Fred Taylor interested in becoming Jaguars RBs coach: 3 reasons he's the right choice
• The Jaguars need a new RBs coach after firing Bernie Parmalee. Here are 3 reasons Fred Taylor may be the best candidate for the job
The Jacksonville Jaguars hit the reset button on defense, parting ways with defensive coordinator Mike Caldwell and most assistants on that side of the ball. However, they only cut ties with two offensive coaches, running backs coach Bernie Parmalee and assistant offensive line Todd Washington. Once legend Fred Taylor caught wind that there was an opening for the running backs coach job, he made it known that he was interested.
Not long after the Jags announced that they had moved on from Parmalee, Tylor responded on social media that he heard there was an opening and added the eyes emoji. Based on the responses, it looks like fans would welcome the hire.
Someone said the @jaguars running backs job was vacant… 👀
— Fred Taylor (@FredTaylorMade) January 9, 2024
All things considered, Parmalee's dismissal might not have been deserved. While rookie Tank Bigsby struggled in his rookie season, it seems like he wasn't fully confident in his own skill set. Parmalee didn't have anything to do with that. On the other hand, he's made Travis Etienne, the 25th overall pick in the 2021 draft, better.
Even though Etienne totaled 1,441 yards from scrimmage in his sophomore campaign, he fumbled five times. Under Parmalee's tutelage, he saw an improvement, cutting down the number to zero. You could argue that the former Clemson Tiger saw a drop in his yard-per-carry average from 5.1 in 2022 to 3.8 last year. However, that was the result of running behind a porous offensive line that couldn't hold ground at the point of attack.
Parmalee also turned James Robinson into a more productive running back. One year after crossing the 1,000-yard mark as an undrafted free agent, the former Illinios State Redbird saw his yard-per-carry average go up under Parmalee. Had he not been benched by Urban Meyer and torn his Achilles near the end of the 2021 season, he would probably have had an even better in his second year in the NFL.
In the end though, the Jaguars felt like Parmalee played a role on the team's inability to run in the second half of the season. Now, they'll need to look for an upgrade for their running backs job, and there might not be a better candidate than Fred Taylor.