A day after former Jacksonville Jaguars defensive coordinator Mike Caldwell joined the Las Vegas Raiders, another prominent Jaguars assistant has taken on a new role.
According to Jordan Schultz of Bleacher Report, Townsend will be the Detroit Lions’ next passing game coordinator, reporting directly to defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn and head coach Dan Campbell.
Townsend, who had been the Jaguars’ passing game coordinator and cornerbacks coach for the previous two years, was fired the day after the team’s 2023 season ended, along with Defensive Line Coach Brentson Buckner, Defensive Quality Control Coach Sean Cullina, Inside Linebackers Coach Tony Gilbert, Safeties Coach Cody Grimm, Defensive Quality Control Coach Tee Mitchell, Senior Defensive Assistant Bob Sutton, and Caldwell.
All coaches except Sutton and Gilbert were hired by Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson in 2022. Sutton and Gilbert were retained from previous coaching staffs.
After starting the season on fire for the first eight weeks, the Jaguars’ defense surrendered 30 points or more in four of their six losses in the second half, including two such games against Jake Browning and Joe Flacco.
Pederson, the Jaguars’ head coach, lamented missed defensive assignments and tackles during the team’s 1-5 slide over the last six games. This resulted in the Jaguars giving up 28 points to the Tennessee Titans in their season-ending loss, including 21 first-half scores and more than eight yards per rush.
“We finished eighth in run defense, with just over a hundred and some yards. When you look at where we were in the first nine or ten games of the year vs where we finished up, a large portion of it broke apart. “There was a significant drop-off,” Jaguars general manager Trent Baalke stated this week.
“Why? There are other factors at play here. Players learned to trust one another. When you start looking for plays and answers, whether it’s coaches looking for answers or players looking to make plays without adhering to the defense’s system, that’s all it takes for an explosive play.
We gave up much too many explosive plays during the season, and we didn’t protect the ball. We did not take the ball away. There are numerous factors that contribute to this.
We believe we have some good players, and we demonstrated that in the first ten games. We weren’t able to consistently stop the run in the end, so we need to look into why.”
