Better late than never? Probably not, but it’s about time the Jacksonville Jaguars have come to terms with reality and moved on from GM Trent Baalke.
According to NFL insider Ian Rapoport, Baalke is out in Jacksonville, but it comes as a “mutual” parting of ways, despite knowing what that really means. The reality is, keeping Baalke employed was keeping head coaching candidates away from Jacksonville.
Rapoport shared a statement on the decision from Jaguars owner Shad Khan:
“Following several discussions with Trent Baalke this week, we both arrived at the conclusion that it is in our mutual interests to respectfully separate, effective immediately. Trent leaves us with my deepest appreciation for his efforts over the past five seasons.
“Ethan Waugh will serve as interim general manager and play an important role, with others, as we continue the process of interviewing candidates to serve as our new head coach. I am deeply committed to building a winner here in Jacksonville and look forward to introducing a new head coach who will make that happen for our players and fans alike.”
If I’ve got this correctly: Khan decided to keep Baalke, despite widespread concerns that doing so would hinder Jacksonville’s ability to attract a premier head coaching candidateโeven in spite of the fact that they have Trevor Lawrenceโand when he finally realized that to be true, he’s “mutually” parted ways with Baalke, and will have an interim general manager oversee what’s left of the head coaching search.
This seems like a case of too little too late for the Jaguars
I’m not sure where Khan see’s some sort of new attractiveness in that situation, by having an interim GM run the rest of the search.
Jacksonville has conducted interviews with 10 head coaching candidates to this point, and here’s the list courtesy of the team’s website.
- Joe Brady (BUF OC)
- Kellen Moore (PHI OC)
- Brian Flores (MIN DC)
- Todd Monken (BAL OC)
- Aaron Glenn (DET DC)
- Ben Johnson (DET OC)
- Steve Spagnuolo (KC DC)
- Liam Coen (TB OC)
- Patrick Graham (LV DC)
- Robert Saleh (FMR NYJ HC)
Two of those names can be crossed off the list with Ben Johnson going to Chicago as the new Bears head coach and Aaron Glenn landing in New York with the Jets this week. Of those eight remaining candidates, Liam Coen is sticking in Tampa Bay with a new extension, which terims the list to seven.
According to their website, Raiders defensive coordinator Patrick Graham and former Jets head coach Robert Saleh are scheduled for second interviews with Jacksonville. With two top candidates off the board, Baalke’s dismissal may be a case of too little for Shad Khan and the Jaguars regarding landing a premier head coaching candidate.