New Jacksonville Jaguars coach Doug Pederson has chosen a familiar face to lead the team's offense.
The Jaguars have agreed to terms with Press Taylor as their new offensive coordinator, NFL Network's Tom Pelissero reported Thursday.
Taylor, 34, worked under Pederson with the Philadelphia Eagles and was part of the staff that won Super Bowl LII. The brother of Cincinnati Bengals coach Zac Taylor left the Eagles after the 2020 season and spent last year as a senior offensive assistant with the Indianapolis Colts.
Taylor got his start in Philadelphia as an offensive quality control role in 2013. Upon Pederson's arrival as head coach in 2016, he steadily promoted Taylor from quality control to assistant quarterbacks coach and then to quarterbacks coach. In Pederson's last season, 2020, Taylor also held the title of passing game coordinator. Now, he steps into his first role as a full-fledged offensive coordinator.
"I think Press is one of the sharpest coaches in this league," Zac Taylor said Monday, per NJ.com. "I speak to him, almost on a daily basis. Of course, I'm his brother and I believe that but just the people he's worked with, they all want to continue to hire him."
Having worked with former No. 2 overall draft pick Carson Wentz in Philadelphia, he now will look to develop the Jaguars' quarterback of the future in Trevor Lawrence, the No. 1 overall pick of the 2021 NFL Draft.
Lawrence struggled as a rookie, particularly with turnovers, but he was often poorly protected by his offensive line, while his receiving corps struggled to get open consistently. It was against Taylor's Colts, however, that Lawrence engineered a 26-11 season-ending win to close his rookie campaign on a positive note. Be it through free agency or the draft, the Jacksonville offense needs significant re-tooling around its young passer.
For now, however, it's the coaching staff that's falling into place.
