Ex-Jaguars RB Coach Bernie Parmalee Hired by Carolina Panthers

Former Jacksonville Jaguars running backs coach Bernie Parmalee has found a new role in 2024.

The Carolina Panthers have hired Parmalee as running backs coach on Dave Canales' new staff. This comes a few weeks after Parmalee was one of only two offensive coaches not retained for the 2024 season by Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson.

Parmalee spent three years in Jacksonville as running backs coach, first being hired to Urban Meyer's staff and then becoming one of the few Meyer assistants to be retained by Pederson.

Under Parmalee, running back James Robinson recorded 989 yards from scrimmage and eight touchdowns in 2021. In 2022, Parmalee oversaw Travis Etienne rush for 1,125 yards and five touchdowns. In 2023, Etienne hit 1,000 yards for the second year in a row with a 1,008-yard, 11-touchdown campaign that also saw his receiving numbers improve.

“Well, you just go back and you watch the film. You got to break down and see if what he’s doing matches up with what the blocking scheme is and all of that and can we help him get even better?" Pederson said at the end of the year about Etienne.

"He played several games in the middle of the year banged up, too. That affected him, he wasn’t himself a couple of games in there. I thought he was healthy at the end of the year, he ran hard, he played faster at the end. It’s just a matter of going back through the season in the next couple of weeks and just evaluating everybody. This is a big week as we’ll evaluate all of the players that way and evaluate our roster moving forward.”