Ron Middleton begins his first season with the New York Jets after joining Robert Saleh's staff as the tight ends coach on January 21, 2021. An NFL tight end for 10 seasons, Middleton has been coaching since 1997, including 11 seasons at the NFL level.

Prior to joining the Jets, Middleton spent eight seasons with Jacksonville as the tight ends coach, also serving asa special teams assistant in his first three seasons (2013-15). Between 2013-17, a Jaguars tight end produced four touchdowns in a season four different times, as both Julius Thomas (2015-16) and Marcedes Lewis (2013, '17) accomplished the feat multiple times.

Middleton's first NFL coaching position came with Tampa Bay as the tight ends/assistant special teams coach (2004-06), as he joined the team as a Bill Walsh Diversity Coaching Fellowship intern in training camp the year before (2003). In each of his seasons as the tight ends coach, a Bucs tight end produced at least 35 receptions and multiple touchdowns.

Before the start of his NFL coaching career, Middleton spent 13 seasons as a college coach, after he began his career as a restricted earnings coach at Troy, where he worked as a tight ends coach and assisted with the offensive tackles (1997-98), five seasons at Mississippi, first as the tight ends coach (1999-2001) and then as the running backs/special teams coordinator (2002-03), a season at Alabama as the tight ends coach and special teams coordinator (2007), and finally five seasons at Duke (2008-12), where he was the associate head coach/special teams coordinator/tight ends coach.

An NFL tight end for 10 seasons, Middleton entered the league as an undrafted rookie and played for Atlanta, Washington, Cleveland, Los Angeles Rams and San Diego. Prior to that, he spent four years at Auburn where he won three of four bowl games and earned co-offensive MVP recognition as a junior and senior.

After he graduated from Auburn with a degree in pre-law/history in 1988, Middleton later received a master's degree in sports and fitness management from Troy in 1998. He and his wife, Kalita, have four children, Desman, Ron II, Zaria and Mariah.

FLIGHT PATH

New York Jets | 2021-Present

Tight Ends - 2021-Present

Jacksonville Jaguars | 2013-20

Tight Ends - 2016-20

Tight Ends/Special Teams Assistant - 2013-15

Duke | 2008-12

Associate Head Coach/Special Teams Coordinator/Tight Ends - 2008-12

Alabama | 2007

Tight Ends/Special Teams Coordinator - 2007

Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 2003-06

Tight Ends/Assistant Special Teams - 2004-06

Bill Walsh Diversity Coaching Fellowship - 2003

Mississippi | 1999-2003

Running Backs/Special Teams Coordinator - 2002-03

Tight Ends - 1999-2001

Troy |1997-98

Tight Ends/Tackles (Restricted Earnings Coach) - 1997-98

PLAYING CAREER

San Diego Chargers (Tight End) - 1995

Los Angeles Rams (Tight End) - 1994

Washington Football Team (Tight End) - 1988, '90-93

Cleveland Browns (Tight End) - 1989

Atlanta Falcons (Tight End) - 1986-87

Auburn (Tight End) - 1982-85