JACKSONVILLE – Let's get to it …
Michael from Orange Park, FL
O-Zone. Can you help a brother out? Is there a list or some place on the interweb where I can find a list of names who have interviewed for the Jaguars' head coaching position? I've read and reread your column and I still can't seem to find it. You're slacking, my brotha.
Wow. Michael's got (longwinded) jokes, it appears. I will as I have throughout the past week provide you the referenced list, with the Jaguars as of Monday morning having interviewed the following candidates for their vacant head-coaching position: Buffalo Bills offensive coordinator Joe Brady, Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores, Philadelphia Eagles offensive coordinator Kellen Moore, Baltimore Ravens offensive coordinator Todd Monken, Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson, Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn, Kansas City Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo, former New York Jets Head Coach Robert Saleh, Las Vegas Raiders defensive coordinator Patrick Graham and Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive coordinator Liam Coen. With in-person interviews able to begin Monday, and with all candidates except Brady, Moore and Spagnuolo now out of the postseason and therefore able to participate in those in-person interviews this week, expect multiple such interviews involving the Jaguars in the coming days. Remember: No coach can agree to a contract or sign a contract as a head coach until his current team is eliminated, but this should pick up this week. Buckle up.
Scott from Atlantic Beach, FL
Can we at least acknowledge the immense lack of success – and I don't know the word but Urban Meyer, Jalen Ramsey, Arik Armstead, Taven Bryan instead of a quarterback, etc. etc. – during Shad Khan's era and acknowledge that it's possible the owner is a factor in the failure of this franchise and how a Jaguars fan would fan would have very little faith in the owner making not even the best but even a good choice in head coach this time?
I'm not sure how many more times or in how many more ways this needs to be further acknowledged. It's out there. People talk about it all the time. The Jaguars haven't been successful enough under Owner Shad Khan. How much does he have to do with it? He's the owner, so ultimately it's his responsibility. He hasn't gotten it right enough yet. He knows this. Fans know it. We all know it. Is it fair for Jaguars fans to have little faith? Sure. It's up to Khan and the Jaguars to restore that faith. That's it. That's how this thing works.
Marcus from Jacksonville
If only the website had some sort of way to update fans on the coaching search, something like a head coach tracker, perhaps. Then you wouldn't have to worry about posting the list of candidates and interviews every day. One can dream, I suppose.
Dream on, my bright-eyed friend. Maybe someday.
Ed from Jax by Lionel Playworld
Which three or four head coach candidates are most likely to actually become our next head coach (in your opinion)? Can you list them starting from most likely?
Johnson, Coen, Glenn. Just a gut. Nothing more.
Ed from Jax by Lionel Playworld
Do you think Byron Leftwich would be considered for OC once we hire a HC?
This is impossible to answer without knowing the identity of the head coach, his philosophies and his relationships with potential head coaches.
Keith from Saint Augustine, FL
I abhor it when someone states the obvious with authority (think Howard Cosell or Dan Dierdorf; my condolences to those who missed those two beacons of light), but here goes. The most important person in a football organization is usually the owner since they are the person who hires everyone or at least hires the person or people who usually who hire everyone. We are not getting a new owner anytime soon as you have so astutely and correctly noted. While it is cathartic to vent against the owner, it is of little value otherwise. Besides the owner, the next most important person or people are those who procure the talent. In my humble opinion, General Manager Trent Baalke could do better (How's that for being nice?). Without the correct amount of talent, a coach is not going to win many games. Once again, and it pains me to say this, you are correct in your mantra-"It is always coaching in the NFL." The final piece of the puzzle, but not as important as the owner or procurers of talent, is the head coach and his staff. I hope that we hire a good head coach who hires the right people to work under him. I hope Shad Khan gets it right this time with the GM (or whatever structure is correct) and the head coach. Am I out to lunch or just stating the obvious with authority?
You're damned sure in the ballpark. But don't tell anyone. It would make too many people who believe that coaching trumps all else work too hard to understand otherwise.
Nick from Palm Coast, FL
After watching the Detroit Lions-Washington Commanders game Sunday, I hope Glenn is not our choice. His defense could not stop a mobile quarterback. The AFC has a lot of mobile quarterbacks. Now, we can sign Johnson since his season is over.
Even when you're done a remarkable job all season, even when your defense has sustained a devastating number of injuries through the course of that season, even when you're considered a remarkable leader of men and a very capable head coach … even then it's always coaching in the NFL.
Thomas from the trenches of DUUUVAL
All the Jaguars fan want Ben Johnson, but he hasn't developed Jared Goff, who is a certified bum and he's way better than Trevor Lawrence. Now make that make sense. He is going to come here and rob Jacksonville like the quarterback has done already ! A bunch of losers!
Even when they haven't been hired yet …
John from Alexandria, Virginia
Detroit coordinators impressive vs. Commandos? No.
Always.
Hilarious from Funnytown
It'll be a first-time head coach. Young and gutsy. A "players coach" cause that's a real thing. It'll rejuvenate and sell tickets on hope. Cause that's what we'll need for three years. Then it'll be perfect timing to say "that experiment didn't work, but now we have a real coach for a real team in a real new stadium. It's a three-year science project and then back to the formula. And if he's wrong and it actually works, then he looks like a genius anyway.
It's entirely possible the Jaguars will hire a first-time head coach. If so, it won't be because it's a "science experiment." It will be because Khan feels the person is the best person for the job.
P Funk from Murray Hill
Do new head coaches bring in their preferred scouting team?
Rarely.
Oscar from Palm Coast, FL
Hey O, Blaine Gabbert, Blake Bortles and Trevor Lawrence all the same caliber quarterbacks. Sometimes good, sometimes great, but most times not so good. TL is trending that way with a trade and another quarterback picked out the draft after TL contract expires. Back to retraining another quarterback, hopefully we will get it right. TL has had plenty of time to improve even with a bad rookie season. Let's waste another season just to say he wasn't good enough.
I wonder if you remember past Jaguars quarterbacks as well as you might think. Gabbert, Bortles and Lawrence from this view aren't really the same caliber quarterbacks – and to categorize Lawrence as "most times not so good" seems a pretty extreme and off-basis analysis. But I understand that there are those who are going to analyze Lawrence that way, particularly following a 2024 season that was at best inconsistent and certainly disappointing – partly because of his play and partly because injuries cut the season short. Here's what we know about Lawrence: That he hasn't yet been elite, and that he still must be more consistent to be elite. I don't know that we learned all that much in 2024 because his season was so short. Are the Jaguars wasting a season in 2025 just to say he wasn't good enough? We don't know that yet. It's the Jaguars' task – and Lawrence's task – to make the answer no.
Dan from Birmingham, AL
Remember when we went undefeated in the preseason?
I guess that was cool. From what I remember, some people liked it.
John from Jax
Hi KOAGF - Picking a head coach is all about optics for the owner. If his top choice(s) get taken by other teams, he will still proudly say "we got our man." I think any choice will be celebrated by some, make others angry, and will bring with it a lot of risk based on the candidates in play. I hate feeling lukewarm.
Every NFL head coach hire has an element of risk because every head coach hire has the element of the unknown. The NFL is not scripted television.
