Stanford hires away the Jaguars' assistant offensive line coach, Keli'i Kekuewa, as Jacksonville loses its second assistant so far in the offseason.
The Jacksonville Jaguars will look to fill two vacancies on their coaching staff as Stanford has hired away assistant offensive line coach Keli'i Kekuewa, according to CBSSports' Matt Zenitz.
Saturday's news about the departure of Kekuewa follows Friday's reported ouster of Jaguars secondary coach Ron Milus.
Milus' status has not yet been confirmed by the Jags organization, but his photo, title, and bio have been removed from the team's website. Milus was apparently let go after just one season coaching the Jaguars' injury-ravaged secondary unit.
As the NFL's coaching carousel is at full tilt, other Jaguars assistants have drawn the interest of other teams. Defensive coordinator Anthony Campanile is among the interviewees for teams looking to fill their head-coach vacancies, and last week, the Cleveland Browns asked to interview offensive coordinator Grant Udinski.
Kekuewa, 35, also assisted with the Jaguars' run game, which finished the season ranked 20th in the league, averaging just over 115 yards per game on the efforts of tailback duo Travis Etienne and Bhaysul Tuten. The offensive line, which was in constant shifting mode due to a rash of injuries, ended the season ranked 24th in the league in Pro Football Focus' end-of-season ratings. The analytics service indicated that this year's line took a big step backward from its No. 8 ranking in 2024.
Jaguars general manager James Gladstone told reporters Wednesday the plan going into the offseason and next season is to keep the current offensive line intact, calling it "a necessity."
"The continuity at that position group in particular is one that makes more sense than any other," Gladstone said. "It's never one individual that tilts the scale there as much as it is just the collective effort as a whole and being able to insert guys throughout the course of a season and not feel some significant drop-off in the collective output."
Head coach Liam Coen has said that by mid-season, the offensive line had up to eight players who could step in as starters at most spots on the o-line.
Kekuewa is among the last hires for Tavita Pritchard as the new Cardinal coach fills in the ranks of his staff.
Stanford hired Pritchard in late November, after the 2025 season, under the direction of the team's general manager, Andrew Luck -- a Stanford alum and retired quarterback for the Indianapolis Colts. The Cardinal lost its previous coach, Troy Taylor, in March amid an investigation that Taylor had violated numerous NCAA rules regarding reportedly bullying and harassment of women staffers.
Previously the quarterbacks coach for the Washington Commanders, Pritchard was brought in at Stanford in late November. Former NFL quarterback and two-time NFL head coach Frank Reich had led Stanford until then in an interim capacity.
Reich, who head-coached the Indianapolis Colts for five years (2018-2022) and most recently the Carolina Panthers (2023), has been mentioned as a possible replacement in Philadelphia for fired Eagles offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo.
A native of Hawai'i and former Bowling Green offensive lineman, Kekuewa began his NFL coaching career as an offensive assistant with Pete Carroll's Seattle Seahawks (2021-2023) before moving to the Carolina Panthers for the 2024 season.
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