Report: Jaguars expected to hire Deshea Townsend to staff

New Jacksonville head coach Doug Pederson has worked quickly to put together a staff in Jacksonville despite the 49-day coaching search. He’s already hired both coordinators and a number of position coaches, and it seems that he’s poised to add another.

According to a report from NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, the Jags plan to hire former Bears secondary coach Deshea Townsend to their staff. Townsend was originally expected to join Kevin O’Connell with the Minnesota Vikings, which would’ve allowed him to remain in the NFC North.

However, per Rapoport, he never signed with the Vikings and had a change of heart. He is now set to fill a role on defense (likely as a cornerbacks or defensive backs coach). If he’s named the team’s cornerbacks coach, Townsend would be replacing Tim Walton, who is now with the Ohio State Buckeyes.

Plot twist: Former #Bears secondary coach Deshea Townsend — who appeared set to join the #Vikings staff — is now expected to land with the #Jaguars under Doug Pederson, sources say. No deal was signed in MIN and Townsend had a change of heart. An announcement will come this week.

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) February 13, 2022

Townsend, 46, is a former cornerback who played 13 years in the NFL, primarily for the Pittsburgh Steelers, with whom he won two Super Bowls, but also for the Indianapolis Colts. He got into coaching immediately following his playing career, taking an assistant defensive backs coach role with Arizona in 2011.

In 2013 he became the cornerbacks coach at Mississippi State before returning to the NFL to coach defensive backs for the Tennessee Titans in 2016. He was there for two seasons and spent 2018 as an assistant defensive backs coach for the Giants before taking his previous role with Chicago in 2019.