Michael headed into second season on Colts' coaching staff

STAFF REPORT
BSN

INDIANAPOLIS – Lawrence County High School graduate Jason Michael is headed into his second season as the Indianapolis Colts tight ends coach. 
Michael has 17 years of coaching experience, including 14 seasons in the NFL.In 2019, Michael worked with a tight ends group that featured Jack Doyle, Eric Ebron and Mo Alie-Cox. Doyle started all 16 games for the first time in his career and finished with 43 receptions for 448 yards and four touchdowns en route to being named to his second career Pro Bowl. Ebron caught 31 passes for 375 yards and three touchdowns.In his first season in Indianapolis, Michael's unit helped the Colts register a top-10 rushing attack for the first time since 2001 as the team boasted the league's seventh-ranked rushing offense (133.1 yards per game). Indianapolis' 4.52 yards per carry average was the fifth-highest single-season total in franchise history. Running back Marlon Mack finished 11th in the NFL in rushing yards with a single-season career-high 1,091 yards on the ground to become the first Colts player to register a 1,000-yard rushing season since 2016. In Week 11 vs. Jacksonville (11/17), the offensive line helped pave the way for Jonathan Williams (116 yards) and Mack (109 yards) to become just the fourth pair of running backs in franchise history to register 100 rushing yards in the same game. Indianapolis finished with 264 rushing yards against the Jaguars, which ranked 12th in single-game team history.Michael served as tight ends coach for the Arizona Cardinals in 2018. Prior to Arizona, Michael spent four seasons (2014-17) with the Tennessee Titans and served as quarterbacks coach (2016-17) and offensive coordinator (2014-15). He was instrumental in the development of quarterback Marcus Mariota, whom the team selected with the second overall pick of the 2015 NFL Draft.As offensive coordinator in 2015, Michael helped tight end Delanie Walker earn his first careerPro Bowl selection after registering career highs in receptions (94) and receiving yards (1,088) while adding six touchdowns. Walker's 94 receptions led all NFL tight ends and established a franchise record for a tight end. Additionally, the Titans offense set a franchise record in 2015 as 12 different players had at least one receiving touchdown.From 2011-13, Michael was the tight ends coach for the San Diego Chargers. He guided Antonio Gates to the fourth-most receptions (190) among NFL tight ends over that three-year span, while totaling 2,188 yards and 18 touchdowns. In 2013, Gates led the Chargers with 77 receptions, helping San Diego's offense rank fifth in the NFL. The Chargers offense finished sixth in the league in 2011 as Gates led San Diego with 64 catches that season en route to a Pro Bowl selection.Michael coached two seasons with the San Francisco 49ers (2009-2010), where he served as an offensive assistant (2009) and quarterbacks coach (2010).In 2008, Michael was the tight ends coach at the University of Tennessee. He returned to Knoxville, where he began his coaching career as a graduate assistant with the secondary and special teams from 2003-04.Between stints at the University of Tennessee, Michael coached with the New York Jets (2006-07) and Oakland Raiders (2005). In 2006, he helped Jets quarterback Chad Pennington earn Comeback Player of the Year honors.A quarterback who began his college playing career at Army, Michael transferred to Western Kentucky and was a two-time captain. As a senior in 2002, he led the Hilltoppers to the NCAA I-AA championship and was named the school's Male Athlete of the Year.A native of Louisa, Michael earned a bachelor's degree in civil engineering technology from Western Kentucky and was named a I-AA Athletic Directors Academic All-Star and a Second Team Verizon Academic All-District IV honoree.