Less than a day after hiring Grant Udinski as their offensive coordinator at midnight, the Jacksonville Jaguars added Shane Waldron to their coaching staff. However, they weren't done making moves. Right after bringing in Waldron, the Jags poached tight ends coach and pass game assistant John Van Dam from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reported that Jacksonville hired Van Dam for the same role he held in Tampa Bay, making him the second member of the Buccaneers staff they've hired this offseason. The other was head coach Liam Coen, their offensive coordinator last year.
The #Jaguars are hiring John Van Dam as pass game specialist, source said. He previously held the same title and has been TEs coach for the #Bucs.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) February 6, 2025
It’s the first hire of a Tampa Bay coach by Liam Coen, as Van Dam had allowed his contract to expire.
Van Dam began his coaching career at Division II's Augustana South Dakota. He worked his way up the ranks and became the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Lafayette before making the leap to the pros in 2019.
That year, Van Dam joined the Bucs as an offensive quality control coach before getting promoted to assistant tight ends coach in 2022 and tight ends coach one year later. Then, in the 2024 offseason, pass game assistant was added to responsibilities.
In Jacksonville, Van Dam will only serve as the pass game specialist, as Coen kept tight ends coach Richard Angulo in his staff. Nevertheless, his experience could come in handy, as he mentored Cade Otton the past two years, and the tight end went on to become an integral piece of the Buccaneers offense.
Maybe Van Dam can have the same impact for Brenton Strange and Evan Engram while assisting Angulo.
As noted before, Van Dam is the first coach from the Buccaneers staff the Jags have successfully lured away. They wanted to interview assistants Brian Picucci and Kevin Carberry for their offensive line coach position, but both requests were blocked.
The Jaguars coaching staff is quickly taking shape after hiring Grant Udinski
When Nate Scheelhaase withdrew his name for consideration for the offensive coordinator position with the Jacksonville Jaguars, it looked like the search would go off the rails, but they quickly turned their attention to Grant Udinski and proceeded to add Shane Waldron and John Van Dam.
You could make the case that Liam Coen's staff is lacking experience, but that's where Shane Waldron comes in. He's got ample experience, even if he flamed out in his last season with the Seattle Seahawks and was scapegoated with the Chicago Bears.
Moreover, experience doesn't guarantee success. The Jaguars could've reached out to retreats, but they instead identified a few coaches who have quickly risen through the ranks. Granted, Coen and his staff will probably experience a few growing pains along the way. That's expected from a young team. However, Jacksonville should be fine once it hits its stride.
All things considered, it's refreshing to see the Jaguars undergoing a youth movement. Whether that translates to wins remains to be seen, but there's most definitely lots of upside in Liam Coen's staff and plenty of reasons to think he'll steer the ship in the right direction.