Jaguars head coach Gus Bradley added to his coaching staff today as the club agreed to terms of contracts with DeWayne Walker (defensive backs), Frank Scelfo (quarterbacks) and George Yarno (offensive line). Length and terms of the contracts are undisclosed.
Walker has 25 years of coaching experience, including seven in the NFL, and spent the last four seasons as head coach at New Mexico State. The 52-year old Walker had five players earn All-WAC honors in 2011 as the team had wins over Minnesota, Fresno State and a third straight win against in-state rival New Mexico.
Prior to joining New Mexico State, Walker spent three seasons (2006-08) as UCLA's defensive coordinator. He served as secondary coach for the Washington Redskins from 2004-05 under head coach Joe Gibbs. The Redskins led the NFL in lowest opponent completion percentage (54.4) in 2005, were tied for second in fewest touchdown passes allowed (15), and ranked 10th in pass defense (192.6 yards) and tied for 14th in interceptions (16).
Walker served as secondary coach of the New York Giants from 2002-03 and was associate head coach/secondary coach at Southern California under Pete Carroll in 2001. He was secondary coach with the New England Patriots for three seasons (1998-2000), the first two under Carroll and his final season under Bill Belichick. Walker began his coaching career at Mt. San Antonio College (1988-1992) and also had stints at Utah State (1993), Brigham Young (1994), Oklahoma State (1995) and California (1996-97).
A former cornerback, Walker played three seasons professionally, one in the CFL with the Edmonton Eskimos in 1982 and two in the USFL with the Arizona Outlaws in 1983 and Oakland Invaders in 1984. He was a two-year starter at Minnesota from 1980-81 after spending his first two years at Pasadena City College.
Scelfo, a veteran of 30 years of coaching, spent two seasons (2010-11) as quarterbacks coach for the University of Arizona where he tutored Eagles 2012 third-round draft pick Nick Foles. Foles finished his career as the school's all-time leader in passing yards (10,011), touchdowns (67), attempts (1,369) and completions (933). He served as offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach at Louisiana Tech from 2007-09.
The Abbeville, Louisiana native entered the collegiate coaching ranks at Tulane where he spent 11 seasons (1996-2006) including the last eight seasons as offensive coordinator. During his tenure at Tulane, Scelfo tutored four quarterbacks that went on to the NFL in Patrick Ramsey, J.P. Losman, Lester Ricard and Shaun King. A total of eight Tulane offensive players were selected in the NFL Draft during Scelfo's tenure.
Scelfo began his coaching career on the high school level where he spent 14 years with stops in Louisiana and Texas. He played baseball at Northeast Louisiana (now Louisiana-Monroe) where he received his bachelor's and master's degrees.
Now in his 23rd year of coaching and sixth in the NFL, Yarno previously served four seasons (2009-12) as the offensive line coach with the Detroit Lions. During his tenure with the Lions, the club attempted the most passes in the NFL (2,624) and ranked ninth in total offense (360.7) and 11th in sacks allowed (135). The Lions allowed the ninth-fewest sacks (29) in the NFL in 2012 and posted a 3.8 sacks-per-pass-play average which was third-best in the NFL and the lowest by the Lions since 1960 despite leading the league with 740 passing attempts. Prior to joining the Lions, Yarno spent the 2008 season as the assistant offensive line coach with Tampa Bay where he worked on the same staff with Jaguars head coach Gus Bradley.
From 2003-07, Yarno worked at his alma mater, Washington State, in his second stint as the school's offensive line coach. He began his coaching career with the Cougars from 1991-94. Yarno served as an offensive line coach at both Louisiana State (2001-02), helping the team win an SEC title in 2001, and at Arizona State (2000). He also served as an assistant head coach/offensive line coach at Houston (1998-99) and as an offensive coordinator/offensive line coach at Idaho (1995-97).
Yarno, 55, was a two-time All-Pac 10 conference selection as a defensive lineman at Washington State from 1975-79. He signed as a rookie free agent with Tampa Bay in 1979 where he played for five seasons. He later joined the Denver Gold of the USFL from 1984-85 before returning to the Buccaneers for two seasons (1985-87). Yarno concluded his career with Atlanta (1988), Houston (1989) and Green Bay (1990).