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‘Nothing cheap and nothing deep': 5 takeaways from Jaguars DC Ryan Nielsen's intro presser
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- ‘Nothing cheap and nothing deep': 5 takeaways from Jaguars DC Ryan Nielsen's intro presser
Ryan Nielsen and his family were on Disney World's "It's a Small World" ride when he got the text.
After first denying the proverbial permission slip from the Jaguars to the Atlanta Falcons to interview Nielsen, Atlanta reversed course, officially allowing Nielsen to talk to teams, allowed to plot his next move.
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A text from Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson confirmed it, and the interest was mutual.
"Hey Ryan, it's coach, we'd like to talk to you," the text from Pederson to Nielsen read, the defensive coordinator said Thursday during his intro press conference at the Miller Electric Center.
'He'll be a head coach some day': Jessie Bates, Demario Davis hale Jaguars' DC Ryan Nielsen
Jacksonville Jaguars DC Ryan Nielsen meets with the media during his introductory press conference on Feb. 15, 2024
The only problem was he and his family were still on the boat and the classic jingle and lyrics, "It's a small world of laughter, a world of tears. It's a small world of hopes, and a world of fears," only just began playing.
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"I look at my wife and I'm like, how long is this gonna be?" Nielsen said with a laugh. "I can't remember the last time I was on 'A Small World,' but [the ride] seemed [to last] about a half-hour and eventually [we] got off and it worked out."
Now, the former Falcons defensive coordinator is in Jacksonville and his excitement for the gig was palpable when talking with Jacksonville media for the first time.
'Good people': Nielsen drawn to Jaguars brass, heard rave reviews
It didn't take long for Nielsen to realize Jacksonville was the right place for him after spending the previous year in Atlanta as the Falcons' defensive coordinator and several years with the New Orleans Saints with various roles including co-defensive coordinator and defensive line coach.
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Nielsen said Thursday he's excited about the opportunity and has a good idea about the kind of coach that head coach Doug Pederson is.
"I did not know [coach Pederson] personally before this, but you do your research. You talk to people that have worked with him and know him. I was fortunate to be on a staff that had a coach that had worked for Coach Pederson before. He said some unbelievable things about him," Nielsen said.
Though he did not mention the coach by name, Falcons tight ends coach Justin Peele worked as the Eagles' tight ends coach from 2013-20, overlapping with Pederson from 2016-20 when the latter was the team's head coach.
Nielsen mentioned the team's owner, Shad Khan, and general manager Trent Baalke when talking about working with and for "good people."
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"As you start digging into this thing, you're like, 'you know what? This is a great place. This is a place we want to bring our family to and be a part of,'" Nielsen said. "This is a place we want to help take the next step.' When we looked at the whole package and everything that was going on, there was no doubt this is where we wanted to be."
Attacking and aggressive: Ryan Nielsen's philosophy is simple
Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence (16) passes the ball as he is tackled by Atlanta Falcons defensive tackle Calais Campbell (93) during an NFL football game between the Atlanta Falcons and the Jacksonville Jaguars at Wembley stadium in London, Sunday, Oct. 1, 2023. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
The first order of business for Nielsen, when he opened his press conference on Thursday, was addressing the team's defense and what that might look like moving forward.
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It didn't take him long to get back to his tried and true saying: attacking and aggressive .
"We want to be attacking and aggressive in everything we do. How we fit the run, how we attack blocks, how we play in coverage, we want to be a forward, leaning, forward running, going forward defense," said Nielsen. "You're going to say, 'Well, what about the secondary and back peddling?' But, when we make our break, we're coming out of that break to go hit you."
Nielsen stressed fundamentals as well, noting that tackling, takeaways and ball disruption was what the defense was ultimately about.
"Takeaways are the No. 1 way to limit points. Ball disruption is making the offense play not on time. We're taking away a running lane or making a ball bounce or disrupting the quarterback. Then, pursuit, keeping the ball inside, proper angles, running and hitting. That's what we're going to be about, that's what we're going to stress," he added.
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Nielsen isn't beholden to his defense, it will be 'Jacksonville's defense'
Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young (9) touchback as Jacksonville Jaguars defensive end Roy Robertson-Harris (95) and linebacker Foyesade Oluokun (23) defend during the first quarter of a regular season NFL football matchup Sunday, Dec. 31, 2023 at EverBank Stadium in Jacksonville, Fla. The Jacksonville Jaguars blanked the Carolina Panthers 26-0. [Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union]
Nielsen has worked in multiple NFL cities now, first with the Saints and last year with the Falcons. Neither team had much crossover as far as personnel, so it was up to Nielsen to mold the defense in a way that fit his style.
Ultimately, though, what might have started as what he envisioned morphed once the Falcons' coaching staff got together, making it a collaborative effort to fit players in where they excel, not necessarily where Nielsen wants to put them.
"That was a really good process, first the collaboration with the coaches we had brought in Atlanta and we got in there and it was one of my favorite times coaching in that we threw up a template and said, 'Hey, this is what's been done before, let's make it us.' That's the process we're going through right now," Nielsen said.
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It had become common for observers to make assumptions about the type of defense coming to Jacksonville and how players fit into what might have gone on in Atlanta or New Orleans . Nielsen says, though, that the process restarts with the Jaguars.
"All the coaches are having input on what we're doing, so it's all of our defense. That's a really cool process, and we've studied the roster in that we have a pretty good idea of where we'll start with our players and some of the techniques we'd like to teach them. Then, we'll start moving them around to see what else they can do well.
"That process we just did, we're kind of doing it again. Some similarities and some differences, but the ultimate is that this is going to be Jacksonville's defense. This is going to be our defense in Jacksonville. Our players, our coaches, our staff. That type of deal. It's not any place that anybody has been, it's a collaborative effort of all of ours together and that's what you'll see on Sundays."
'Nothing cheap and nothing deep': Nielsen's coverage philosophy isn't static, cornerback a premium position
It's no secret that the Falcons ran a lot of press-man coverage last year.
But the numbers can sometimes be misleading, and that's a good thing.
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"We like to, as one of our coaches would like to say, 'Nothing cheap and nothing deep.' When you're press, you take away the quick game and we like to play shell which when you look at us, we take away the deep throws," said Nielsen. "It may look man or man-ish at times, but sometimes there's press bail and some nuances in the coverage of that's actually a zone with tighter coverage on the outside."
Nielsen joked that observers viewing his defense as primarily man can be advantageous because then the Jaguars can drop into zone, confusing the opposing offense.
"We're going to be mixing and matching, we're going to be playing different coverages and mix and match out coverages. Again, that's what we did then and it may be different now. That's what the process of what we're going through with the players," said Nielsen, adding that ultimately the team wants to do what's best for everybody.
Nielsen's worked with high-quality coaches, nearly finished crafting his staff
Between Ed Orgeron, Pete Jenkins, Pete Carroll, Monte Kiffin, Norm Chow, Alex Gibs, Arthur Smith and Sean Payton, Nielsen has been around a host of incredibly successful coaches.
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Each coach impacted the Jaguars defensive coordinator in various ways.
"I learned a lot from those guys, Sean was huge in [my] first opportunity in coaching in the NFL. I would be remiss not to mention him. I could go on and on, that could be an hour conversation, but that's kind of where the foundation is," said Nielsen.
Though he hasn't officially announced the full staff changes, Pederson is expected to announce all of the team's staff sometime in the next week or two ahead of the scouting combine. That includes Nielsen's staff, one that the defensive coordinator is excited about.
It sounds like that part of the plan is already finalized.
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"We have the pieces in place. It will be announced here soon. I will say this, I'm excited about the guys, I've worked with some of them, haven't worked with others. Coached a few, so it's a great group of guys that I've been very close to," Nielsen said of his defensive coaches.
"I know that first and foremost, good men. Secondly, really good teachers of the game. When you put those two things together, they're eager and excited. We see a lot of similarities."
It has been reported by various outlets that Dave Huxtable (senior defensive assistant), Matt House (linebackers coach), Kris Richard (secondary coach), Cory Robinson (secondary/corners coach) and Jeremy Garrett (defensive line) will join Nielsen on his staff.
The Jaguars' defense also has potential openings in the quality control department.
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Demetrius Harvey is the Jacksonville Jaguars reporter for the Florida Times-Union. You can follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @Demetrius82 .
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This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Takeaways: Jaguars' Ryan Nielsen to bring energy, teaching to defense
