Jaguars Head Coach Search: Byron Leftwich and 4 Other Names to Consider
The Jacksonville Jaguars need a new head coach.
Just 11 months and 13 regular-season games after hiring Urban Meyer, the Jaguars and Shad Khan ended the Meyer era on Thursday, firing Meyer after a long line of reports that outlined turmoil inside TIAA Bank Field due to Meyer's coaching.
"After deliberation over many weeks and a thorough analysis of the entirety of Urban’s tenure with our team, I am bitterly disappointed to arrive at the conclusion that an immediate change is imperative for everyone. I informed Urban of the change this evening. As I stated in October, regaining our trust and respect was essential. Regrettably, it did not happen," Khan said in a statement.
"Trent Baalke continues as our general manager and will work with Darrell to ensure that our team will be inspired and competitive while representing Jacksonville proudly over our final four games of the season. In the spirit of closure and recharging our players, staff and fan base, I will not comment further until some point following the conclusion of the NFL season."
So with Meyer officially canned, who can and who should the Jaguars look to next? From former quarterbacks to Super Bowl-winning head coaches, we break it all down here.
Byron Leftwich
There are so many reasons why this hire would make sense. There are of course the public relations factors, with Leftwich not only being a young and ascending coaching hotshot but also being a well-liked former Jaguars quarterback. If Shad Khan wants to win back the fan base with his next hire -- and he just may have to after the complete and utter disaster that was Meyer -- then look no further than Leftwich.
But even if Leftwich had never played a down for the Jaguars, he would still arguably make more sense than any other coach on the market. He is a young offensive mind who has seen the game from multiple viewpoints, ranging from Bruce Arians' to Tom Brady's, and his play-calling with Tampa Bay has been superb. Simply look at the things Brady says about Leftwich to be sold on him as not just an offensive mind, but as a leader. Leftwich is ready to be an NFL head coach, and few stops make as much sense as Jacksonville.
Josh McDaniels
A former head coach who has already interviewed with the Jaguars and Khan for the position once (in 2017, before Doug Marrone was hired), Josh McDaniels can make a claim that no other team with a rookie quarterback can make: his offense is producing. McDaniels is clearly a controversial name after he left the Colts' job shortly after accepting it a few seasons ago, plus his messy tenure in Denver. Still, he has helped Mac Jones produce like an NFL quarterback in a year in which the Jaguars' own rookie quarterback has had to fight for his life each week.
There isn't a riskier option on this list than McDaniels, but it is just impossible to think that he won't be taken seriously as a candidate. He has the experience, even if it is a shaky experience, and has shown he can help all different types of quarterbacks produce. If there is a hire to help Trevor Lawrence get back to doing what he does best, then McDaniels' name is likely near the top of the list.
Doug Pederson
It isn't very often a head coach with a Super Bowl ring finds himself looking for a new team, but that is the case of former Eagles head coach Doug Pederson. Pederson was fired by the Eagles last season after a 4-11-1 campaign, but he has a 42-37-1 career regular-season record, giving him a winning percentage of .531%. Add in his 4-2 playoff record and the fact that he was able to successfully develop Carson Wentz and scheme up plays for Nick Foles, and Pederson is an interesting name.
Pederson would be a bit of a retread hire and the Jaguars would need to determine why things didn't work out between him, the Eagles, and Wentz, but Pederson has at least proven to be a competent head coach. His offensive scheme fits Trevor Lawrence's skill set, as well, giving the former Eagles head coach another notch next to his name.
Todd Bowles
The only defensive coach on this list, I am a firm believer the Jaguars should put their focus on an offensive-minded coach. But that doesn't mean they should simply only hire a coach for his playbook and his ability to develop quarterbacks -- more importantly, the Jaguars need a true leader at head coach. They need someone who can, for the lack of a better word, wash the stink of the Meyer mistake out of TIAA Bank Field. Bowles would do that and some.
Add in the fact that Bowles already has head coach experience at the NFL level and helped Tampa Bay to a massive win over the Kansas City Chiefs in last year's Super Bowl, and there are plenty of worse options. Bowles isn't the most exciting name, but he is a respected coach who could at least ensure the Jaguars at last have an adult in charge. Who he hires to his offensive staff would be paramount, but a team could do much worse.
Jim Caldwell
A name the Jaguars (and other teams) should have taken more stock in the first time around, there are few coaches who are more respected simply as leaders of men than Jim Caldwell, who is essentially the anti-Urban Meyer. Caldwell would not only bring credibility to the Jaguars as a franchise on and off the field, he would be the type of voice who could galvanize a locker room that is set to have its third head coach in three seasons.
Caldwell was head coach for Detroit from 2014-2017 and also spent three years (2009-2011) as the head coach for the Indianapolis Colts. All in all, Caldwell has been either a head coach, offensive coordinator or quarterbacks coach in the NFL in every year since 2001 outside of 2018, 2020, and 2021. He knows how to develop quarterbacks and would have a much better plan in place for Trevor Lawrence than whatever the Jaguars trotted out there this year.
