JANUARY 8: At least one candidate for the Jaguars’ gig plans to propose a personnel addition as part of the interview process, CBS Sports’ Jonathan Jones reports (video link). Jones adds another candidate doubts such a request will be possible given Baalke’s continued presence. Given Khan’s apparent willingness to make a notable addition in the front office (and as Jones notes, the owner’s plan to be heavily involved in this year’s HC search), it will be interesting to see how Baalke’s Jacksonville outlook plays out over the coming weeks.
JANUARY 7: Trent Baalke‘s pattern of perseverance may well continue in Jacksonville. Despite many expecting the Jaguars to clean house and rumors about a potential in-season firing coming out, their GM remains following Doug Pederson‘s Black Monday firing. This has been a rather surprising development, but the former 49ers front office boss has been able to outlast several HCs during his career.
Baalke climbed the ladder in San Francisco, eventually moving to GM alongside Jim Harbaugh in 2011. The Scot McCloughan successor was able to hire two more coaches — Jim Tomsula, Chip Kelly — before being let go after a 2-14 2016 season. The Jags brought in Baalke in 2020, with then-GM Dave Caldwell making him a chief lieutenant as director of player personnel. Baalke then rose to interim GM following Caldwell’s ouster, before being hired as full-time GM during the Urban Meyer year. Meyer and Pederson have come and gone, yet the GM remains.
While Shad Khan did not fully commit to Baalke staying, SI.com’s Albert Breer notes some coaching candidates will not entertain the notion of accepting a Jags HC offer if Baalke is attached (video link). This reminds of 2022, when we heard similar vibes out of Jacksonville. A strong candidate to return to Jacksonville as HC, Byron Leftwich did not want to work with Baalke and instead sought his own GM. Pederson later expressed hesitancy but agreed to work with the two-time GM, Breer adds.
Past Jags consideration toward adding an executive vice president-level exec to potentially oversee Baalke did not produce a hire, but Khan said Monday he would both be open to it and that the team needed more executive talent in its “thin” front office. This tenuous situation could lead to a third GM change during this year’s cycle, but for now, the resilient Jacksonville boss is still in power. He has been with the Jags through one- and two-win seasons and now a four-win campaign, albeit with two 9-8 slates in between.
Baalke and Harbaugh’s power struggle led the latter to Michigan, producing woeful seasons under Tomsula and Kelly, and the Baalke-Pederson fit eventually deteriorated. Breer describes the partnership falling apart at the end of its run; we heard in September friction had mounted between the Jags’ HC and GM. Baalke wanted more staff changes than Pederson was willing to greenlight, namely an OC change. As he did in Philadelphia, Pederson prevented Press Taylor from being fired. Taylor served as the Jags’ primary play-caller in 2023 and ’24.
The Jags are interested in two candidates that can be rather choosey, in Ben Johnson and Mike Vrabel. Johnson has stepped off two HC carousels since 2023 and may only be prepared to meet with the Bears and Patriots during this year’s cycle. Vrabel has been tied to wanting former Titans interim GM Ryan Cowden to join him, though it is far from certain if that would be mandatory. The Jaguars have not sent an interview request to Vrabel, but Johnson and a host of others received them.
Baalke greenlit the three most lucrative contracts in Jags history last year — for Trevor Lawrence, Josh Hines-Allen and Tyson Campbell — but saw the team struggle even when the QB was on the field. The Jags did lose 10 one-score games, and Lawrence’s presence stands to attract interest. Baalke’s, however, may have the opposite effect. This could still be a looming vacancy to monitor, should the Jaguars interview promising candidates that would want a new GM in place.
