The Jacksonville Jaguars search for their next head coach took another big hit on Wednesday.
Two of what were reportedly the team’s top candidates for the head coaching opening are now no longer available.
On Monday, Ben Johnson chose to take the Chicago Bears head coaching job. According to The Athletic’s Dianna Russini, she was told by a source that the “setup” in Jacksonville didn’t align with what Johnson was looking for.
Presumably, this is about the Jaguars’ general manager situation with Trent Baalke still at the helm.
Then, most recently, Adam Schefter reported that Bucs’ offensive coordinator Liam Coen is staying in Tampa Bay after getting a new contract that will make him one of the highest-paid offensive play-callers in the game.
Another candidate who was reportedly “very high up” for the Jaguars after the first round of interviews was Aaron Glenn, but Glenn is also looking elsewhere.
Fox NFL Insider Jordan Schultz would say that it’s no secret around the league that the Jaguars would have a difficult time filling their head coaching vacancy with top talent had the team decided to keep Baalke as the general manager, which is what owner Shad Khan decided to do.
Still set to interview for the opening are Patrick Graham and Robert Saleh. The team could also still decide to bring back other candidates for a second round of interviews, like Baltimore’s Todd Monken, Philadelphia’s Kellen Moore, or Buffalo’s Joe Brady–although Brady and Moore cannot be interviewed until after championship weekend.
As quarterback Trevor Lawrence described recently, whether it’s an offensive minded head coach or a defensive one, that is less important to him than getting the right person for the job. Someone who can be a leader and help get the Jacksonville culture back on track.
This isn’t to say that any of the other candidates out there can’t or won’t do this. But realistically, the Jaguars are down to their third or fourth option when it comes to filling this all important role.
