Former NFL Head Coach Weighs in on Appeal of Jaguars' Vacancy
The Jacksonville Jaguars are currently experiencing something the franchise has rarely gone through: they are among the hottest destinations for potential head coaches.
Jacksonville fired Doug Marrone on Monday after four-plus years were finalized with a 1-15 record in 2020. Now, owner Shad Khan is looking for the next man to lead his franchise into the future.
Gone are the days of Jacksonville's head coach serving as an on-field underling to a front office figure. Instead, it continues to appear as if the Jaguars' next head coach will be the face and voice of the program.
But also gone are the days of the Jaguars having a questionable opening. The job wasn't desirable in 2013, nor would it have been last offseason. But has that changed in 2021?
There are a lot of reasons to think so. The Jaguars have 11 draft picks, including four in the first two rounds, and a plethora of cap space. They also have the No. 1 overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, which will presumably be used on Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence.
But do all of these ingredients truly make a worthwhile job? We asked former NFL head coach June Jones for his thoughts on Jacksonville's open head coach position to gauge just how appealing the job may be to those in the coaching ranks.
Jones, who spent decades in the NFL as both an offensive coordinator and also as a head coach, has most recently coached in the XFL as well as The Spring League. He's currently offering a certification course at CoachTube.com on the Run & Shoot Offense. His time in the NFL includes three seasons as the head coach of the Atlanta Falcons and a stint as the interim head coach of the Chargers.
Jones's experience gives him an interesting perspective on the desirability of Jacksonville's head coach role, a role he deems as one of the best head coaching jobs currently open.
"Well the Head Coaching position I would say is one of the most appealing in the league right now," Jones told JaguarReport. "It has great city support, great place to live, and with the ability for a coach to possibly have the top quarterback in the country via the first pick."
The appeal of Jacksonville's head coaching vacancy has been talked about since even before Marrone was fired. As Jones noted, the job gives a coach a chance to not only live in sunny Florida and in a community that supports their team, but it gives the coach a chance to handpick his franchise quarterback to move into the future with.
These are all reasons Khan said on Monday that the head coach and general manager openings have received strong interest -- stronger than the last time he looked to fill the two roles.
“Well, I certainly think there’s a huge amount of interest in this, much more so than the last time around. And I also look at really—we’re in a much different, and I would say a better position today than we were a year ago. A little over a year ago, as you well know—and I think you reported—we did have team disharmony and we were—for lack of a better word—salary cap hell," Khan said.
"I think today, I frankly thought that we would do better. We won six games last year [2019], but you know, certainly we have a lot of salary cap availability along with the draft picks and obviously the number one pick. But what’s evaded the history of the Jags, really, has been a franchise quarterback. And I think what’s unique, certainly, is that we have the ability now to make a choice and it’s going to define the franchise moving forward.”
So with a job as appealing as Jacksonville's, what kind of coach does Jones think the Jaguars need to go after?
In his eyes, the fact that they have the No. 1 overall pick and a chance to build around a franchise quarterback means they should look for an offensive mine to lead their team into the future. This is a popular sentiment in the fan base, and we have already seen reports of offensive coaches Urban Meyer and Eric Bieniemy, so it is likely that it is a popular sentiment with the Jaguars as well.
"They need to hire an offensive guy to give the quarterback a chance to grow fast," Jones said. "Defensive coaches will play the game to not lose. A good offensive coach will let the quarterback try to win the game. He will grow up fast."
Combine the amount of draft picks, cap space, and the fact that the Jaguars' next head coach can join hand-in-hand with his franchise quarterback, and this is a job that coaches will likely have near the top of their lists in order of preferred landing spots.
The key now is ensuring the Jaguars make the right hire. The job may look good, but at the end of the day they simply need to find the best coach to teach them how to win.
"As of right now with all the picks available to the Jags in this draft, it is a tremendous opportunity for the right general manager and coach. That chemistry between the new general manager and coach in managing the cap space, which looks like it has room for some good decision, that will decide if they win or not," Jones said.
