Tampa Bay Buccaneers Mike Caldwell hired as Jaguars DC

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have lost one of their more experienced assistant coaches. Per Mike Garafolo the Jacksonville Jaguars have hired Bucs inside linebackers coach Mike Caldwell to be their defensive coordinator under new head coach Doug Pederson.

A third round draft pick in 1993, Caldwell played 11 years in the NFL before making the transition to an assistant coach in 2008 under Andy Reid in Philadelphia afterwards have stints on Bruce Arians staff in Arizona in 2013 to 2014, Todd Bowles staff with the Jets from 2015 to 2018 and would finally join Bruce Arians staff in Tampa from 2019 to 2021.

Caldwell has a long History with Pederson, Arians, and Bowles and is liked by players and coaches alike so while a move like this is not very surprising given Caldwell’s experience, it will still be difficult to replace one of the teams more veteran assistant coaches. One name the Bucs could turn to is current outside linebackers coach Larry Foote who spent time as the Cardinals inside linebackers coach under Arians. The Bucs may also look to bring in Bob Sanders who also served as a linebackers coach under Arians in Arizona as well.

Another interesting factor to consider is the development of Devin White and how his growth could be affected with a change at the coaching position. Many believe White struggled during the 2021 season and a change of coach could improve the young linebackers growth and development, or make for a setback early on in his career.