



AUBURN, Alabama—It didn’t take long for Gus Malzahn and new Auburn offensive coordinator Chad Morris to find their man to replace J.B. Grimes as veteran Jack Bicknell Jr. has been named the new offensive line coach for the Tigers.

“Jack has a wealth of coaching experience and success in all levels of football, including the last three years in the SEC,” Malzahn said. “He has been a part of a Super Bowl championship team and been a head coach collegiately. Jack’s diverse and extensive resume will be valuable in developing our offensive line unit. We’re very excited to have Jack join our staff here at Auburn.”

Most recently at Ole Miss working for Matt Luke, Bicknell Jr. has more than 30 years of coaching experience under his belt including a head coaching stint at Louisiana Tech from 1999-2006.

“I’m fired up to be joining a tradition-rich program like Auburn," Bicknell said. "Auburn has always been known as a blue-collar, hard-working team that has achieved a tremendous amount of success. I am very appreciative of Coach Malzahn for this opportunity. He and Coach Morris are very well respected offensive minds in the game of football and I can’t wait to work with them and the rest of the Auburn staff.”

The son of longtime Boston College head coach Jack Bicknell, he started his career with the Eagles as a grad assistant in 1985-86 before moving to New Hampshire where he coached both the defensive line and offensive line for 10 seasons.

Moving to Louisiana Tech, he coached the offensive line before taking over the head coaching duties for the Bulldogs. His 43 wins are still the third-most in school history.

From there he went back to Boston College where he coached the offensive line for two seasons before moving to the NFL. Over the next six seasons Bicknell Jr. coached with the New York Giants, Pittsburgh Steelers, Kansas City Chiefs and Miami Dolphins before moving back to the college ranks at Ole Miss.

Jack Bicknell Jr. is headed to Auburn.

Bicknell played collegiately at Boston College where he was the center for the Eagles when Doug Flutie won the Heisman Trophy in 1984. In Bicknell’s final season at Boston College, he was honored with the Scanlon Award, the highest honor bestowed upon a Boston College football player, the Scarminach Award for athletic and academic excellence and the Dean’s Award in the school of education.

As a coach Bicknell has been successful coaching the offensive line with some of his best work in the NFL ranks. Working with offensive line coach John Benton, Bicknell assisted to guide the Dolphins’ offensive line that helped protect quarterback Ryan Tannehill during a pair of 4,000-yard passing seasons. Bicknell’s line also paved the way for running back Lamar Miller to rush for 1,971 yards over the 2014 and 2015 seasons.

In 2014 the Dolphins produced 361 first downs, tied for the second-most in franchise history and most since 1985 when the team had the same amount. Bicknell coached a variety of offensive linemen who found success under his watch. Despite missing the first four games of the season due to injury and making the switch to guard, Mike Pouncey was tabbed to his second-straight Pro Bowl in 2014.

Tackle Ja’Wuan James became the eighth offensive lineman in Dolphins history to start all 16 games as a rookie, showing his versatility by starting nine games at right tackle and seven at left tackle en route to earning PFWA All-Rookie Team honors.

Jack Bicknell is shown at an Ole Miss practice.

Bicknell came to Miami after spending the 2013 season as the offensive line coach for the Pittsburgh Steelers. While in Pittsburgh, Bicknell’s unit helped running back Le’Veon Bell amass 1,259 yards from scrimmage, the most by a Steelers rookie.

Prior to joining the Steelers, Bicknell served as the offensive line coach for the Kansas City Chiefs in 2012 where he directed a unit that was instrumental in helping running back Jamaal Charles return to All-Pro form after an ACL injury cut short his 2011 season.

Bicknell began his NFL coaching career with the New York Giants in 2009 and was a member of a coaching staff that helped lead the franchise to its fourth Super Bowl title with a 21-17 victory over the New England Patriots on February 5, 2012. During the 2011 season, the Giants’ line anchored an offense that finished fifth in the NFL in passing and only allowing five sacks.

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