Bernie Parmalee enters his second season as running backs coach with the Jaguars in 2022.
In 2021, Parmalee helped RB James Robinson register a team-high 989 scrimmage yards and eight TDs. In Robinson's first two seasons in the NFL, he has posted 2,403 scrimmage yards and 1,837 rushing yards, which both stand as the third most-most in franchise history through a player's first 28 games.
Parmalee coached the running backs for the Atlanta Falcons in 2020, helping RB Todd Gurley rush 195 times for 678 yards and nine TDs in his first season with the team. RB Brian Hill rushed for a career-high 465 yards with Atlanta, including a career-best 94 rushing yards in the season finale. He added special teams coordinator duties following Week 5. K Younghoe Koo earned Pro Bowl honors in 2020 under Parmalee's guidance.
In 2019, Parmalee started the year as special teams assistant/offensive assistant with the Falcons, and after several coaching changes during the Bye Week, he was moved to running backs coach. The team averaged 3.8 yards per carry in the last eight games of the season and totaled 813 yards and seven TDs. Parmalee also worked with RB Qadree Ollison in his first season in the NFL, who tallied four rushing TDs.
In 2018, Parmalee tutored the running backs in Atlanta, and the team averaged 4.5 yards per carry and totaled 1,573 rushing yards and 11 TDs. Parmalee coached RB Ito Smith in his first season in the NFL, where he tallied four rushing TDs, the most rushing TDs by a Falcons rookie since 2002.
He originally joined the Falcons after spending three years with the Oakland Raiders as the running backs coach (2015-17). During his three seasons with the Raiders, the team averaged 4.2 yards per carry and tallied 4,933 rushing yards with 37 TDs. In 2015, he coached RB Latavius Murray who crossed the 1,000-yard mark for the first time in his career. Murray and FB Marcel Reese both earned Pro Bowl nods in Parmalee's first year at the helm in Oakland. In 2016, the Raiders' rushing attack ranked near the top of the league, finishing sixth in the NFL in rushing yards per game (120.1), and Parmalee's backfield amassed 20 total TDs.
Parmalee served as the tight ends coach for three seasons with the Kansas City Chiefs from 2010-12. In his first season with Kansas City, he developed TE Tony Moeaki, who caught 47 passes, the top mark by a rookie tight end in Chiefs history. Under his direction, Moeaki also finished with 556 receiving yards, trailing only TE Walter White (559) for the best total by a rookie tight end in club annals. In 2012, Moaeki finished second on the team with 453 receiving yards, behind only WR Dwayne Bowe.
Prior to working with the Chiefs, he spent time coaching at Notre Dame (2005-09) and the Miami Dolphins (2002-04). He played nine seasons in the NFL as a running back with the Miami Dolphins (1992-98), including two seasons as a teammate of Jaguars Head Coach Doug Pederson, and the New York Jets (1999-2000). After entering the NFL as an undrafted free agent with Miami, he played in 134 games (26 starts), recording 567 rushes for 2,179 yards and 17 TDs. He attended Ball State, where he finished his collegiate career as the all-time leading rusher in school history, tallying 3,483 rushing yards and 26 TDs.
He attended Lincoln High School in Jersey City, N.J. and earned varsity letters in football and baseball. He and his wife, Angela, have three children, Tré, Nakia Marie and Torian.
