The Jacksonville Jaguars (2-14) need a new head coach and they will interview Doug Pederson, Jim Caldwell, Kellen Moore, Bill O’Brien, and eventually Byron Leftwich.
Jaguars owner Shad Khan fired Urban Meyer after 13 games and a 2-11 start. It was apparent as far back as the preseason that he was not fit to coach in the NFL. The players did not like Meyer from the get-go and veterans were turned off by his tyrant tactics. From a tactical standpoint, Meyer was out of his depth in the NFL.
The Jaguars are the worst team in the NFL and will most likely finish the season 2-15 and lock up the #1 pick in the NFL Draft in consecutive years.
Who Wants to Coach the Jags?
Pederson won Super Bowl 31 with the Philadelphia Eagles, but wore out his welcome in the City of Brotherly love after last season’s 4-11-1 debacle. He’s at the top of the list of currently unemployed head coaches who will most likely get a new job in the offseason, but Pederson has the inside track at becoming the next head coach of the Jaguars. He has a career record of 42-37-1 after five seasons with the Eagles.
Caldwell has not been a head coach since he was fired from the Detroit Lions in 2017. He also spent three seasons as the head coach of the Indianapolis Colts and even guided them to a berth in the Super Bowl in 2009 only to lose to the New Orleans Saints. Caldwell has a career record of 62-50.
The Jaguars are keen on two assistant coaches with the Dallas Cowboys. They want to interview defensive coordinator Dan Quinn and offensive coordinator Kellen Moore. Quinn was fired from the Atlanta Falcons five games into the 2020 season. He has a 44-42 career record with one trip to the Super Bowl with the Falcons, but it was the infamous game in which they blew a 28-3 lead against the New England Patriots.
Former Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett was also mentioned as a potential hire. He was recently fired midseason after a disastrous stint as the offensive coordinator with the New York Giants. In a decade with the Cowboys, Garrett went 85-67.
The Jaguars will interview Bill O’Brien next week. The ex-head coach and former general manager of the Houston Texans had an ugly exit from the team after four games into the 2020 season. O’Brien went 52-48 with the Texans. He’s the favorite candidate of universally-loathed general manager Trent Baalke.
Leftwich Returns?
Byron Leftwich is also at the top of the list of potential candidates to become the next head coach with the Jaguars. Leftwich is currently the offensive coordinator of the defending champion Tampa Bay Bucs. He won a Super Bowl with Tom Brady last season. He also won one championship as a backup QB with the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl 43.
The Jaguars requested and interview during Christmas week, but Leftwich declined an until after the season ended.
“I really think it’s disrespectful to the Jets and whoever you’re playing that week when you’re talking about things that really has nothing to do with Sunday’s game,” said Leftwich. “If I’m ever fortunate enough to be in that situation, that’s when I’ll handle it, but as of right now, I’m really focusing on the opponent we’re about to play and getting us ready to try and play our best football.”
If the Jaguars can finally sit down with Leftwich and offer the position of head coach, it would be a homecoming of sorts. He’s a former quarterback who was drafted by the Jaguars in the 2003 NFL Draft. He spent four seasons with the Jaguars and started 44 games at quarterback for them, including one playoff game.
