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Michael DiRocco, ESPN Staff Writer
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The Jaguars are set to hire Ryan Nielsen as their new defensive coordinator, league sources told ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
Nielsen spent the past season as the Atlanta Falcons’ defensive coordinator after spending the previous six seasons with New Orleans as a defensive line coach, assistant head coach and co-defensive coordinator.
Nielsen replaces Mike Caldwell, whom head coach Doug Pederson fired the day after the 2023 season ended.
The Falcons’ defense improved markedly from 2022 in Nielsen’s only season, finishing in the top 10 in the NFL in passing, third down and red zone. Atlanta was third in third-down defense (33.8%) and fourth in red zone defense (45.3%).
The Falcons also doubled their sack total under Nielsen, going from 21 in 2022 to 42 last season. Atlanta also played the highest percentage of man coverage in the NFL in 2023 (63.8%), per ESPN Stats & Information data.
Nielsen was available after Falcons owner Arthur Blank fired head coach Arthur Smith on Jan. 8. Nielsen began his coaching career as a volunteer assistant at USC in 2002 and had stops at five other colleges before joining the Saints as defensive line coach in 2017. Nielsen was co-defensive coordinator at Central Connecticut State (2008-09) and co-defensive coordinator at Northern Illinois (2012).
Pederson hired Caldwell in 2022 as a first-time coordinator after Caldwell spent the previous three seasons under Todd Bowles as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ inside linebackers coach. The Jaguars did show improvement from 2021 in some areas in Caldwell’s first season, but that didn’t continue into 2023, and the defense played a significant role in the team’s collapse after an 8-3 start.
The Jaguars lost five of their final six games and gave up an average of 29.2 points and 146.8 rushing yards per game in the five losses. The only victory was a 26-0 shutout of Carolina, which finished with the worst record in the NFL.
