Does the Jaguars’ Potential HC Candidate Pool Make Sense for Trevor Lawrence?
As the days and weeks have marched on since the NFL's regular season ended on January 3, numerous fanbases across the league have waited patiently and desperately for some kind of news.
A new head coach. A new general manager. Anything.
Count those who support the Jacksonville Jaguars among those waiting on pins and needles. It has only been nine days since the Jaguars' head coach vacancy was created, so it isn't like the Jaguars are exactly dragging feet. But lack of news during coaching searches can sometimes be seen as bad news, though this clearly isn't always the case.
But while people wait feverishly to find out who the next Jaguars coach will be, this doesn't mean we can't begin to make observations about the team's process.
The end result won't be down for a short bit longer, while the ultimate success of the hire won't be known until far into the future. But while we wait for the Jaguars to make a hire, it is still fair to ask a key question about the team's process thus far.
That question? If the Jaguars are doing right by Trevor Lawrence during their search.
Make no mistake, a football team is more than just its quarterback. The team's next head coach will have to manage 53+ players every single day, not just one.
But quarterback is the most important position in sports for a reason, and there is zero question that Lawrence, Clemson's star quarterback of the last three seasons, will be the most important member of Jacksonville's roster when he is selected with the No. 1 overall pick in April.
Simply put, there has never been a more important draft pick in the entire history of the Jaguars. Lawrence hasn't taken a snap yet -- he hasn't even heard his name called by Roger Goodell yet -- but that doesn't take away from the fact that the Jaguars would be wise to center all of their moves on him already.
Because of this, we can judge Jacksonville's process thus far by one simple criterion: are the candidates they are lining up the right coaches to get the most out of Lawrence?
As of now, all head coaching searches appear to be at a complete standstill. Teams are still conducting interviews, of course, but there has yet to be a major domino to fall. The Jaguars have been especially stagnant, however, with there being little connections of them to any coaching candidates since the weekend ended.
This means the Jaguars have reportedly spoken to five people about the head coach vacancy: Urban Meyer, Robert Saleh, Arthur Smith, Eric Bieniemy, and Raheem Morris.
But if the Jaguars have just talked to these five coaches so far, are they doing all that they can to set up their future franchise quarterback for success? The answer, as of now, is a mixed bag.
Urban Meyer seems to be the lead candidate and he would certainly be a big fish for owner Shad Khan to land ... but concerns remain about his long-term ability to commit considering his health issues and past stops. Even if he accepts the job, there is no telling just how long he would stay in the role and be by Lawrence's side as he develops.
Then there is the fact that Meyer has never been an NFL head coach. Nobody is questioning his ability as a college coach or as an offensive mind, but it is fair to wonder if he is the best possible candidate to help Lawrence make a quick transition to the NFL. The only quarterback Meyer has coached in college who found any NFL success was Alex Smith, so it isn't out of line to have questions about his ability to develop a young NFL passer until he actually does it.
Meyer's quarterbacks have always produced, in fairness. He is known as one of college football's best coaches of the last several decades in large part due to the consistency of his offenses. But developing the No. 1 overall pick in the NFL is a different animal completely.
Then there are the other candidates to consider. As much as Jacksonville's coaching search has seemingly been focused on Meyer, there are still other coaches the Jaguars have interviewed. But do any of them make sense as Lawrence's first head coach?
Bieniemy has been Kansas City's offensive coordinator for the entirety of Patrick Mahomes' career as starting quarterback, so that is clearly a big plus. With that said, it is fair to wonder how much Bieniemy has played into Mahomes' success compared to Andy Reid, quarterbacks coach Mike Kafka, and Mahomes himself.
Bieniemy made his way in the NFL as a running backs coach before he became Kansas City's offensive coordinator as well. He deserves some recognition for his work with the Chiefs, but to call him a quarterback-centric coach would be a bit of a stretch.
There there are Saleh and Morris to consider. Both are defensive coaches, so the development of Lawrence would be placed completely in the hands of whoever they pick as offensive coordinator and/or quarterbacks coach.
The downside with those options is playing out in front of our eyes with the Tennessee Titans. It appears likely that the Titans will lose Smith to a coaching job this year, which would be the second time in three years a Titans offensive coordinator had left for a head coaching job.
Simply put, any offensive coach who comes in and does well with Lawrence wouldn't be in Jacksonville long. It may take only a year for other teams to come calling. The NFL is a copycat league, after all.
Finally, there is Smith. Smith is likely among the most qualified of all of Jacksonville's current candidates in terms of his work with quarterbacks ... but that work is limited to just the last two years. Smith was an offensive line and tight ends coach before 2019.
Smith has done a terrific job with the Titans' offense over the last two seasons. He knows he has a golden goose in Derrick Henry, but he maximizes their offensive potential by using Henry to get the most out of Ryan Tannehill. Tannehill has been one of the NFL's most efficient and consistent quarterbacks over the last two seasons in large part because of Smith's offense. And unlike with Bieniemy and Kansas City, there is no questioning that Tennessee is Smith's offense.
With this in mind, are there any quarterback-centric coaches the Jaguars haven't been connected to? Buffalo Bills offensive coordinator Brian Daboll has done a fantastic job with Josh Allen, but he hasn't been tied to the Jaguars' job. Joe Brady helped Joe Burrow become the No. 1 pick, but he hasn't been connected to the vacancy either.
Then there are retreads like Doug Pederson and Jim Caldwell. Both are quarterback guys, but neither has been tied to the Jaguars in any way.
In short, the Jaguars have talked to five coaches overall. Just three coaches have offensive backgrounds. Among those three, there is no true "quarterback guru".
With this in mind, Meyer, Smith, and Bieniemy are all intriguing options. Bieniemy comes from the best offense. Meyer is the most respected. Smith has had the most recent personal success with quarterbacks. There are questions with each, but there are also positives.
But it doesn't necessarily take a coach with experience developing quarterbacks for a rookie quarterback to have success. It is perhaps just as important for the head coach to surround himself with the right staff for that quarterback.
For example, look at the Los Angeles Chargers in 2020. Anthony Lynn isn't a quarterback guy, but he had a great offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach pairing on his staff to bring Justin Herbert along.
The Jaguars shouldn't limit their coaching search to coaches with experience with quarterbacks. They need to find the best football coach to lead them into the future, period.
But in most scenarios, the best possible coach is the one who can help Lawrence succeed.
Have the Jaguars conducted a process that is likely to lead to Lawrence having a smooth transition into his role as a franchise quarterback? That is hard to answer right now considering an entire staff has to be filled out, but the question will continue to be asked until the Jaguars make a hire and begin taking their major steps toward the future.
