The Jacksonville Jaguars have been one of the best stories in the NFL this season. Jacksonville is 4-1 after a thrilling comeback win against Kansas City on Monday Night Football. Now one of their coordinators is already being talked about as a sneaky head coaching candidate.
Jaguars defensive coordinator Anthony Campanile has emerged as a “sleeper” head coach candidate, per ESPN's Jeremy Fowler.
“From the sleeper candidate files, it's hard to ignore what Jaguars defensive coordinator Anthony Campanile is doing,” Fowler wrote on Wednesday. “Jacksonville leads the NFL in turnovers created (14) by a wide margin.”
Campanile has helped turn the league's second-worst defense in 2024 into a great unit essentially overnight. That is impressive for a first-year defensive coordinator.
Fowler noted that Campanile's defense was not perfect against the Chiefs, allowing 476 total yards. However, they showed up during high-leverage plays that changed the game. Devin Lloyd's 99-yard pick-six is the perfect example.
Fowler compared Campanile to Mike Vrabel in terms of what he could offer as a head coach. He could get a few looks if teams are interested in a defensive-minded head coach this spring.
“I'm really intrigued by the young defensive coaches this season,” Fowler concluded. “We highlighted that a few weeks ago with Minter, the Packers' Jeff Hafley and the Rams' Chris Shula. Add Campanile into the mix. He has juice.”
Liam Coen's blunt assessment of Jaguars defense after Week 5
Jaguars head coach Liam Coen would still like to see more from his team's defense.
Coen delivered a blunt assessment of his defense on Tuesday after Monday's improbable win.
“Yeah, I don't think we were great. I do think we were at times effective,” Coen said. “The frustrating thing was we let him get out too many times. I do think that there was some moments like when we were able to pressure him, I think we were able to get a little bit more. But I did think Smoot [DE Dawuane Smoot] was active in the rush. I thought he might have got grabbed a few times when he had maybe some clear lanes to the quarterback or he was going to go make a play. I do think they played their tails off up front. We just didn't really affect him maybe as much as we would've liked to going into the plan.”
Jacksonville was without Travon Walker on Monday, which could be part of why they gave up so many yards. They also went against one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL in Patrick Mahomes.
Either way, Coen is holding his staff to a high standard even though the wins are piling up quickly.
Next up for the Jaguars is a Week 6 matchup against the Seahawks.
