For those watching Thursday night’s NFL telecast of the Los Angeles Chargers at Las Vegas Raiders game on Prime Video, you might have noticed a familiar face.
Jackson native Bo Hardegree is the interim offensive coordinator of the Raiders, and courtesy of the Raiders, here is some background information of the Jackson Central-Merry graduate.
His father Jim, is the special teams coordinator for the University School of Jackson’s football team, and his mother, Adair, is the head cheer coach at USJ.
From the Las Vegas Raiders –
Bo Hardegree was appointed interim offensive coordinator of the Las Vegas Raiders on October 31, 2023. He brings with him 15 years of coaching experience, including the last 10 seasons in the NFL.
In 2022, Hardegree guided quarterback Derek Carr to his fourth career Pro Bowl after completing 305-of-502 passes for 3,522 yards and 24 touchdowns. Carr’s 24 passing touchdowns ranked 12th-best in the NFL, while his 10 touchdown passes for 30-or-more yards ranked first in the league. Hardegree also assisted quarterback Jarrett Stidham in his first two career NFL starts in Week 17 and 18, seeing him pass for 584 yards, four touchdowns and an 91.6 passer rating.
In 2021, Hardegree played a key role in the development of rookie quarterback Mac Jones, who led all rookie quarterbacks with 3,801 passing yards and 22 touchdowns. Jones’ 10 wins are the most in a season by a Patriots rookie quarterback and his completion percentage of 67.6 was the second-best for a rookie quarterback in a season in league history.
Prior to joining the Patriots, Hardegree spent two seasons as an offensive assistant with the New York Jets. Under the guidance of Hardegree in 2019, quarterback Sam Darnold improved in multiple categories from his rookie season, recording career highs in completion percentage (61.9 percent), passing yards (3,024) and touchdowns (19), while recording the league’s 10th best passer rating (84.3) and compiling a 6-2 record over the final eight games of the season.
Before joining the Jets, Hardegree spent three seasons as quarterbacks coach of the Miami Dolphins. During his tenure, Hardegree worked with several different quarterbacks, including Jay Cutler, Matt Moore, Brock Osweiler and Ryan Tannehill.
In his first season with the Dolphins in 2016, Hardegree guided Tannehill to career highs with a 93.5 quarterback rating, 7.7 yards per attempt and a 67.1 completion percentage. Under Hardegree’s tutelage, both Tannehill and Moore led the NFL in red zone passer rating. Tannehill posted a 119.7 mark to lead the league, while Moore finished second at 118.8.
Prior to the Dolphins, Hardegree spent one season in Chicago as an offensive assistant in 2015. He helped the Bears’ rushing attack improve from 27th in 2014 to 11th in the NFL in 2015 as the unit averaged 25.6 more rushing yards per game. Bears quarterback Jay Cutler finished the 2015 season with the highest passer rating (92.3) of his career, while his 64.4 completion percentage, 2.3 interception percentage and 7.6 passing yards per attempt were all second best of his career.
Hardegree entered the NFL as an offensive quality control coach with the Denver Broncos in 2014. During that season, the Broncos offense ranked No. 2 in the NFL in scoring, averaging 30.1 points per contest. Quarterback Peyton Manning completed 66.2 percent of his passes for 4,727 yards and 39 touchdowns and set the NFL’s then-career-passing touchdown record.
Prior to Denver, Hardegree spent three years (2011-13) as an intern at Louisiana State, working with the offense in 2012-13 and the defense in 2011. During his three seasons, LSU went 33-7 overall, winning the SEC in 2011 and advancing to the 2012 BCS National Championship game. In 2013, LSU ranked No. 23 in the FBS in scoring, averaging 35.8 points per game.
Hardegree began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Duke (2008-10), where he earned his master’s degree.
PERSONAL: Hardegree played quarterback at Tennessee, where he was a member of two SEC Eastern Division championship teams in 2004 and 2007…The Volunteers also won the 2005 Cotton Bowl and the 2008 Outback Bowl during his tenure…A native of Jackson, Tenn., he and his wife, Lauren, have one daughter, Isabella Rose.
(PHOTO: Bo Hardegree – courtesy Brad McCoy, Grace Media Group)
