coach’s blunt – Before Christian McCaffrey’s breakthrough 2019 season with the Carolina Panthers, his former running backs coach Jake Peetz told him one harsh truth: he was among the worst in the league at pass protection. Peetz says McCaffrey took it the right way, then the
Christian McCaffrey was already a star when the Panthers tried to make him even better.
In 2019, he delivered one of the best all-around seasons a running back has ever had. With Carolina, the former No. 8 overall pick in 2017 led the NFL with 2,392 total yards and 19 total touchdowns on 403 touches. He also became just the third running back to reach 1,000 rushing yards and 1,000 receiving yards in the same season.
But Jake Peetz says the push toward that historic production began before any of those numbers ever appeared.
Peetz, who became the Panthers’ running backs coach in 2019 and had not previously coached the position, wanted to motivate McCaffrey after a solid sophomore year. That 2018 campaign brought 1,965 total yards and 13 total touchdowns.
On the NFL Spotlight podcast with Ari Meirov, Peetz described the moment he decided where McCaffrey had to improve. “I found a guy that was extremely motivated, extremely talented, but how do you make this guy better?” Peetz said. “The thing that I told Christian. which you could ask him. he didn’t really appreciate — I said. ‘I think you’re one of the worst running backs in the league at pass protection.’”.
Peetz said McCaffrey’s response made the whole point clear. “He’s like, ‘Well, I need to be coached how to do it.’ And it’s like, ‘Great, that’s why I have a job.’”
So Peetz built a plan. He spent time with veteran RB coaches Kennedy Polamalu and Eric Bieniemy before putting it together. and then worked to change the specific weakness he had identified. The result was a season that didn’t just stand out—it made history. including McCaffrey’s first Pro Bowl and first-team All-Pro selection.
Peetz later left for LSU the following year. McCaffrey’s story kept moving, too: the Panthers traded him midway through the 2022 season, and his path eventually led him to the San Francisco 49ers.
Peetz was on the Los Angeles Rams staff by then, watching from the same division as the trade played out. “It would have been great to acquire him,” Peetz said about McCaffrey and the Rams. “We had to play against him twice — we played against him with Carolina and then we played against him right away with the 49ers and he threw a touchdown pass. caught one and ran for one.”.
Peetz said he didn’t carry any bitterness. He called the trade a blessing for McCaffrey, pointing to how well the fit matched the people around him. Kyle Shanahan’s connection to McCaffrey runs through family ties: Shanahan’s father, Mike, had coached McCaffrey’s dad, Ed, with the Denver Broncos.
“Look at how well they’ve used him,” Peetz said. “It’s so cool to see him as a dad now.”
Christian McCaffrey Jake Peetz Carolina Panthers 2019 season pass protection Pro Bowl first-team All-Pro Kyle Shanahan San Francisco 49ers LSU Los Angeles Rams