 |
www.packers.com | |||
 |
||||
|
return to site | |||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Executive Vice President and Head Coach Mike Sherman Friday named Charlie Jackson defensive quality control coach and announced several assignments with regard to defensive and special teams responsibilities:
Joe Baker, who officially joined the Packers Tuesday, was named secondary coach/safeties.
Bob Sanders, named to the staff Feb. 8, will be defensive line coach/defensive ends.
Robert Nunn, who also joined the Packers Feb. 8, will coach defensive tackles.
Lionel Washington, the team's assistant defensive backs coach since 1999, has been promoted to oversee the defensive nickel package as well as coach the cornerbacks.
Mark Duffner remains linebackers coach.
Brad Miller, formerly assistant defensive line coach, is now assistant special teams coach.
And, Frank Novak, special teams consultant, and Vince Tobin, special assistant, are expected to retire. Novak might return on a volunteer basis during mini-camps and/or training camp.
Once the team names a wide receivers coach to replace Ray Sherman, who joined the Titans Jan. 28, the Packers will carry the same amount of assistant coaches as in 2004.
What's more, by moving Miller to assistant special teams coach, the Packers are among the majority of NFL teams in utilizing an assistant in this area. Last season, 18 of 32 clubs had at least two special teams coaches. In their only two seasons with multiple kicking-game coaches (2003-04), the Packers ranked eighth and ninth, respectively, in the annual Dallas Morning News rankings of special teams units. Only four other teams have finished ninth or better each of the last two seasons.
The nearly complete coaching staff: Tom Rossley (offensive coordinator), Jim Bates (defensive coordinator), John Bonamego (special teams coordinator), Baker (secondary/safeties), Larry Beightol (offensive line), Edgar Bennett (running backs), Darrell Bevell (quarterbacks), James Campen (assistant offensive line/quality control), Duffner (linebackers), Turner Gill (director of player development), Jackson (defensive quality control), Miller (assistant special teams), Nunn (defensive tackles), Joe Philbin (tight ends/assistant offensive line), Barry Rubin (strength and conditioning), Sanders (defensive line/defensive ends), Washington (defensive nickel package/cornerbacks).
Jackson, 28, joins the team from the Air Force Academy, where he worked as an assistant under Fisher DeBerry. From 2002-03, Jackson served as a volunteer assistant at UCLA, working with a defense that helped the Bruins to consecutive postseason appearances, including a win in the 2002 Las Vegas Bowl.
An exceptional athlete, Jackson lettered three times in football at Air Force and competed two years on the AFA indoor track and field team. After his senior year, Jackson's Falcon teammates voted him as a permanent captain and the school gave him its football team's highest honor, the Brian Bullard Award. Jackson helped Air Force break into the national rankings, including No. 10 at the end of 1998, capture a conference title and earn trips to a pair of bowl contests.
A former Georgia defensive player of the year (Atlanta Journal-Constitution) and all-state both on the field and in the classroom, Jackson earned a scholarship to the prestigious Air Force Academy. After securing an undergraduate degree in management, Jackson received a master's degree in management and sports studies from Long Beach State. A captain in the Air Force, Jackson was stationed more than two years at Los Angeles Air Force Base, after serving as a minority officer recruiter at Florida State University for one year.
Washington has served the Packers the last six seasons, working with three defensive backs coaches. Now, Washington becomes the first assistant in team history to coach the nickel package, another growing trend in the NFL. What's more, the former NFL cornerback who played 15 years in the NFL - one of the longest careers ever by a player at that position - will continue to work with the Packers' cornerbacks, a responsibility he has carried since joining the team before the 1999 season.
Miller assisted on the defensive line the last four years. Originally hired in February 2001 as defensive assistant/quality control, Miller was promoted to assistant defensive line coach in 2003. A former tight end and safety at Oregon State, Miller enters his 20th season in the coaching profession.