Over the course of the next few weeks, I'm going to examine some of the potential head coaching candidates for the soon to be vacant Jacksonville Jaguars head coaching position. First and foremost we'll look at the current Jaguars interim head coach, who is in position to "interview on the job" so to speak over the final five games of the season. Tucker hasn't really had the chance to show much in things such as the two-minute drill and clock management, because in the three games he's coached thus far they've all been blowouts.
As it stands, Tucker is 1-2 as the interim head coach, with the win and both losses both being blowouts. Tucker became the Jaguars "defensive coordinator" in 2009. I put defensive coordinator in quotes, because until the 2011 season the defense was mostly Jack Del Rio's baby. Tucker took over the play calling duties for the 2011 season and the defense wound up being ranked in the Top 10 for much of the season, even with the plethora of depth injuries and injuries to the starters later on.
The question is however, was the upswing in defense due to Mel Tucker finally calling the defense, or was it the influx of 5-6 new starters/contributors on the defense? The Jaguars added Paul Posluszny, Clint Session, Dawan Landry, Dwight Lowery, Matt Roth, and Drew Coleman in the offseason. All have been noticeable contributors when on the football field, replacing players that were directly responsible for the Jaguars having one of the worst defenses in the NFL in the 2010 season.
Tucker got his first chance as a play caller with the Ohio State Buckeyes as the co-defensive coordinator in 2004 after serving as the defensive backs coach from 2001-2003. Tucker moved to coach defensive backs for the Cleveland Browns from 2005-2007 under then head coach Romeo Crennel. In 2008, Tucker was promoted to take over as the defensive coordinator after Todd Grantham was fired. With Tucker, the Browns defense ranked 5th in the NFL. Tucker was replaced by Rob Ryan in 2009 when Crennel was fired.