Shad Khan is at a crossroads with the Jacksonville Jaguars. December 14th of 2021 marked 10 years of Khan owning the team. In that time, the Jags have a 41-118 record. Khan has employed four different head coaches since 2012. For comparison, the Pittsburgh Steelers have had four head coaches since 1968. It’s clear that in Khan’s first decade he’s made some poor decisions. What will the next decade look like? We’ll have to wait until it unfolds, but Khan is at a crossroads for sure. He appears to be on the verge of botching the current head coaching search. If he doesn’t hire the right coach, it could be the start to another decade of losing. Not to mention losing the fanbase. Also, Trevor Lawrence needs someone to come in and provide leadership and development. The Jaguars future hangs in the balance with the choice of the next coach.
Shad Khan Is Reaching a Crossroads With the Jacksonville Jaguars
The Jacksonville Jaguars Hiring Process Is Far From Transparent Under Shad Khan
The Jaguars fired Urban Meyer on December 16th, 2021. The interview process for Meyer’s replacement started on December 28th, which is now over a month ago. The team interviewed about 10 candidates. It became clear in the last week that their top candidates were Byron Leftwich, Matt Eberflus, and Nathaniel Hackett. As of this writing, Eberflus and Hackett have been hired by the Chicago Bears and Denver Broncos respectively and Leftwich is still available.
There’s been no transparency from the team throughout this process. Other teams such as the Minnesota Vikings announce to the public when they conduct an interview. The Jaguars do no such thing. The process turned peculiar starting this past Tuesday night. A local Jaguars fan who has a mysterious connection with someone in the organization tweeted that Leftwich would be the coach.
Byron Leftwich will be the next Head Coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars
— Dilla (@E_Dilla) January 26, 2022
Though “Dilla” is not a reporter, he’s earned respect among Jaguars fans and even national media for past scoops. This tweet started a buzz among many media outlets that Leftwich would indeed become the coach. However, the next day a report came out that the team would interview Hackett a second time. That didn’t happen because Hackett became the Broncos coach. Not to mention reports from Ian Rapoport of NFL Network that no deal was close.
Will Shad Khan Hire Byron Leftwich and Adrian Wilson?
Hearing the Jaguars are close to hiring Adrian Wilson as their GM and Byron Leftwich as HC.
— Mike Jurecki (@mikejurecki) January 27, 2022
Mike Jurecki covers the Arizona Cardinals and has done so for 27 years. He reported on the 27th that the Jaguars were close to hiring Leftwich as head coach and Adrian Wilson as General Manager. This would be welcome news to Jaguars fans, as they scorn the presence of current General Manager Trent Baalke.
Baalke’s presence on the team started a clown movement amongst the fan base in the final few weeks of the regular season after reports surfaced that Khan would retain Baalke. The team would of course need to fire Baalke in order to replace him with Wilson. If Leftwich is adamant about bringing Wilson with him to Jacksonville, and not working with Baalke, Khan has an important decision to make.
The Jaguars Need a Fresh Start
Teams such as the Vikings and New York Giants have both fired their head coach and GM this season. They decided a fresh start would be the right move. It’s important for the head coach and GM to work well together. Those positions are vital to the success of an NFL franchise. But to this point, Khan seems loyal (to a fault) to Baalke.
Baalke has done nothing to warrant staying on as the GM of the franchise. In fact, he seems to be bad news for head coaches.
The only thing delaying Shad Khan and the #Jaguars back from bringing on Byron Leftwich and Adrian Wilson is the current GM, Trent Baalke. Who triggered the Jags fanbase to dress up in clown outfits in their season finale.
Is this your king? #DUUUVAL pic.twitter.com/QIPe7cwfa4
— Neer Ray (@NeerRayNFL) January 28, 2022
The past five head coaches that Baalke has worked with have been fired. Save for Harbaugh, all of them only worked with Baalke for one season before being fired. This doesn’t even get into Baalke’s track record with roster management, which is shaky at best.
The Jaguars need a clean slate at both the head coach and GM positions. It’s unclear whether Khan is willing for that to be the case.
The Jacksonville Jaguars Future Is in Doubt
The next head coach hire is very important. Lawrence is coming off of a rough rookie season. The young rookie did not have good leadership he could count on. If Khan decides to side with Baalke over top head coach candidates, he may doom the franchise to more and more losing.
Leftwich is the last of the Jaguars three finalists that are still available for hire. If the team does not hire him, they will have to go back to the drawing board. The Jags have been searching for a new head coach for over a month. Restarting their process would mean settling for their fourth preference at best. Khan and the Jaguars have had ample time to conduct this process and ample opportunity to get it right. But with Khan’s track record the past 10 years, should anyone be surprised if he botches this situation?
[pickup_prop id=”17207″]
Main Photo:
Embed from Getty Images
