From NFL-worst to elite: Anthony Campanile’s aggressive scheme sparked the Jaguars’ jump to No. 2 in takeaways, fueling a 13–4 season and a defensive resurgence.
Defensive takeaways are often used as a barometer to measure successful defenses in the NFL. In 2025, the Jacksonville Jaguars were one of the best in the league, finishing No. 2 in total takeaways.
In 2024 the Jaguars managed an NFL-worst nine total turnovers and finished the season with a 4-13 record. This season, under first-year defensive coordinator Anthony Campanile, the Jaguars had 31 total turnovers and finished 13-4.
Because of the Jags’ defensive turnaround, Campanile garnered plenty of head coaching attention throughout the league but the 43-year-old ultimately decided to return to Jacksonville after interviewing with teams including the Baltimore Ravens and Miami Dolphins. Although no defensive coordinator can scheme turnovers and turnovers are often unpredictable from year to year, Campanile proved to be a master at creating opportunities for takeaways with his defensive scheme.
Campanile’s Scheme
The most notable improvement for the 2025 Jaguars’ defense was interceptions. After picking off just six passes in 2024, Jacksonville had 22 interceptions this season. The reason for the jump in interceptions—pressuring the opposing quarterback.
In Campanile’s aggressive, run-and-hit scheme, the 2025 Jaguars blitzed the quarterback 277 times, had 65 hurries, 62 quarterback knockdowns and registered 163 quarterback pressures. In 2024, the Jacksonville defense blitzed just 110 times, had 43 hurries, 34 quarterback knockdowns and 113 quarterback pressures. Although the Jaguars had two less total sacks (32.0) in 2025 than in 2024, opposing quarterbacks completed 3.9 percent less of their passes, had 1.7 less yards per completion and managed just a 78.5 quarterback rating compared to 103.4 in 2024.
The Jaguars also improved in forcing and recovering fumbles. After forcing just five fumbles and recovering three in 2024, Jacksonville forced 11 fumbles and recovered nine in 2025. While the defense had five less tackles for loss in 2025, the Jaguars were an improved tackling team, registering 92 missed tackles (8.1 missed tackle percent) in 2025 compared to 104 (8.5 percent) in 2024.
Repeating Success
Despite turnovers being an unpredictable statistic from year to year, Campanile’s return gives Jacksonville a good chance to repeat their turnover success in 2026. No defense has led the league in turnovers in back-to-back seasons in the last three seasons, but the Dallas Cowboys managed that feat in 2021 (34) and 2022 (33). The Buffalo Bills have also finished in the top-3 in total turnovers in three of the last five seasons.
During the Jaguars’ eight-game win streak to end the regular season, Liam Coen’s offense led by quarterback Trevor Lawrence made the most headlines by averaging an eye-popping 33.6 points per game during that span, but those numbers were fueled by takeaways. In those eight consecutive wins the defense created 14 total turnovers, had at least one turnover in seven games and had multiple turnovers in five games. The Jags finished the season with three or more turnovers in a game six times.
The Jaguars will be facing turnover on the defensive side of the ball because of free agency, but Campanile’s scheme gives the defense the best opportunity to recreate its turnover success next season.
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