Report: Louisville to Hire Auburn's Jack Bicknell Jr. as Next OL Coach
(Photo of Jack Bicknell Jr.: AL.com via Auburn University Athletics)
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - With spring practice set to begin in less than a week, the Louisville football program is reportedly one step closer to filling all of their remaining coaching staff vacancies.
The Cardinals are "finalizing a deal" to hire Auburn offensive line coach Jack Bicknell Jr. to the same position at Louisville, according to a report from Yahoo Sports' Pete Thamel.
He is replacing Dwayne Ledford, who left last month to accept the offensive line coaching position with the Atlanta Falcons. It is being reported that Bicknell is being hired as strictly the offensive line coach, and will not also serve as the offensive coordinator like Ledford did.
Bicknell has over thirty years of coaching experience at both the college level and in the NFL, including most recently coaching for both Auburn and Ole Miss. Last season, the Tigers allowed just 1.82 sacks and 4.82 tackles per loss per game, both of which ranked inside the top 50 in FBS, and also rushed for 16.2.5 yards per game.
Before his one-year stint at Auburn, he served as the offensive line coach at Ole Miss. The Rebels had a top 15 passing offense in two of his three years in Oxford, including a top ten rushing offense in his final year. Under his tutelage, left tackle Greg Little was a two-time All-SEC lineman, and was drafted in the second round of the 2019 NFL Draft.
He also has stops at Boston College, New Hampshire, and was the head coach of Louisiana Tech from 1999 to 2006, where he compiled a 43-52 record. At the NFL level, he has coached for the Pittsburgh Steelers, Kansas City Chiefs and New York Giants.
So far this offseason, the Cardinals have seen three assistant coaches depart the program. On top of Ledford, running backs coach Norval McKenzie was hired to the same position at his alma mater of Vanderbilt, and quarterbacks coach Frank Ponce took the offensive coordinator job at Appalachian State.
Louisville later hired East Carolina running backs coach De’Rail Sims to replace McKenzie, and promoted quality control coach Pete Thomas to quarterbacks coach.
Louisville ended the 2020 season at 4-7 overall and 3-7 in the ACC. Spring practice is scheduled to begin on Monday. Feb. 8.
The Cardinals will kickoff the 2021 season against Ole Miss in the annual Chick-Fil-A Kickoff Game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Ga. on Monday, Sept. 6.
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