Jaguars

Defense

BigCatCountry.com’s Alfie Crow, reliable on all things Jaguars, has a source saying Tucker is expected to stay on with Mularkey’s staff. Tucker guided the Jags to a 2-3 record after taking over as interim head coach on November 29. The Jaguars’ defensive coordinator since 2009, Tucker oversaw bottom-10 units in his first two seasons before vaulting the Jags to 10th in points against this year despite a number of significant injuries.

That interview will take place “later in the week.” Bradley is scheduled to have a second interview with the Eagles on Tuesday, so if he makes it out of that interview without the job then he’ll head down to Jacksonville. Bradley joins Rams OC Brian Schottenheimer, Bengals OC Jay Gruden, incumbent DC Mel Tucker, and Falcons ST coach Keith Armstrong as known candidates for the job.

Both candidates had already been linked to the job. Tucker served as the Jaguars’ interim coach after Jack Del Rio was fired in 2011, while Schottenheimer was in the mix to replace Del Rio on a permanent basis before the Jags settled on Mike Mularkey. New GM David Caldwell’s coaching search has yet to produce any intriguing candidates.

New Jags GM David Caldwell wasn’t waiting on his old college chum, 49ers OC Greg Roman, after all. After Bradley was spurned by the Eagles in favor of Chip Kelly, he lands on his feet with a team that arguably has just as much talent. Bradley, who broke into the NFL as a defensive assistant under Monte Kiffin with the 2006 Bucs, has overseen a Seahawks defense that went from 27th to 9th to 4th in total yardage over the last three seasons. This year, they allowed the fewest points in the league. The aggressive hybrid 4-3 maven will have a crucial decision to make on his offensive coordinator -- there are plenty of toys to work with here in the form of Maurice Jones-Drew, Cecil Shorts, Justin Blackmon and Marcedes Lewis.

New Jags coach Gus Bradley is a defensive mind, and he may want a coordinator more submissive than well-respected Tucker, who interviewed for the head coaching job at Wisconsin just after the season. Tucker would be a nice hire for an NFL team looking to implement a successful Cover 2-style defensive scheme.

The tea leaves suggest Jacksonville is very close to hiring a GM, and Caldwell looks like the favorite. Per La Canfora, 49ers OC Greg Roman would be a “strong candidate” to replace Mike Mularkey as head coach, under Caldwell’s watch. Caldwell has an impressive track record of running drafts under Falcons GM Thomas Dimitroff. Atlanta has also been an aggressive trading team.

There was speculation that Bradley would not get out of Philadelphia on Tuesday without signing on the dotted line. But after a second interview at owner Jeffery Lurie’s mansion that lasted seven hours, he’s still getting on a plane for Jacksonville Wednesday. So the Eagles’ drawn out search presses on and Bradley now joins a Jaguars candidate list that also includes incumbent DC Mel Tucker, Bengals OC Jay Gruden, Falcons ST coach Keith Armstrong, Rams OC Brian Schottenheimer and 49ers OC Greg Roman.

Tucker told reporters last week that he wasn’t interested in the Wisconsin job, but the university hasn’t given up hope. Tucker is tight with athletic director Barry Alvarez and was willing to meet with school officials this week. Tucker also played his college ball at Wisconsin and has “strong support from boosters” in Madison. If the Jaguars fire GM Gene Smith -- as expected -- the Tucker-to-Wisconsin connection will gain more steam.

Both ESPN South blogger Paul Kuharsky and Jaguars AP writer Mark Long concur that the Tucker interview is being performed to satisfy the Rooney Rule, and Tucker has “zero shot” at replacing Mike Mularkey. In an ideal scenario, the Jags could retain Tucker as defensive coordinator, although their new head coach will have final say on that. Tucker has been effective in the role.

Babich and new head coach Gus Bradley know each other from their days with North Dakota State from 1997-2002. Babich has been in the NFL for the last ten years, spending the last nine with the Bears, and has worked mainly with linebackers along the way. Along with his linebacker coaching duties, Babich was defensive coordinator in Chicago from 2007-09. He was let go from the staff this past week when Marc Trestman was hired as head coach.