Jeff Nixon enters his second season as senior offensive assistant/running backs coach in 2021.
Last year, with All-Pro running back Christian McCaffrey hobbled by injuries, Nixon helped Mike Davis have a career-best season, topping 1,000 scrimmage yards for the first time. Davis had 642 rushing yards and 373 receiving yards, leading the Panthers with eight total touchdowns. He ranked fifth in the NFL with 32 broken tackles.
Nixon came to Carolina in 2020 after spending the previous three seasons on head coach Matt Rhule's staff as Baylor's co-offensive coordinator/play-caller. Prior to Carolina, Nixon had 10 years of NFL experience, including stops with the Eagles, Dolphins and 49ers.
In 2019, Nixon helped lead Baylor to an 11-win season and an appearance in the Big 12 Championship game. Along the way, Nixon's offense averaged 431.2 yards per game and ranked 17th in the nation in scoring offense (35.2 ppg). In 2018, Baylor finished the year No. 22 in the nation in total offense, averaging 459.1 yards per game, including 290 yards per game passing (17th in nation). In 2017, Nixon's offense at Baylor averaged 280 yards per game passing which ranked 22nd in the nation.
Prior to Baylor, Nixon spent the 2016 season coaching tight ends for the 49ers. From 2011-15, Nixon coached running backs for the Dolphins where he worked with Reggie Bush, Lamar Miller, and Jay Ajayi. In 2011, Nixon coached Bush to a career-high 1,086 rushing yards and six touchdowns, and nearly helped the running back put together back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons, as he finished with 986 yards the following year. Then, in 2014, Nixon helped Miller record a career-high 1,099 rushing yards and eight touchdowns. That year, the Dolphins ranked second in the NFL in average yards per carry (4.69).
Prior to Miami, Nixon spent four seasons with the Eagles (2007-10), serving as an offensive and special teams assistant. Nixon worked closely with All-Pro running backs Brian Westbrook and LeSean McCoy, as well as All-Pro fullback Leonard Weaver. On special teams, Nixon helped DeSean Jackson become one of the league's most explosive punt returners. In three of Nixon's four seasons with the Eagles, the team reached the playoffs, including a trip to the NFC Championship in 2008.
Prior to his time in the NFL, Nixon coached running backs and wide receivers at Temple in 2006-2007. From 2003-05, Nixon worked with running backs, tight ends, and as special teams coordinator at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. Nixon spent four seasons coaching running backs at Shippensburg University from 1999-2002, and prior to that spent a year as the running backs coach at Princeton University in 1998. Nixon got his start in coaching as a student assistant coach at Penn State in 1997 while Rhule was a player.
As a player, Nixon played running back at West Virginia in 1993 and 1994 before transferring to Penn State to finish his career.
