Why hasn't McDaniels heard from Jaguars? Breer shares his theory

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The Jacksonville Jaguars have several head coach candidates on their radar, but Josh McDaniels doesn't seem to be one of them.

The New England Patriots offensive coordinator isn't on a pretty extensive list of candidates the Jaguars are expected to interview after they fired head coach Urban Meyer in December. McDaniels seems plenty qualified for the role, though: He's gotten interviews for several head coaching gigs in recent years and has done an impressive job with rookie quarterback Mac Jones this season, making him a natural fit with No. 1 overall pick Trevor Lawrence in Jacksonville.

So, why isn't McDaniels on the Jaguars' radar? As Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer explained Sunday, there's a possibility McDaniels isn't even interested in the opportunity.

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"It's just a matter of trust, and it's a matter of having things set up the way you want them set up," Breer said on NBC Sports Boston's "Patriots Pregame Live," as seen in the video above. "I think Josh is going to, again, take his time to find the right situation to go to because he feels the Patriots could be good for the next couple of years."

McDaniels is in a good situation: He's the NFL's highest-paid offensive coordinator, has a promising young QB in Jones and works for a model organization led by owner Robert Kraft and head coach/general manager Bill Belichick.

It's safe to say things are different in Jacksonville, where GM Trent Baalke has quite a different reputation.

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"If you look at Trent Baalke's history, there's a reason why a lot of coaches wouldn't be interested in this opening," Breer said. "In fact, I think you heard that from Dan Quinn's camp over the last week or so that he isn't necessarily interested in the Jacksonville situation."

Baalke is in his second stint as general manager after six seasons with the San Francisco 49ers and doesn't have the best track record of retaining coaches, Breer noted.

"He basically survived two implosions (in San Francisco), one with Jim Harbaugh and the other with Jim Tomsula," Breer said. "Then you look at what's happened over the past year: When they cleaned Dave Caldwell and Doug Marrone out of there a year ago, Trent Baalke had built a close relationship with ownership which caused ownership to want to keep him. Urban Meyer was amenable to that as long as he got his facilities and support staff and coaching staff.

"Now, 11 months later, the thing blows up and Urban Meyer is out. The Jaguars' logic in keeping Baalke yet another time is it wasn't really his fault. And that may be true, but I don't know if that's really a reason to keep the guy.

"I can just tell you, people in the coaching ranks talk, and there's a lot of distrust for Trent Baalke in the NFL. And I think that's probably why Josh McDaniels wouldn't go there."

The Las Vegas Raiders also have a head coach vacancy, while Justin Fields and the Bears could appeal to McDaniels if Chicago fires Matt Nagy. But for now, Jacksonville looks like an unlikely destination for the Patriots' longtime coordinator.

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