After two seasons at Vanderbilt, Jason Tarver appears to be back in the NFL.
Multiple outlets, including Cleveland.com, are reporting that Tarver is the new linebackers coach for the Cleveland Browns. The Browns have not yet made the announcement, but Tarver has updated his Twitter profile bio to include “Linebackers Coach of the Cleveland Browns” and Cleveland, Ohio as his location.
Tarver has been in coaching since 1996 and has bounced between coaching in college and the pros. After his stints at West Valley (1996-97) and UCLA (1998-2000), he joined the San Francisco 49ers staff in 2001 and remained with the organization through the 2010 season. He then joined the Stanford staff season for one season (2011), where he worked alongside Derek Mason. After the season at Stanford, Tarver returned to the NFL as the Oakland Raiders’ defensive coordinator (2012-14). After Oakland, Tarver returned to San Francisco as a senior defensive analyst from 2015-17.
Tarver reunited with Mason, joining the Vanderbilt staff as defensive coordinator and outside linebackers coach ahead of the 2018 season. Tarver was Vanderbilt’s defensive coordinator again in 2019, but switched to coaching inside linebackers.
This offseason, Tarver was let go as part of Mason’s Commodore staff changes. Ted Roof is now on Vanderbilt staff as defensive coordinator.
Saturday Down South reports and comments on the news around the Southeastern Conference as well as larger college football topics.
