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How Jacksonville Jaguars' Anthony Campanile uses boxing to help defense pack a punch
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- How Jacksonville Jaguars' Anthony Campanile uses boxing to help defense pack a punch
Anthony Campanile had hobby and career choices like every other kid growing up in New Jersey, but let's face it, the runway for him to love boxing and coach football was paved early.
His grandfather, Leo, dabbled in boxing and Anthony's father, Mike, inherited a love for that sport and became a renowned high school football coach.
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So why not link passion and profession as the Jacksonville Jaguars' first-year defensive coordinator?
Since he started holding unit meetings in April , Campanile has mixed in boxing clips during his presentations. For sure, it's for motivation, but also to establish the mindset he wants out of the Jaguars ' defense.
Win your individual matchup.
Play with physicality, via both brute force and tactics.
Emphasize the small things (starting with footwork) that add up to a big impact.
"It's not the first time I've had (a coach) use it, but I like it," linebacker Devin Lloyd said. "Boxing is about precision, details, execution."
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And so is football.
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"I just think what you see and find in boxing and sports like boxing and wrestling — it's 1-on-1 and there's nobody to blame," Campanile said. "You find out a lot about the human spirit. There are a lot of examples in boxing that hold up to football (like) each man's individual fight on a play and in the entire game. We've used (clips) in a bunch of different ways."
Hagler, Gotti favorite boxers
Campanile and I caught up in a second-floor conference room at the Jaguars' facility and the first of many laughs during our conversation was when I mentioned boxing.
Jacksonville Jaguars defensive coordinator Anthony Campanile walks off the field to be interviewed by media members after an NFL training camp session at the Miller Electric Center, Thursday, Aug. 14, 2025 in Jacksonville, Fla.
Campanile's grandfather, Leo, passed along his boxing fandom to his son, Mike, who then passed it on to Anthony and his four siblings (including three brothers).
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"We were always into it," Anthony said.
Asked for his favorite boxers, Campanile listed Marvelous Marvin Hagler from the old days and Arturo Gotti from the not-long-ago days.
(Yes, I include "Marvelous" in front of Hagler's name because he had it legally added in 1982. Boxing in the 1980s. What a time!)
Hagler went 62-3 with 52 knockouts in a career that started in 1973 and ended in 1987 when Campanile was 5.
"(The Jaguars' players) have seen a bunch of Hagler," Campanile said.
Hagler, along with Thomas "Hitman" Hearns, are responsible for arguably one of the best rounds of boxing ever. On April 15, 1986, their opening round was three minutes of mayhem, combat and entertainment. Hearns broke his finger during one punch. Hagler's head was busted open. Go to YouTube to find it. You'll believe you can run through a brick wall.
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Hagler won by technical knockout in the third round to retain his world middleweight title. Last year, when Campanile was the Green Bay Packers ' linebackers coach, a security staffer gifted him a framed copy of the Las Vegas newspaper the morning after Hagler-Hearns; it is in Campanile's home office.
"(Hagler's) fighting style is everything we talk about: Straight, attack mode, never dodging everybody," Campanile said. "His toughness was so evident in his fighting style. It was amazing watching him."
Has Campanile shown the Jaguars' defense Round 1 of Hagler-Hearns?
"I have a few ones I've saved — that's a great one," he said. "They have to last through the whole year."
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Rolling the Hagler-Hearns fight on the meeting room big screen should be saved for the night before the Jaguars can clinch a playoff spot.
Gotti, who boxed from 1991-2007 and went 40-9 (31 knockouts), was a Campanile family favorite because he was based out of Jersey City. Over a span of 13 months in 2003-04, Gotti fought Micky Ward three times, winning the last two matches in Atlantic City.
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"We went to a lot of his fights when I was younger – we were all big fans of Arturo Gotti," Campanile said.
Players appreciate examples
Correlating boxing to football, Campanile said: "Being tough. Being accountable. Keeping your eyes on your work. Being disciplined. A lot of times, we'll show videos of (football players) training and how those drills show up in a boxing match or football game. Your footwork. Eyes. Feet. Hands. All that shows up."
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One example is punching the football out of the opponent's hands.
"Striking in general and seeing what you hit and in terms of creating takeaways, making sure your elbow is behind your wrist and keeping your line of force in a straight line," Campanile said. "And when you're in pursuit of somebody, the uppercut from behind (at the football)."
In an NFL season when players watch hundreds of plays on videos, splicing in boxing clips breaks up the monotony.
"Most definitely," defensive end Emmanuel Ogbah said. "Boxing is a war. It's 1-on-1. You have no help. That's what you visualize when you're going against an offensive lineman. He is showing a picture to us of how to keep fighting and how somebody didn't give up and kept fighting even when it looked like they were down and out."
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Said Lloyd: "(The clips show) the level of intensity and the mindset you need to have to impose your will on your man."
Time for the obvious way to connect boxing and the Jaguars: It's time for their defense to get back to packing a punch. They have shown toughness in ranking sixth stopping the run and technique and seizing on opportunities with 14 takeaways (13 in the first four games), but their eight sacks are for fewest in the NFL.
"Some of the stuff we're doing has legs to carry us forward," Campanile said. "What I really saw were guys playing with good technique, especially in the run game. There are plenty of things to correct but I'm excited and charged up (about the final 10 games)."
The Jaguars are 4-3 entering Sunday's game at Las Vegas, long the mecca of boxing. It's time for Campanile's crew to get back to dictating the terms of the fight.
Contact O'Halloran at rohalloran@gannett.com
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jacksonville Jaguars Anthony Campanile uses boxing to teach defense
