Meyer explains why new OC Bevell is the right man for the job
Darrell Bevell has a major task at hand. The new Jaguars offensive coordinator will be the man primarily tasked with the development of quarterback Trevor Lawrence, who Jacksonville will almost certainly take with the first overall pick.
Despite that, coach Urban Meyer said he’s confident that Bevell was the right hire. In the staff’s introductory presser, Meyer said the former Lions play-caller had the best interview in a large candidate pool (and a high-profile endorsement, to boot).
“The amount of people we interviewed was as many as I’ve really ever done,” Meyer said Thursday. “His interview was by far the best. His ability to adapt to my vision of the offense, which is a little different than maybe he’s done in the past, the flexibility and not rigidness, that was very important to me because we do have the first pick in the draft and there is a vision that I have about the style of offense. I’m certainly not going to call plays — that’s his responsibility. But I have a real clear vision of what I want the offense to look like.
“And by the way, Brett Favre — I called I don’t know, 10 people about Darrell — and Brett Favre, who I’ve known for quite some time, when he made a comment [saying], ‘That’s as good a coach as he’s ever been around, and by the way I had my best year with him in Minnesota.’ And he said, ‘Hire the guy.’ Brett Favre, the respect I think we all have for him, I listened closely.”
Jags fans will hope Favre’s impression of Bevell, who was his quarterback coach from 2003-05, is an accurate one. Bevell was also Favre’s offensive coordinator in Minnesota, and he won a Super Bowl coaching offense for the Seahawks before spending the last two seasons under Matt Patricia in Detroit.
He’ll have some pieces to work with in Jacksonville, including the talented receiver duo of D.J. Chark and Laviska Shenault and the NFL’s third-leading rusher last season in James Robinson in addition to Lawrence. The question will be how much improvement he can get in one year from those pieces.
