Jaguars Expected To Hire Buffalo’s Heath Farwell As Special Teams Coach
A year after the Jacksonville Jaguars had a number of miscues on special teams, it appears new head coach Doug Pederson is making a change with a hire of his own.
According to NFL Network's Tom Pelissero, the Jaguars are expected to hire Buffalo Bills special teams coach Heath Farwell as Pederson's special teams coordinator.
A former linebacker and special teams ace for the Minnesota Vikings (2005-2010) and Seattle Seahawks (2011-2014), Farwell would replace Nick Sorensen a year after the Jaguars' special teams finished No. 31 in special teams DVOA and frequently allowed punt and kickoff return coverage busts.
Farwell was Seattle's assistant special teams coach from 2016-2017 before taking on the same role with the Carolina Panthers in 2018. In 2019, Farwell was named Sean McDermott's special teams coordinator in Buffalo.
During Farwell's three years in Buffalo, his units finished No. 21, No. 4 and No. 19 in special teams DVOA. According to SI.com's Rick Gosselin, the Bills had the eighth-best special teams unit in 2021 and 2020 and the 12th-best in 2019.
"That's obviously the big topic when it comes to the interview. As I look around the league and I even think about the staff that I worked with over -- and it evolved. It shaped itself over the five years there in Philadelphia," Pederson said about hiring a staff at his introductory press conference on Saturday. "At the end of the day, you find guys that you love coming to work with. And we all have the same common goal, to win games."
Pederson also reportedly selected former Cardinals and Broncos offensive coordinator and San Diego Chargers head coach Mike McCoy as quarterbacks coach. The most popular name that has been associated with offensive coordinator is Press Taylor, who is expected to join Pederson's staff in some capacity.
"We work together, and we're in place, as I mentioned earlier, to help the player to become the best version of himself. And that's how you end up winning the game through one player at a time. Staff is important," Pederson said.
"I love guys that are high energy guys because I'm going to be that way on the field, and guys that are great teachers and great communicators. It doesn't always have to be your best friend because there's some great coaches out there and there's some guys that -- it's just unfortunate, but there's only just so many spots on a coaching staff. You could fill them with a lot of good coaches."At the end of the day, I get the decision to make that choice, and through communication and, again, our process here, and that's who I want to surround myself with. It's an ongoing process now. Nothing is set. Nothing has been established. I'm going to be working on that here in the coming days."
