Don’t judge a head coaching candidate off of one game

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – With the first round of interviews out of the way and the Lions out of the playoffs, the Jaguars coaching search is about to hit warp speed.

NFL teams can start to bring in under-contract candidates for in-person interviews on Monday. It wouldn’t surprise me if the Jags had a new head coach by the end of the week.

Who should the Jags bring in for a second interview? I asked on X and got a bunch of responses.

The top three were clear as day.

Ben Johnson: Lions offensive coordinator.

Liam Coen: Buccaneers offensive coordinator.

Aaron Glenn: Lions Defensive coordinator.

From those three, I took a completely unscientific poll. Calling the results one-sided would be being kind.

It is clearly Ben Johnson or bust for a lot of folks. And there is nothing wrong with that. If you saw the Lions lose to the Commanders on Saturday night, you saw the creativity that has teams drooling over the chance to hire Johnson.

But one game should not make or break a candidate.

Johnson would be a home run hire, but so would Glenn. Yes, the Lions defense gave up 45 points to a rookie quarterback, and that’s a rough ending. But the coach on the other sideline, Washington’s Dan Quinn, gave up 48 points in his last game with the Cowboys as their defensive coordinator.

It happens.

One game isn’t the resume, and it shouldn’t burn the resume. A big part of what a head coach does has nothing to do with play calling or even X’s and O’s. It has a big part to do with people. People throw out the phrase “it’s not the X’s and O’s it’s the Jimmys and Joes” a lot when it is convenient but forget about it during a head coaching search. It still applies. That head coach has been ready to stand in front of a room and lead a team. That is the biggest difference between coaches who are good coordinators and coaches who are good head coaches.

The Lions and the Commanders put on an offensive show, but both of their head coaches are culture guys. Dan Campbell was never a coordinator in his career, and Quinn is one of the more liked coaches in the league. They know X’s and O’s, but they have an impact on those Jimmys and Joes in their locker room.

That is what the Jaguars need to figure out. Who will be the best leader? If that is Johnson or Coen, cut the check and run with it. But if they think it’s Aaron Glenn, a guy whose defense gave up 45 points to end their season, then that is where they should go. If you hire the right leader, the Jimmys and Joes will take care of the rest.