Jacksonville Jaguars restore Mel Tucker’s defensive coaching title following confirming his stay
Mel Tucker, who has been in the head coaching role for the Jacksonville Jaguars since the departure of their former coach, Del Rio, on November 29, 2011, has been reinstated to his previous position by the team management after confirming the end of his
ambitions of moving to another team in the National Football League (NFL).
Rio was sacked by Jaguars' former owner, Wayne Weaver, following the team's dismal performance in the initial phase of the 2011 NFL regular season along with a persistent wave of criticism against the coach.
This was the day Weaver announced to sell the franchise to Shad Khan, the Pakistan-born American businessman, in a $770 million blockbuster deal.
However, before his departure, Weaver promoted Tucker from his defensive co-ordination duties to take over as a head coach until hiring a new full-time coach.
Tucker coached Jacksonville for the last five games of the season and ended with a record of two wins and three losses (2-3).
He however, did not reshuffle the side as much except for a couple of changes in the line-up and assistant coaching staff.
About a week after Khan took over the team, following clearance of a number of regulatory hurdles, on January 04, 2012, the management announced hiring a new head coach who was Atlanta Falcons' offensive co-ordinator, Mike Mularkey.
The move obviously forced Mel Tucker to think of his future.
He had options of either staying with Jacksonville while being restored to his defensive coaching role or pursuing better prospects elsewhere around the league.
Some reports even hinted such speculations, which have now died down due to self-confirmation by the defensive coach.
Among a couple of teams mentioned to be his prospective places, Minnesota Vikings emerged to be leading all prospective sides for him to fulfil his aspirations.
The team however, wanted him to accept a role very similar to what he had been performing earlier at the Jaguars, which was a defensive coaching job.
As of the latest, the coach has turned down the offer and preferred to stay with Jacksonville, continuing to perform the defensive coaching duties.
The team management has apparently welcomed his decision of sticking with the franchise and has restored him to his previous title of the defensive co-ordinator.
Tucker’s news coincides with the reports indicating that the Jacksonville Jaguars are targeting Atlanta Falcons' quarterbacks' coach, Bob Bratkowski, to accept an offensive coaching role with them.
With the defensive and offensive assistant coaches in place, the side is expected to go for further reshuffling as part of their rebuilding process, which, according to the new owner, is aimed at turning around the side to be a consistent winner on the field.
There is still no confirmation as of yet if Bratkowski has accepted the Jacksonville offer, but developments on the situation are expected in upcoming days.
Tags: