The San Francisco 49ers are busy on Tuesday, wrapping up a couple additions to Chip Kelly's coaching staff. Matt Maiocco reported the team hired Jim O'Neil as defensive coordinator, and just before that he reported the team hired Jeff Nixon as tight ends coach. Maiocco reported last week that Nixon was on the short list for a job, but confirmed the role earlier today.
Nixon's career has been primarily spent coaching running backs, although he did some work with tight ends at the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga. He coached Philadelphia Eagles running backs from 2007-2010, thus missing out on the Chip Kelly era.
The 49ers tight ends were coached by Tony Sparano last year, and it was kind of an up and down year. The team drafted Blake Bell and Busta Anderson. Bell got work late once Vernon Davis was traded, while Anderson spent the year on IR. Chip Kelly does good work with tight ends, so it will be interesting to see how involved the group is in 2016. Vance McDonald is technically the No. 1 tight end, but he has struggled with consistency.
Here is Nixon's resume:
2011-2015: Miami Dolphins - Running Backs
2007-2010: Philadelphia Eagles - Special Teams/Running Backs
2006: Temple - Running Backs
2003-2005: Tennessee-Chattanooga - Running Backs, Tight Ends, Special Teams, Recruiting
1999-2002: Shippensburg - Running Backs
1998: Princeton - Running Backs
1997: Penn State - Student Assistant Coach