordinator.
Nielsen, 44, just finished his first year with the Falcons as defensive coordinator, with the Falcons finishing No. 18 in points allowed, No. 12 in EPA/Play, No. 5 in success rate, and No. 1 in rushing EPA/Play.
Nielsen has been in the NFL since 2017, when the New Orleans Saints hired him from NC State. After four years as the Saints' defensive line coach, Nielsen was promoted to assistant head coach in 2021 and then co-defensive coordinator in 2022. Nielsen was also looked at by LSU as a defensive coordinator candidate in 2021.
"Well, schematically there's going to be a change. It's not going to necessarily affect the type of personnel we look for. The thing that’s are neat is the preparation that Ryan had put in to getting ready for the interview, knowing our roster the way he did, talking through how he sees those pieces being utilized in his defense," Jaguars general manager Trent Baalke said last month.
"That was impressive, especially for a guy that was on vacation down at Disneyland with his family and we yanked him up here from there. So, just his presence, his command within the room, the synergy he had with the group that was in there, his attention to detail, the two-way relationships that he's been able to establish, and really the fact that no matter who you talk to they had nothing but positive things to say about him. Then you bring him in and everything that you heard comes to life. So, really excited about the hire and looking forward to working with him.”
The Jaguars started looking for a new defensive coordinator after firing former coordinator Mike Caldwell the day after the 2023 season ended. The Jaguars also fired seven other defensive assistants, leaving only three of Pederson's 11 defensive staff members left.
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