Jaguars Search Enters Utter Chaos Amid Major Front Office Change

Buckle up, Jacksonville. You are in for a bumpy ride.

The Jacksonville Jaguars' head coach search was going as expected entering the week. They had a group of candidates they had great interest in, and all signs were that the job was seen as immensely appealing to the rest of the NFL.

Fast forward 48 hours and the Jaguars have now missed out on two top candidates and general manager Trent Baalke is out of his role after four seasons.

Baalke has long been owner Shad Khan's top football confidant. Baalke and his assessment of the Jaguars' season under former head coach Doug Pederson undoubtedly played a role in Pederson's firing. Khan's trust and confidence in Baake is why Baalke remained in place after Pederson's firing, despite common knowledge being that it would impact the coaching search.

As early as Monday morning, Baalke and the rest of the Jaguars' brass were discussing Ben Johnson and Liam Coen. Now, each coach has said thanks, but no thanks, and Baalke is out of a role that he had seemed padlocked in for years.

Baalke had been an instrumental part of the Jaguars' coaching search all along, helping serve as a pointman for Khan. Now the Jaguars will likely heavily lean on interim general manager and former top Baalke assistant Ethan Waugh.

The issue is the Jaguars' search has now been restarted in many ways. The Jaguars know some coaches are now off the table, and they are still set for second interviews with Patrick Graham and Robert Saleh.

But two weeks after the Jaguars made the controversial decision to keep Baalke, the Jaguars have decided it is best to move forward without him in the front office. The search has taken a big turn, and it has happened after three coaches have already been hired.

The Jaguars can still come out of this process with a good coach. There is a high probablity that happens considering the strength of this year's pool. But the entire timing of all of the Jaguars' moves have been off.

Why didn't the Jaguars have Coen and Graham in the building on Monday? Why did they give the Buccaneers more time to negotiate with Coen, and in turn give Coen more time to re-think the job? Why did they part ways with Baalke two weeks later than everyone in the NFL advised them to do?

The Jaguars are a day late and a dollar short -- again.

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