Jeff Nixon | New York Giants

Jeff Nixon, whose 26-year coaching career includes 14 seasons in the NFL, is in his first season as the Giants' running backs coach.

Nixon was a member of the Carolina Panthers' staff the previous three seasons. Last year, Nixon was Carolina's assistant head coach/offense. In 2021, he was the team's offensive coordinator for the season's final five games. Nixon was the Panthers' senior offensive assistant and running backs coach his first two years with the team.

The Panthers finished 10th in the NFL in rushing yardage in 2022 with 130.0 yards-per-game, despite the midseason trade of star running back Christian McCaffrey. Free agent acquisition D'Onta Foreman led the Panthers ran for a team-high 914 yards.

When McCaffrey was limited to 10 total games the previous two seasons, Nixon coached a pair of former fourth-round draft choices who led Carolina in rushing. In 2021, rookie Chuba Hubbard led the Panthers with 612 yards and five touchdowns.

In Nixon's first season with the Panthers in 2020, he 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 and led Carolina with eight total touchdowns.

Nixon joined the Panthers after spending the previous three seasons as Baylor's co-offensive coordinator/play-caller. In 2019, Nixon helped lead Baylor to an 11-win season and an appearance in the Big 12 Championship game. The offense averaged 431.2 yards per game and ranked 17th in the nation with 35.2 points-per-game). The 2018 Bears ranked 22nd in the nation in total offense, averaging 459.1 yards per game, including 290 passing yards a game. In 2017, Nixon's offense at Baylor averaged 280 yards per game passing, which ranked 22nd in the nation.

Nixon spent the 2016 season coaching the San Francisco 49ers' tight ends.

From 2011-15, Nixon coached running backs for the Miami Dolphins, with whom 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. Three years later, 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 was on the Philadelphia Eagles staff from 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 Game in 2008.

Before his time in the NFL, Nixon coached running backs and wide receivers at Temple University 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. He coached the running backs at Shippensburg University from 1999-2002, and at Princeton University in 1998. Nixon got his start in coaching as a student assistant coach at Penn State in 1997.

As a player, Nixon played running back at West Virginia in 1993 and 1994 before transferring to Penn State to finish his career.

Nixon earned a degree in elementary education from Penn State in 1998 and a master's degree in education administration from Shippensburg in 2003.

NIXON AT A GLANCE

1997 Penn State University student assistant

1998 Princeton University running backs

1999-2002 Shippensburg University running backs

2003-05 University of Tennessee at Chattanooga running backs/tight ends/special teams

2006 Temple University running backs

2007-10 Philadelphia Eagles offense/special teams

2011-15 Miami Dolphins running backs

2016 San Francisco 49ers tight ends

2017-19 Baylor University co-offensive coordinator/running backs

2020 Carolina Panthers senior offensive assistant/running backs

2021 Carolina Panthers senior offensive assistant/running backs/ interim offensive coordinator

2022 Carolina Panthers assistant head coach/offense

2023 New York Giants running backs