Trent

Baalke

The good news is that the Jags can now attract the top head coaching candidates of this hiring cycle. They’re all gone? Oh. Jags owner Shad Khan initially chose to retain Baalke and fire head coach Doug Pederson after another failed season. He later expressed some flexbility on retaining Baalke if it prevented the team from landing a new head coach. Despite Baalke being an obvious deterent for potential hires, Khan held strong and kept Baalke in town, only to watch both Lions coordinators take jobs elsewhere and Bucs OC Liam Coen turn down Jacksonville to stay in Tampa Bay. These decisions made the message to Khan undeniable. Baalke had to go. Now the Jags get to pair their next head coach annd general manager together, hopefully building some cohesion within the building. Baalke’s run in Jacksonville ends with a 25-43 record plus an iconic playoff win over the Chargers two years ago.

Baalke was a surprising keep for Khan, but it sounds like the Jaguars owner will not keep Baalke if it keeps him from getting his No. 1 choice of the coaching carousel. It is extremely apparent that getting a coach who wants to work with Baalke will limit the desirability of the job — FOX’s Jordan Schultz ran a whole post about that last Monday. So the Jaguars head coaching role may come down to whether Khan wants the best coach he can get with Baalke, or the best coach he can get period. Perhaps those two will wind up being the same person and this is just splitting hairs, but it certainly seems like Baalke isn’t exactly off the hot seat yet.

Head coach Doug Pederson is gone, but Baalke will have a third chance to find the Jaguars’ next head coach after botching deals with Urban Meyer and Pederson in his first four years with the team. It was reported earlier by FOX Sports’ Jordan Schultz that the Jaguars could fire Baalke in hopes of attracting a new head coach, but owner Shad Khan seems to believe he can move forward with Baalke still calling the shots. That said, NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero has already reported that the team’s next head coach “will report directly” to Khan, which could make for an interesting dynamic in the months to follow. Baalke’s failed coaching hires are only a part of the issues that have plagued Jacksonville in recent years, but with a franchise quarterback and talented young receiver now on the roster, finding a competent leader becomes priority No. 1 for the Jags.

At least part of this was expected. Pederson making it through the entirety of the season was surprising after the Jaguars opened the season with a 2-8 record in the 10 games Trevor Lawrence played this season. Pederson took over a team in distress after Urban Meyer went one-and-done with the Jags in 2021. He immediately elevated them to a 9-8 record and a comeback win in the playoffs over the Chargers, but things only went downhill from there. A hot start in 2023 that saw the Jaguars sitting on a 8-3 record after Week 12 ended with another 9-8 finish and the team missing the playoffs. Last year’s struggles carried over to this season, as Pederson’s future with the team felt all but solidified after a 2-6 start through the first two months of the season. With Lawrence already in two for the foreseeable future and Brian Thomas Jr. looking like a top-15 receiver in his rookie year, the Jaguars look like a prime landing spot for any head coaching candidate. We’ll see in due time how the decision to retain general manager Trent Baalke, who is now 0-for-2 in his head coaching hires, will affect the team, but the coaching search is back on, once again.

The Jaguars are presumably letting go of head coach Doug Pederson, though neither he nor Baalke have been shown the door yet. Pederson’s firing is a foregone conclusion while Schultz seems to think the same is true of Baalk. He noted, “It appears the decision-makers decided this week that a full sweep would be necessary.” Ben Johnson is the big name on every owner’s radar as the coaching carousel gets spinning. Johnson turned down jobs last offseason to stay in Detroit but is expected to make the leap this time around. Having a young nucleus on offense and the option to work with a fresh general manager would make Jacksonville a particularly attractive spot for Johnson or any other rising star in coaching circles.

The Jaguars are expected to take Georgia’s Travon Walker if they stay at No. 1, although that is far from a sure thing. Aidan Hutchinson, long thought to be the first overall pick could entice a team to move up, allowing the Jaguars to get Walker and additional capital from a small trade down. However, the Lions and Texans could also be eyeing different players, making it difficult to generate trade interest within the top four picks. Without a quarterback to drive the trade market, the Jaguars will most likely make the No. 1 selection.

Baalke wouldn’t reveal the identity of any of the four players, but best guesses are edge rushers Aidan Hutchinson and Travon Walker along with a couple of the top offensive tackles. Baalke also added no teams have approached the Jaguars about trading up to No. 1 overall. The betting favorite for No. 1 overall remains Hutchinson.

Baalke followed that up by saying, “We’re very comfortable with taking the pick as well.” Baalke was no stranger to moving up and down the draft board during his time as the 49ers’ general manager. The Jags have an uncountable number of holes in their roster and the extra picks gained from trading down would go a long way in patching them. If another franchise is desperate to land the player of their dreams at the top of the draft, Baalke would be wise to let them pay a premium to shoot their shot.

Rapoport noted that Doug Pederson “has been impressive and Khan doesn’t want to impede significant progress with a new voice.” Pederson was fired after a power struggle in Philly and is already making moves within the Jacksonville organization. It sounds like he will have a strong say in high-level decisions. Rapoport did add that the team is “still moving forward on their search for an assistant GM under Trent Baalke and may hire other personnel jobs.” Baalke has the final say on all major decisions but Pederson’s influence is growing rapidly.

This is all conjecture that has been vaguely alluded to at this point, but here it is out in the open. All momentum was pointing towards the Jaguars hiring Leftwich in the middle of last week before he presented Adrian Wilson as a GM candidate and suggested he wouldn’t want to work with embattled current GM Baalke. The Jaguars are currently in a holding pattern as they try to find a head coach and GM who actually will want to work together, with the current heavy rumor being Rick Spielman, Doug Pederson, and Baalke employed but reporting to Spielman.