Jaguars coach Doug Marrone is close to adding two members to his staff, both of whom are experienced NFL assistants.
George Warhop (offensive line) and Tim Walton (secondary) are expected to be hired to fill two of the Jaguars’ four position-coach openings, per SiriusXM’s Alex Marvez.
The Times-Union has confirmed through an NFL source that Walton will be hired. A deal for Warhop has not yet been finalized.
The addition of Warhop, who spent the past five seasons with Tampa Bay, and Walton, who worked the previous four seasons with the New York Giants, would mean Marrone’s staff needs a running backs coach and a defensive line coach, in addition to an offensive coordinator.
The Jaguars are expected to continue interviewing candidates Monday.
Warhop, 57, joined Lovie Smith’s staff with the Buccaneers in 2014 and was retained when Dirk Koetter was promoted two years later. Prior to his time in Tampa Bay, Warhop held the same post in Cleveland (2009-13), San Francisco (2005-08), Dallas (2003-04) and Arizona (1998-2002). He began his NFL career as an assistant in St. Louis (1996-97), and including his college experience has coached offensive lines for more than 30 years.
In an interesting twist, Warhop and Marrone were together with the London Monarchs of the World League of American Football in 1991. Warhop was the Monarchs’ offensive coordinator and Marrone an offensive lineman on the team.
With the Buccaneers, Warhop worked for three seasons under offensive coordinator Todd Monken, who recently interviewed with Marrone to fill the Jaguars’ opening. Warhop was given the title of run game coordinator starting with the 2016 season.
In 2018, Tampa Bay gave up 41 sacks, which was tied for 14th-most in the league. The Buccaneers had the fourth-worst rushing offense (95.2 yards per game) but were 12th in scoring (24.8 points per game).
Walton, 47, was hired as the Giants’ secondary coach in 2015, which was Tom Coughlin’s final season with the team. Prior to that, he was the defensive coordinator in St. Louis for one season (2013) and coached Detroit’s secondary from 2009-12.
Walton also was a defensive coordinator in college at Memphis (2008) and Miami (2007).
In Walton’s four seasons, the Giants never had a top-20 passing defense. They were 23rd (252.8 ypg) in 2018 after finishing 31st, 23rd and 32nd the previous three seasons.
Walton will inherit a talented secondary in Jacksonville led by cornerback Jalen Ramsey.
