JACKSONVILLE – The Jaguars' offense will be about collaboration.
Offensive coordinator Press Taylor will be at the head of that collaboration, a point Jaguars Head Coach Doug Pederson made clear Friday morning.
"Everything will run through Press Taylor; he is the offensive coordinator," Pederson said Friday at a media availability introducing Taylor and defensive coordinator Mike Caldwell, key figures in Pederson's 2022 coaching staff.
"Between he and I, we'll make the final decisions on everything we do offensively."
Taylor, 34, a 10-year NFL coaching veteran, spent last season as a senior offensive assistant for the Indianapolis Colts. This is his first coordinator position in the NFL.
Pederson, who called plays as the head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles from 2016-2020, will continue to do so with the Jaguars – a point he reiterated Friday. Taylor was on the Eagles' staff throughout Pederson's tenure there, serving as quarterbacks coach from 2018-2019 and quarterbacks coach/passing-game coordinator in 2020.
"We've had a lot of conversations over five years," Taylor said of Pederson. "We've sat in a lot of rooms speaking the same language in terms of our terminology offensively. We grew comfortable with how we like to attack things, or how we like to respond to things or what we call things. That's a big thing."
The Jaguars also on Thursday announced the hiring of 10 other offensive assistants: Jim Bob Cooter pass-game coordinator, Mike McCoy quarterbacks, Phil Rauscher offensive line, Chris Jackson wide receivers, Richard Angulo tight ends, Bernie Parmalee running backs, Andrew Breiner assistant quarterbacks, Will Harriger offensive assistant, Todd Washington offensive line assistant and Nick Williams offensive quality control.
"It's exciting, bringing different personalities and different experiences together to build the best possible offense," Taylor said. "We didn't take Doug's Eagles playbook, roll it out on the table and say, 'This is what we do.' We said, 'Here are our experiences. What do you guys do well?'
"We're combining everybody together to build the best offense. That can only work if everybody puts their ego aside and is truly in it to do what is best for the Jacksonville Jaguars at the time. That was a big part of the hiring process, trying to figure the personalities we're getting and being specific in what we wanted and put ourselves in position where everybody's goal is to do what's best for the Jacksonville Jaguars."
Pederson on Friday on multiple occasions discussed a collaborative approach to game planning, saying Cooter and McCoy – both of whom have NFL coordinating experience – will be involved. He added on that on game day, "It's me and Press."
"We're sitting there talking," Pederson said. "He's giving me ideas and suggestions. At the end of the day, it's coming together and making the right call at the right time. It takes all of us to get done."
Key to those conversations: quarterback Trevor Lawrence, the No. 1 overall selection in the 2022 NFL Draft. Lawrence threw 12 touchdowns and 17 interceptions last season, and the Jaguars' staff features four coaches – Pederson, Taylor, McCoy and Cooter – who played the position and who have coached quarterbacks at the NFL level.
"I'm very excited about the opportunity to work with Trevor; all of us are," Taylor said. "When you mentioned that there was an opportunity with the Jaguars, everybody talks about Trevor Lawrence, the character he has. The way he handled adversity, success, ownership of certain things … that was very impressive to me."
Taylor will coordinate an offense that has struggled in recent seasons, ranking between Nos. 26-32 in points and Nos. 20-28 the last four seasons since ranking fifth in points and sixth in yards in 2017. They ranked 32nd in points and 27th in yards last season while committing 29 turnovers.
Pederson said he long has believed Taylor would be capable of handling such responsibility.
"I just kind of kept listening to him, giving him more responsibility every year I was a head coach," Pederson said. "He's highly intelligent, very smart and he's detailed. He's organized. You always have the coaches you keep your eye on. He was always one of those guys for me. I knew that one day he was going to be an offensive coordinator. I felt in my heart that he could be.
"I was going to eventually make him a coordinator possibility in Philadelphia and things changed. I'm excited because of the working relationship we've had, how we think alike, how we bounce ideas off each other and looking forward to watching him flourish from here."
