The Jacksonville Jaguars are close to having a full staff under new head coach Doug Pederson. There’s only a few vacancies remaining on the team’s staff, though new roles could be added as well.
However, one of those offensive positions will be a crucial hire for Pederson, and that’s the receivers coach. The group was a disappointment in 2021 under prior coach Sanjay Lal, and its play limited the progress of rookie quarterback Trevor Lawrence.
Getting the hire right this time around is necessary, and there’s one candidate in particular that the Jags could (and should) consider, and he’s a coach who Jags fans may be familiar with.
David Culley’s tenure as the head coach of the Houston Texans ended in one year just like Urban Meyer’s did, but unlike Meyer, Culley maintains a solid reputation around the league. He also has worked with Pederson in the past in his stops in Philadelphia (before Pederson was a head coach) and Kansas City.
A long-time coach who has spent 45 years in the field (27 of them as an NFL assistant), there are fewer coaches more experienced than Culley. Much of that experience has been as a receivers coach, and given both his track record in coaching and reputation for building strong relationships with players, Culley could be a perfect candidate to join Pederson’s staff.
The Texans went just 4-13 in his one year at the helm, but that was arguably overachieving, especially considering the fact that quarterback Tyrod Taylor went down and had to be replaced with third-round rookie Davis Mills, who had arguably the best season of any first-year passer.
Bringing Culley on to the staff would not only give the Jags an experienced option to coach the position group that needs the most work, but it would also give Pederson an obvious candidate for an assistant head coach position. That’s a role that Culley also held under John Harbaugh in Baltimore before taking the Houston job.
Culley is well-liked by his players, a seasoned receivers coach and has head coaching experience, too, albeit for just one season. Pederson will likely consider other candidates as well, but it would be hard to make a better hire than Culley.
