JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – This Jaguars head coaching search thing has gone off the rails. Liam Coen was the guy. He knew it, and then said thanks, but no thanks. Coen is reportedly staying in Tampa Bay and Jacksonville’s head coaching search drags on. Now they are going to have to try and make chicken salad out of you know what and then tell us that they got it right. Yeah, and I won the lottery and just lost the ticket.
Is it too late to get Doug Pederson back? I’m only partially kidding because this is awful.
The head coaching search has been completely mismanaged. Now they are going to be picking from the leftovers. This is one of 32 jobs. One of 32 jobs, and yet you have people saying, ‘nah, I’ll pass.’ And people think the Trent Baalke stuff is overblown. He was even posted on the team account joking about being likable. Sorry to burst his bubble, but he isn’t likable.
But in this case, it isn’t actually Baalke’s fault. This is on Shad Khan. Fans asked for a hard reset. He was questioned about keeping Baalke. There was even a banner flown over the stadium. You would think the message was pretty clear. All of that was ignored. So, how can I blame Baalke for coaches not wanting to work with him when Khan is the reason it is even in the conversation?
I mean come on. But why am I even surprised? At some point, this is just what this franchise is. It continues to find new ways to disappoint.
To borrow a phrase from Pederson (yep miss him already), “So what, now what?”
Last year, the Commanders got a consolation prize in Dan Quinn and he has led them to the conference championship game. Can the Jaguars get that lucky?
Patrick Graham and Robert Saleh are both already scheduled for interviews before the end of this week. Both are a hard no for me.
I’d expect they will expand their second round of interviews to include coaches with teams still playing. Joe Brady is the Bills offensive coordinator he was the last virtual interview. I have been told that interview went well, but with the Bills still playing they would need to wait to speak with him.
Todd Monken is another option. The Ravens’ offensive coordinator has had success coaching before and could be worth taking a second look at.
And I can’t believe I’m saying this, but with the search extending this long the guy they need to talk to is Kliff Kingsbury. There are reports that Kingsbury wouldn’t entertain any jobs until the Commanders’ season ended.
At this point, the Jags can afford to wait. I’m on the fence about Kingsbury because as a head coach, his record is mid. In college, he has two winning seasons at Texas Tech and a 35-40 record. In Arizona, he had one winning season and a 28-37 record. Just mid. But he has done great work with the Commanders’ offense this year and players I have spoken with like playing for him. So, if he could get the Jags offense rolling it would be a good hire.
But no matter who they end up landing it still won’t be chicken salad.
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