Jaguars 2025 head coach candidate profile: Raiders DC Patrick Graham

What makes Patrick Graham an attractive candidate?

For the third time in five years, the Jacksonville Jaguars are searching for a new head coach.

Big Cat Country’s Jaguars head coach hiring process tracker is constantly being updated — but to provide more information on the top candidates being interviewed, we’ll be releasing in-depth profiles throughout the search.

Other head coach candidate profiles:

Next up: Patrick Graham, who interviewed with the Jaguars on Saturday, Jan. 11.

Experience

Graham played on the defensive line at Yale, where he won an Ivy League title in 1999 and graduated with a degree in sociology in 2002. He joined Wagner College as a graduate assistant for two years, then went to Richmond to coach their defensive line in 2004 and their tight ends in 2005 and 2006.

The Connecticut native joined Charlie Weis at Notre Dame as a defensive graduate assistant in 2007 and stayed for two seasons. He accepted a position at Toledo as defensive line coach in 2009, but he resigned after a month to join Bill Belichick’s Patriots as a defensive quality control coach.

In New England, Graham was promoted to defensive assistant in 2010 then linebackers coach in 2011. He switched to defensive line coach from 2012-13 then back to ‘backers from 2014-15. The Patriots won Super Bowl XLIX with his help.

Graham coached the Giants’ defensive line from 2016-17 before becoming linebackers coach and run game coordinator for the Packers in 2018. He got his first shot as defensive coordinator for the 2019 Dolphins. Graham returned to New York as defensive coordinator and assistant head coach from 2020-21.

In 2022, Graham was a finalist for the Vikings’ head coach vacancy, but the job ultimately went to Kevin O’Connell. Graham instead became defensive coordinator for the Raiders and was instrumental in constructing the franchise’s best defense in decades.