RON MIDDELTON returns for his fourth season as the Jets tight ends coach, after initially joining the team as part of Robert Saleh's first staff in 2021. An NFL tight end for 10 seasons, Middleton has been coaching since 1997, including 15 seasons at the NFL level.

This past season (2023), Middleton helped tight end Tyler Conklin set a new career high for receiving yards (621), tied his career high for receptions (61), and tied his career high for yards per catch (10.2), while finishing in the top 15 among all tight ends in receiving yards and receptions. Conklin finished the 2023 season ranking in the top five among all tight ends in receiving yards and receptions on third down.

Additionally, Middleton oversaw the growth of second-year tight end Jeremy Ruckert who finished the year ranking in the top 10 in receiving yards, receptions, and yards after catch among all second-year tight ends in the NFL.

During the 2022 season, Middleton led a group of tight ends who showcased versatility and reliability. Conklin produced first downs on 16 of his 33 third down targets in 2022, tied for the third most in the NFL (among tight ends with a min. 130 third down routes). Additionally, among tight ends with a minimum of 85 targets last season, Middleton helped Conklin finish top 10 in the League in receptions (t-8th, 58), receiving yards (10th – 552), yards after catch (7th – 293), and receiving touchdowns (8th – 3).

With Middleton's guidance, tight end C.J. Uzomah became one of 11 tight ends in the AFC to record two or more touchdowns in a game this season, after doing so vs. Detroit (12/18).

With the Jets coaching in the 2022 Senior Bowl, Middleton, the Alabama native served as the National Team's head coach, leading the group to a 20-10 win.

In his first season with the Jets (2021), Middleton's group saw five different players record at least one explosive reception (16+ yards), tied for the most by any team in the league this season and the most on a Jets team since at least 2007. Veteran Ryan Griffin, who led the unit in receptions, yards, touchdown and explosive plays, caught at least one pass in each of his 14 games this season, the eighth-longest streak by a Jets TE since 2000.

During the 2021 season, Middleton served as the team's head coach vs. the Jaguars (12/26) after being elevated as a COVID replacement for Robert Saleh. Against his former team, Middleton helped lead the Jets to the 26-21 win as the team tied the franchise single-game record with five fourth-down attempts.

Prior to joining the Jets, Middleton spent eight seasons with Jacksonville as the tight ends coach, also serving as a 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 five children, Desman, Ron II, Zaria, Mariah and Allen.

FLIGHT PATH

New York Jets | 2021-Present

Tight Ends - 2021-Present

Senior Bowl Head Coach - 2022

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