Mel Tucker was named interim head coach on November 29, 2011 for the remainder of the 2011 season. Tucker, 39, is in his third season with the Jaguars after being named defensive coordinator in January of 2009. This is Tucker’s 15th yar in coaching including eight season at the collegiate level and seven in the NFL.
The defense has been a strength for the Jaguars this season, currently ranking fourth in the NFL and fourth in pass defense and scoring defense. The unit has been in the top 10 in 11 of the first 12 weeks of this season, including the top five six times. In 2010, Tucker oversaw a defense that utilized eight different combinations in the first nine weeks. Just five players started all 16 games on defense, and nine different players made starts in the secondary over the course of the season. In 2009, tucker’s defense saw 21 different players make starts including four rookies.
Tucker previously spent four seasons on the Cleveland Browns coaching staff (2005-08) under Romeo Crennel, the first three as defensive backs coach and the last as defensive coordinator. Prior to joining the Browns, Tucker spent eight seasons on the collegiate level. He spent four seasons on Jim Tressel’s staff at Ohio State (2001-04) coaching defensive backs, and served as co-defensive coordinator during the 2004 season. Two of Tucker’s Ohio State players, strong safeties Michael Doss and Will Allen, earned first-team All-America honors, while cornerback Chris Gamble was a second-team All-America selection. Tucker began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Michigan State under Nick Saban from 1997-98. He spent the 1999 season as defensive backs coach at Miami (Ohio) before serving in the same capacity at Louisiana State in 2000 under Saban.
Tucker was a four-year letterman as a defensive back at the University of Wisconsin (1992-95) under legendary coach Barry Alvarez. He graduated in 1995 with a degree in agricultural business management. A native of Cleveland, Tucker and his wife, Jo-Ellyn, have two sons, Joseph and Christian.
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