Jaguars passing-game coordinator Nick Holz adds new perspective to team's offense

Even though he’s a newcomer, Jacksonville Jaguars’ passing game coordinator Nick Holz is a familiar face in the building. He hasn’t been employed by the team before, but he has relationships with several staffers.

Jaguars offensive coordinator Press Taylor’s and Holz’s relationship goes back several years, and he’s known offensive line coach Phil Rauscher, running backs coach Bernie Parmalee and defensive line coach Brentson Buckner, having worked with the latter two with the then-Oakland Raiders from 2015-17 and in 2019, respectively.

While Holz admits that having those connections probably helped get his name in the door, familiarity wasn’t the only reason why Jacksonville brought him in.

“I know they talked to a handful of people and somehow they chose me, so I’ll take it,” Holz said with a laugh in June.

After losing former passing game coordinator Jim Bob Cooter to the Indianapolis Colts as the team’s offensive coordinator, Jacksonville hired Holz to, not replace the work Cooter did, but to provide the team with fresh eyes and ideas.

“The cool part, when I got here is [they were] like, ‘Hey Nick, how’d you guys do it?’ or ‘How would you guys run this play? How’d you get out of this formation? Did you guys have other things?’ and, it seems like a very open forum for good ideas,” Holz said. “So, that’s been the really cool part [about being in Jacksonville].”

Jacksonville’s offense ranked 7th in the league last season in yards per game with 358.6 yards per game under head coach Doug Pederson’s guidance and with the emergence of franchise quarterback Trevor Lawrence. Now, that offense includes receiver Calvin Ridley, adding him to an already-talented group of wideouts that showcased Christian Kirk and Zay Jones last season.

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Prior to coming to Jacksonville, Holz was the offensive coordinator at UNLV, but previously spent 10 seasons in the league with the Raiders as an offensive assistant and an assistant wide receivers coach. His background with receivers, and with quarterbacks, will allow him to essentially be a sounding board for Taylor, being the first cut of eyes for some of the routes and core concepts the team has.

“We’ll get together and kind of talk about pass plays and then Phil [Rauscher] will kind of come in and [Jaguars quarterbacks coach] Mike [McCoy] with protections and what the quarterback likes and then [Jaguars receivers coach] Chad [Hall] will have his stuff as well,” Holz said.

“Really, being a conduit to Press in that way, kind of just helping him organize. There’s so much information on a week-to-week basis and kind of helping him put it into that box. Then, he takes it and he and Doug [Pederson] take it from there.”

Taylor sees Holz as a coach who brings plenty of value and experience to the team’s offense.

“I think the biggest thing with Nick is taking us in year one to year two, in Nick’s experience with different systems during his time with the Raiders. He’s been with a lot of different guys whether it be Coach Gruden [former Raiders Head Coach Jon Gruden], Coach Olson [former Raiders Offensive Coordinator Greg Olson], a bunch of different people that we think bring different ideas and experiences to us,” Taylor said of Holz at the start of training camp.

“Whether it be spread systems, west coast systems, no-huddle stuff. His experience and then the way he meshes with our coaching staff having known a couple of guys throughout, I think it will just continue to elevate us from year one to year two like we’ve been talking about.”

The Jaguars ran no-huddle 91 times, including 50 dropbacks and 41 rushing attempts, according to Sports Info Solutions. They ranked 10th in the number of rushing attempts out of no-huddles and were 22nd in passing attempts out of a no-huddle offense.

While the team may not completely transform the offense due to his input, it could begin to incorporate some of his methodologies and ideas as a result of his hire.

It works both ways, too. While Holz has worked for legendary coaches in the past, now he gets the opportunity to work with one of the best coaches of this generation in Pederson, someone he has a lot of respect for.

Pederson has already begun to open Holz's eyes to new ideas

Prior to becoming a coach, Pederson played quarterback in the league for several years for a variety of teams. Naturally, the Super Bowl-winning head coach has a knack for how the position is played and how to best get the most out of it.

It's a new perspective for Holz, who said that he's been impressed with Pederson since he arrived in Jacksonville earlier this year.

"He's always like, 'Well, I see it this way, and I see if you move this guy, then you're gonna be able to throw this route.' You're like, 'Oh, all right, that's pretty impressive.' So it's pretty impressive listening to him talk that way," said Holz.

"I think there's always different ways to see a defense or to see routes or things like that and he's just got a whole other perspective already in the first couple of months and it's opened my eyes."

Pederson has already proven to be an exceptional offensive mind. How he's rebuilt the Jaguars' offense in just one season and built up the team's star player in Lawrence, has been, as Holz would put it, impressive.

Last season, Lawrence finished as one of the best quarterbacks in the league. His play improved as the year went on, as Pederson learned what type of player he was.

In 2022, Lawrence completed 66.3 percent of his passes for 4,113 yards, 25 touchdowns and just eight interceptions. The year prior, during Lawrence's rookie season, he completed 59.6 percent of his passes for 3,641 yards, 12 touchdowns and 17 interceptions.

That's someone Holz is excited to work with throughout the year, Lawrence is "as advertised," Holz said.

"It feels like it's Trevor's offense and it's Trevor's team," Holz said when asked about Lawrence in June.

"He's really the calm, but he's really intentional, the way he talks and what he says to everybody and how he wants to communicate. And it's been really cool to see his growth even the short time I've been here as kind of the leader of the team."

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For anyone who has paid attention to Pederson during his short tenure in Jacksonville, that description of Lawrence sounds just like the team's head coach. Perhaps Pederson connects with the young signal caller so well because he's been in that position.

To Holz, the unique perspective is exactly what you want to soak in.

"I just think it's different. I think it's a unique level of experience and expertise that most people will never get," he said. "I can watch as much tape as anybody but I've never sat there on third and sixth with two defensive ends coming up and things like that. So, it's pretty impressive to hear him talk and kind of just the way he handles all that stuff."

Demetrius Harvey is the Jacksonville Jaguars reporter for the Florida Times-Union. You can follow him on X,  formerly known as Twitter, at @Demetrius82.

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This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jaguars offense looks to expand with addition of coach Nick Holz