By John Oehser | He’s here, and his body feels right again.
Those are positives for Jaguars defensive end Josh Hines-Allen, whose objectives entering his seventh NFL season remain as lofty as they have been throughout a multi-Pro Bowl career.
He’s at the Jaguars’ voluntary offseason program – and he’s glad about that.
“Being here has been awesome,” he said.
Hines-Allen, a two-time Pro Bowl selection and the Jaguars’ record-holder for sacks in a season, enters the 2025 season close to the franchise career sacks record. He is preparing for that season by doing something he hasn’t always done in recent seasons – participating in the voluntary offseason program.
Jaguars Head Coach Liam Coen this week called Hines-Allen’s presence in the program “huge.”
“For him to be here as much as he has been is really, really instrumental for our defense and for our entire team,” Coen said.
Hines-Allen, who spent time in recent offseasons training in Arizona, said there were multiple reasons for his participation this offseason. Among them: The presence of Coen and a largely new Jaguars coaching staff, including defensive coordinator Anthony Campanile, who Hines-Allen called “awesome.”
“Everybody says the mentality, the personality, the person that he is, he’s a lot,” Hines-Allen said of the outgoing and emotional Campanile. “But it’s nice because you step into that meeting room, you’re going to expect one thing. It’s not just screaming. It’s the passion. It’s the love of the game.
“He respects the game. He loves it. He loves the team. He loves the players who are playing for him.”
Hines-Allen said his decision to train in Jacksonville this offseason was based on “a lot of different things,” including Coen’s hiring.
Brad White, outside linebackers coach at the University of Kentucky in 2018 – Hines-Allen’s final season there – has been the school’s outside linebackers coach/defensive coordinator the past six seasons. That included the 2023 season when Coen was the Wildcats’ offensive coordinator.
“Coach White, who I love dearly, called me and was like, ‘Yeah, you’re going to be there (the offseason program),’ ” Hines-Allen said. “That’s something I already had in the back of my mind of coming back and doing it no matter who we would have had, because I’ve got big goals that I need to do.
“Again, it’s all about adapting and figuring out what works. This year, I thought coming to OTAs would be a good time for me, and it’s paying off pretty well.”
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