It was reported Tuesday morning by SNY’s Connor Hughes that Taylor Embree will not return as the running backs coach for the New York Jets. So far, via various reports, two early names have popped up to fill the vacancy to coach Breece Hall and the other running backs. Those candidates include former Panthers running back coach Duce Staley and Tony Dew, who spent 2023 as the tight ends coach for the Tennessee Titans. Let’s take a look at these two candidates.
Duce Staley
Staley just wrapped up his 13th season as an NFL coach, 11 of them coaching running backs. He started his coaching career in 2011 under Andy Reid with the Philadelphia Eagles as a special teams quality control coach before moving to the running backs in 2013 under then-head coach Chip Kelly. Staley would remain in Philadelphia through Kelly’s three years and was retained by Doug Pederson in 2016 and was a part of the Eagles team that won Super Bowl LII. Staley was also given the title of assistant head coach in 2018 before Pederson was fired in 2020.
In 2021, Staley was tabbed by Lions head coach Dan Campbell to coach the running backs and was also assistant head coach. Staley then held the same title in 2023 with the Carolina Panthers under head coach Frank Reich and interim head coach Chris Tabor.
There were initial rumblings that Staley would be joining the Cleveland Browns and head coach Kevin Stefanski, but the Jets are reportedly still in the mix and Staley had dinner and visited the Jets’ facility last week.
Staley played in the NFL for ten seasons — seven in Philadelphia, three in Pittsburgh.
Tony Dews
Dews has built plenty of coaching experience across multiple positions and on both sides of the football. Dews has coached the offensive line, defensive line, defensive backs, tight ends, wide receivers, special teams and running backs. Last season was the first season Dews coached tight ends for the Tennessee Titans after five seasons coaching the Titans’ running backs, including one Derrick Henry. With the Titans hiring Bengals offensive coordinator Brian Callahan as head coach, Dews could be on the move and available for the Jets. He is interviewing for the job, per Turron Davenport of ESPN.
Dews’ coaching timeline:
1998 – Defensive line, Millersville University (PA)
1999-2001 – Graduate assistant/offensive line/defensive backs, West Virginia
2002 – Offensive line, California (PA)
2003 – Defensive line, Holy Cross
2004-2005 – Tight ends/special teams, Central Michigan
2006 – Linebackers/special teams, UNLV
2007 – Wide receivers, West Virginia
2008-2010 – Wide receivers/punt team coordinator, Michigan
2011 – Tight ends/recruiting coordinator, Pittsburgh
2012-2016 – Wide receivers, Arizona
2017 – Running backs, West Virginia
2018-2022 – Running backs, Tennessee Titans
2023 – Tight ends, Tennessee Titans
