Urban Meyer's Respect For Joe Cullen, Ravens Leads to Next Era of Jaguars' Defense

Joe Cullen was introduced as Jacksonville's new defensive coordinator on Thursday, largely due to the respect Urban Meyer held for both him and the defensive history of the Baltimore Ravens.

Joe Cullen has spent a lot of his life in the NFL as one of its most respected defensive line coaches. During those years, he has made an impact on his players and his defenses, and it didn't go unnoticed. 

"I’ve known Joe Cullen a long time. I’ve always studied his defensive line play. He’s considered if not the best one of the best defensive line coaches in the game. But I’ve known Joe a long time," Jaguars head coach Urban Meyer said on Thursday as he unveiled his first NFL coaching staff. 

Cullen will be one of the most important pieces of that staff. He will have to quickly turnaround a defense that finished ranked No. 31 in points and yards per game allowed and defensive DVOA.

But Meyer is confident that Cullen is the person who can do that. Meyer has attempted to hire Cullen at some of his past stops, but the fit wasn't just right until 2021. Cullen has spent every year since 2006 but one coaching defensive lines in the NFL, bringing a lot of NFL experience to a first-time professional football coach's staff. Now, the fit is right. 

“I had conversations with him about joining. I want to say even at Florida we had conversations and we couldn’t find the right fit, but he’s a guy that I looked for to get on my staff several times," Meyer said. 

For Cullen, it is a return to a place he spent three years at during the turn of the previous decade. He coached Jacksonville's defensive line from 2010-2012 before moving onto the Cleveland Browns (2013), Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2014-2015), and the Baltimore Ravens (2016-2020).

"It’s a great honor to be part of Coach Meyer’s first NFL staff and to be back in Jacksonville. I spent 2010-12 here. I’m excited," Cullen said on Thursday. 'Coach Meyer is one of the winningest coaches in the history of the game and when he called me to come down and interview, I was excited and ready to go.”

Cullen was in Jacksonville the first year that Jaguars owner Shad Khan bought the team. Now he is in charge of fixing a defense that has hampered Khan's ability to field a winning football team in every season but one since Cullen and Del Rio's staff departed Jacksonville. 

 “Jacksonville is a special place. I was here before with Jack Del Rio and Wayne Weaver, Gene Smith. I was here in 2012 when Mr. Khan bought the team and I was grateful to stay here," Cullen said. "I always thought I might come back some day because it was a great area, great organization and when Coach Meyer called, I was really excited to have the opportunity to come down."

Cullen has been a defensive coordinator in college, but this will be his first year as a coordinator at the NFL ranks. He has been a part of five top-8 defenses with the Ravens over his tenure and helped them craft one of the NFL's best defensive lines year in and year out. 

It is largely because of the success of those defenses that Cullen is now charged with rebuilding the Jaguars' defense. Meyer had other options, but he landed on Cullen due to his respect for both him and the Ravens, 

"I also have tremendous respect for the way the Baltimore Ravens play defense," Meyer said. 

"We’re going to be the Jaguar defense, but [they were] just systematic when he came on, the systematic style they go about their business, the history of success, and the fact that he came in his interview, we interviewed quite a few people for that position, and he did an excellent job.”

For Cullen, this is the biggest opportunity of his coaching career. It is also likely the biggest challenge, as he is now going from a team with multiple Pro Bowlers in its front seven to a Jaguars team that has struggled to offer any resistance up front over the last two seasons. 

But Meyer is confident that Cullen is the person who can transform the Jaguars' defense in the way it badly needs to be. Cullen now is confident of the same. 

"Again, being a first-time defensive coordinator at the NFL level, as I said, I have been a coordinator before [in college] and have learned from some great defensive minds, not only head coaches, but also positional coaches that became coordinators," Cullen said. 

"I think one thing that as a defensive staff, we are all going to have say. I am excited about the staff we put together and also the opportunity that Coach Meyer and Shad [Khan] have given me here with the defense.”