Shad Khan

Trent Baalke’s Presence Affected Ben Johnson, Aaron Glenn’s Jaguars Interest

January 27th, 2025 at 11:03pm CST by Sam Robinson

Liam Coen‘s about-face regarding the Jaguars confirmed what most had assumed about that job. Trent Baalke‘s presence, reported to be an issue for some HC candidates, had impeded this Jags search. The team was believed to have been “embarrassed” by Coen initially passing on a second interview.

Shad Khan then fired Baalke more than two weeks after canning Doug Pederson. The Jaguars will soon turn their attention to replacing him, but it is worth wondering what would have happened had the team done what many expected and fired Baalke along with Pederson. This particular “what if?” impacted the top offense-oriented candidate in this year’s hiring cycle.

Rumored to be interested in the Jaguars’ job, Ben Johnson received aggressive interest from the team. When he turned down the Jaguars to accept a Bears HC offer, the three-year Lions OC indeed expressed reservations about the team’s front office setup. Johnson may have been leery about signing on with Baalke, as Pederson was rumored to be back in 2022, but SI.com’s Albert Breer indicates Johnson may not have been ready to demand Baalke be fired in order to take over in Jacksonville. He then committed to Chicago, which is also keeping its GM — Ryan Poles — on staff.

The Jags discussed a big-money offer with Johnson, Breer adds, and earlier reports that Khan being willing to boot Baalke for the right HC candidate — despite giving Baalke the keys to this coaching search — certainly proved accurate. Before moving on from Baalke, Khan gave Johnson’s camp the impression he would be willing to do so, Breer adds. Johnson committed to the Bears two days before the Jaguars canned Baalke.

It is not known how serious the Jaguars were on Aaron Glenn, beyond the parties’ virtual interview January 11, but Breer notes that the four-year Lions DC expressed interest in bringing along a personnel staffer had he landed the Jacksonville gig. It is unclear who Glenn wanted to add in Jacksonville, but Baalke balked at this setup due to how it would impact his top lieutenant, senior personnel exec Tom Gamble. Khan had already spoken of beefing up his front office, and the upcoming GM hire may well move on from a prominent Baalke lieutenant anyway. Glenn signed on with the Jets on the same day Coen had informed the Jags he was out.

Khan keeping Baalke more than two weeks after Black Monday appears to have been a blunder. The owner allowing an embattled GM to make critical calls during the hiring period did not align with the team’s future. Baalke certainly could have steered the search toward a direction in which the incoming head coach would work with him rather than guide it to a candidate who wanted his own GM. In the end, the organization will pay up for Coen, doing so despite the one-and-done Buccaneers OC not being a finalist anywhere else. Coen, of course, had committed to staying in Tampa as OC before big Jags promises lured him back into that race.

Coen has the rare opportunity, as a first-time HC, to essentially pick a GM; he also signed a five-year contract believed to be worth Johnson-level money. Coen fared much better with the Bucs than he did with the Rams, when an injury-plagued offense plummeted to last in yardage in 2022. After going back to Kentucky, the two-time Wildcats OC had the Bucs’ offense third in yardage and fourth in scoring. Coen helping Baker Mayfield sustain his Dave Canales-overseen rebound played the lead role in him obtaining rare leverage; the Jaguars’ present state didn’t hurt matters, either.

As expected, Coen confirmed Monday he will call plays in Jacksonville. This was a sore spot during Pederson’s stay, as the two-time HC insisted — despite reported Baalke pushback — OC Press Taylor stay in that role. Taylor, whose presence caused issues on Pederson’s way out in Philly as well, was the Jags’ primary play-caller in 2023 and ’24. Although Trevor Lawrence‘s injuries impacted the team in that span, the Jags plummeted to 26th in scoring offense this season.

Additionally, the Jags are retaining special teams coordinator Heath Farwell. Hired in Pederson’s first offseason in charge, Farwell agreed to a three-year deal, ESPN.com’s Michael DiRocco notes. A 10-year NFL player, Farwell has been an ST coordinator since 2019. He in that role with the Bills for three seasons and has been an NFL assistant since 2016.

Liam Coen Fallout: Jags, Bucs, Baalke, Bowles, Contract, Glazers, Rooney Rule

January 24th, 2025 at 8:41pm CST by Sam Robinson

As the Buccaneers become the first team to lose their offensive coordinator in back-to-back years since the 2013-14 Ravens, that development came after it initially looked like the NFC South team had reached an agreement to retain Liam Coen. A Jaguars front office decision certainly looks to have changed Coen’s plans.

When the Jaguars fired Trent Baalke not long after Coen declined a second interview, the AFC South club contacted its top candidate and asked he would reconsider in light of the GM shakeup, according to ESPN.com. Baalke’s presence was believed to be a deterrent for certain coaching candidates this year, and while Coen was among them, ESPN’s Michael DiRocco indicates the GM was not the main reason Coen initially declined a Jags second meeting. That said, Coen’s Wednesday call “embarrassed” the Jaguars, who abruptly changed course as a result.

Upon firing Doug Pederson on Jan. 6, Shad Khan called a full-on overhaul — which a Baalke ouster would have meant — “suicide” for the organization. Yet, barely two weeks later, he was gone. The Jags had seen Ben Johnson express issues with their setup, as Baalke was running a search that could have ended with him out the door — depending on the hire. That undoubtedly would have influenced the four-year Jags GM to go in certain, safe directions. Instead, he is out and Coen will now have a major say in who replaces the embattled exec.

Coen told GM Jason Licht he sought a record-breaking OC sum to stay in charge on offense, SI.com’s Albert Breer notes, with Fox Sports’ Greg Auman indicating the Bucs were prepared to pay him would close to $4.5MM per year. We heard Wednesday the number would have been in the Vic Fangio neighborhood among top coordinator salaries. Coen will make much more with the Jags, who have been tied to authorizing “Johnson-level money.” Bucs ownership approved Coen’s raise but did not with to continue a negotiating battle with their one-year OC, Breer adds. Though, the sides were not done talking money.

The initial Tampa Bay offer emerged before Coen’s virtual interview with the Jaguars, which the Glazer family encouraged him to take. Bucs ownership, however, said its offer to Coen was contingent on him not taking a second Jaguars interview. (However, even had Coen signed a Bucs contract, Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio adds NFL rules would have prevented the Bucs from blocking any further Jags meetings.)

Certainly realizing he had a great chance at the Jags job, Coen again asked the Bucs for more money. Tampa Bay ownership responded, per Breer, by confirming no additional raise would come. Although the Bucs wanted a Coen answer on their initial proposal by Monday, he stalled until Wednesday. During that wait, a report indicated the Bucs were prepared to lose Coen. Though, this was all before the Jags’ Baalke decision. Baalke’s previous presence in Jacksonville looks to have kept Tampa Bay’s offer to Coen viable.

Coen, 39, informed the Bucs he was staying and would sign an extension. That did not deter the Jags, who were the only team believed to be seriously considering Coen. This would have stood to limit Coen’s leverage. After all, he has not stayed with the same employer since the 2018-20 seasons, his first stint with the Rams, and his Rams OC stay did not go well in 2022. The Cowboys, Raiders and Saints did not interview Coen. But the Bucs talks doubled as his other option, strengthening his stance in this Florida battle.

Reports Thursday indicated the Bucs were unable to reach Coen, who was to sign the deal Wednesday afternoon, but he asked Licht if he could instead do so Thursday. By Thursday morning, the Bucs had not heard from him. Assistant GM Mike Greenberg contacted Coen about the contract of another offensive assistant. That call went unanswered, as did Licht and Todd Bowles efforts to reach the 2024 Bucs OC, per Breer, who adds Coen’s agent then informed the Bucs his client was dealing with a personal matter. After more Bucs attempts to reach Coen failed, he told Bowles of the personal matter Thursday afternoon while also informing his boss he was still considering the Jacksonville job. A Jags source then tipped off the Bucs Coen was in Jacksonville.

This component does not exactly make Coen’s handling of the situation look great, though Breer indicates the Jags wanted Coen to keep his belated Duval County visit secret. But he has successfully moved up the coaching ladder — albeit in a roundabout manner — with the extraordinarily rare chance as a rookie HC to effectively choose his GM. Kyle Shanahan had this opportunity in 2017, but he had certainly climbed to a higher NFL perch by the time the 49ers gave him that power. Coen is a two-time NFL OC, though the ex-Sean McVay hire only has two years on the job (and two more in college, at Kentucky).

Coen’s delay also gave the Jaguars the chance to meet the Rooney Rule requirement. They had interviewed multiple minority candidates already, but only one of those meetings (Robert Saleh‘s) was in-person. While Coen was negotiating, the Jags met with Raiders DC Patrick Graham, who could have canceled his meeting had word of the Coen talks leaked.

This also does not shine a good light on Jacksonville’s search, but this is hardly the only team to use the Rooney Rule as a box to check rather than giving strong consideration to hiring a minority candidate. Saleh’s second interview never happened, as the Coen matter moved toward the goal line, and the former is now back with the 49ers as DC.

Despite Coen’s uneven resume, many within the Bucs organization viewed him as HC-ready, ESPN.com’s Jeff Darlington tweets. In fact, Darlington adds that a scenario in which the team fired Bowles and promoted Coen was believed to have been in play if Week 18 had ended without a playoff qualification. This would have reminded of the Bucs’ decision to fire Lovie Smith and promote his OC (Dirk Koetter) in 2017. The Bucs also promoted from within to fill their current HC job, with Bruce Arians‘ resignation elevating Bowles, who is now looking for a new play-caller yet again.

Bowles has dodged firing rumors for years now, having mounted charges to the NFC South title in each of the past two after hanging on to secure the Bucs a playoff home game in Tom Brady‘s final season. The Bowles part of this messy divorce makes his status worth monitoring next season, but for now, he will set his sights on another OC search.

Jaguars Owner Shad Khan Quiet On Potential HC, GM Firings

December 29th, 2024 at 2:29pm CST by Adam La Rose

Three head coaching vacancies are currently in place in the NFL, and the Jets will also be in the market for a new general manager this offseason. More openings are expected in the near future, with Jacksonville remaining a team to watch on both fronts.

Head coach Doug Pederson and general manager Trent Baalke have been the subject of considerable speculation regarding in-season firings. Both have survived in that respect despite the Jaguars’ 3-12 record entering Sunday’s action, but owner Shad Khan will have several key decisions to make once the campaign is over. No major developments have emerged from the front office as it pertains to potential changes this winter, though.

Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero of NFL Network write Khan has remained quiet in terms of connections emerging as candidates to replace Pederson and/or Baalke. Still, the pair notes a sense of “major change” being imminent remains in the organization. Pederson has been in place since 2022, while Baalke’s tenure in Duval County began one year earlier. Jacksonville made the postseason in 2022, and the team matched that record last year. Expectations were high as a result, but struggles on both sides of the ball have been witnessed with and without quarterback Trevor Lawrence in the lineup.

On more than one occasion, reports have indicated a rift between Pederson and Baalke; that, in turn, has fueled further expectation that at least one member of the pair will be dismissed after the campaign. If only one firing is to take place, Baalke is believed to be on stronger footing than Pederson, but nothing is certain at this point. Bill Belichick had been floated as a potential hire (especially in the event of Khan fully cleaning house), although his decision to take North Carolina’s head coaching gig has made that a moot point.

CBS Sports’ Jonathan Jones confirms Khan has not yet actively engaged in discussions with outside candidates on the coaching and general manager fronts (video link). Khan is known to be patient, though, so that approach comes as little surprise with time remaining in the regular season. After next week, more clarity will emerge with respect to which changes will be taking place for 2025, and as a result the focus of the team’s targets for outside hires will likely be narrowed.

For the time being, however, no signals have been made by Khan – who before the start of the season made it clear he felt the 2024 Jaguars were the most talented in franchise history. How he proceeds after the end of the season will be one of the league’s top storylines.

Jaguars Owner Shad Khan Voices Support For Doug Pederson, Trent Baalke

October 13th, 2024 at 8:44am CST by Rory Parks

The Jaguars captured their first win of the 2024 campaign last week, defeating the division-rival Colts in a 37-34 shootout to improve their record to 1-4. In light of recent reports suggesting that head coach Doug Pederson is on the hot seat and that the relationship between Pederson and GM Trent Baalke is strained, the victory was a well-timed one for Jacksonville’s top power brokers.

While situations like this always have the potential to change on a moment’s notice, owner Shad Khan is still supporting Pederson and Baalke. In an interview with Demetrius Harvey of the Florida Times-Union, Khan noted that the 2022 iteration of his club started the year 2-6 but rallied to make the playoffs and win a thrilling wildcard round contest, while the 2023 version raced out to an 8-3 record, only to miss the postseason entirely.

Reading between the lines, it could be that Khan will not be swayed by the early returns in 2024 and will give Pederson and Baalke the chance to reverse Jacksonville’s fortunes. Plus, as prior reporting on the matter suggested, there is no one currently on the coaching staff who would represent a clear option to take over interim HC duties, a reality that could help Pederson keep his job through at least the remainder of the campaign.

Khan also pointed out that three of the Jags’ four losses this season were eminently winnable, as the club had late leads or the chance to take late leads in all three contests. While the accumulation of narrow losses is never a good look for a coaching staff, Khan appears to be taking the fact that Jacksonville is remaining competitive as a positive sign for the time being.

“So, to me, every game you go to, you want to do everything to win it and this is the NFL, that’s hard,” Khan said. “Every game is competitive. A loss is a loss, but [it’s about] how you lose. To me, the three games we lost early in the season, it’s disappointing, [but] we could have won them.”

Those defeats have not shaken Khan’s faith in his HC/GM duo.

“I still believe in them. I believe in the players, I believe in the coaching staff. I believe in Trent,” Khan said. “Obviously, the results are disappointing for all of them, just as well as me or any other Jaguar fan, but, the key thing one has to understand [is] we have evolved and really got to a level. I think we’ve got the players, we’ve got the coaching, we’ve got the facilities.”

Khan did say this offseason that the Jaguars’ 2024 roster is the best in franchise history, and that winning is the expectation. As such, it would be reasonable to expect a shake-up if Pederson cannot engineer a turnaround and lead the team to a postseason berth, but for now, Khan does not appear to be contemplating a dismissal.

“I admire what Trent’s done, Doug’s done, and I think, how do we support them to have better results, more wins?” Khan said.

The Jaguars, the NFL club with the most consistent presence in England, will play their next two games in London. Should they falter in their contests across the pond, one wonders if Khan’s support for Pederson & Co. will remain strong.

Relationship Between Doug Pederson, Trent Baalke “Strained”; Latest On Jaguars’ HC, GM

September 29th, 2024 at 10:15pm CST by Rory Parks

Earlier this week, it was reported that Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson’s job could soon be in jeopardy given his team’s uninspired, 0-3 start to the 2024 season. Sources that spoke to Jason La Canfora of the Washington Post appear to be in agreement that Jacksonville will indeed be making changes to its coaching staff and/or front office in the near future.

One GM told La Canfora that Pederson would be the first HC dismissed this year, and that, “it’s just a matter of time now. [Trevor Lawrence] hasn’t looked right since they made the playoffs [in 2022], [Pederson]’s offense is terrible, and the defensive coordinator (Ryan Nielsen) looks totally in over his head. That’s a bad football team.”

On the other hand, sources tell Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports that it is unclear exactly what changes owner Shad Khan could realistically make in-season. While much of the blame for the Jags’ poor start has been focused on Pederson and offensive coordinator Press Taylor – which is understandable, given that the team currently ranks 30th in scoring – there is no clear choice to replace either man on the coaching staff at the moment.

Mike McCoy, who currently serves as Jacksonville’s quarterbacks coach, has not coordinated an offense since 2018, when he worked as the Cardinals’ head coach and oversaw a unit that struggled, which led to his own midseason ouster. And while Pederson could certainly take play-calling duties back from Taylor – as owner Shad Khan not-so-subtly suggested should happen back in June – retaining Pederson while firing Taylor seems unlikely.

“No one on staff can replace what Press does for [Pederson],” a source told Jones. Added another source, “I understand everyone’s narrative would be to fire Press. But even from a practical standpoint, I don’t know how you successfully game plan if you fire him. You’re wasting [Lawrence’s] season by doing that.”

Our story from a few days ago indicated that GM Trent Baalke was perhaps on firmer footing than Pederson, though the Jaguars’ struggles obviously are not doing him any favors either. Both Jones and La Canfora make note of Baalke’s ill-fated decision to use the No. 1 overall pick in the 2022 draft on Travon Walker rather than Aidan Hutchinson, to say nothing of the top-of-the-market extension authorized for Lawrence this offseason, a transaction that has already garnered heavy criticism.

Per Jones, the relationship between Baalke and Pederson is strained, and there is “misalignment from owner to GM and head coach.” Fox Sports’ Ralph Vacchiano, like Jones, says the fact that there is no obvious Pederson replacement on the staff could help the embattled HC at least get the chance to finish out the year. That said, if the losses continue to mount, Khan may feel compelled to pull the trigger on a midseason overhaul, in which case he might be making a call to Bill Belichick.

Doug Pederson Moving Toward Hot Seat?

September 25th, 2024 at 10:05pm CST by Sam Robinson

Shad Khan addressed Doug Pederson‘s potential hot-seat status in a hypothetical manner this offseason. After an 0-3 start, the former Super Bowl-winning HC is losing the benefit of the doubt. As the Jaguars head toward their London stretch, Pederson may soon be coaching for his job.

Hired after Khan’s embarrassing Urban Meyer decision, Pederson had restored credibility to a downtrodden franchise by producing an AFC South title in 2022. Last season brought a disappointing finish, but the team doubled down on its core this offseason — while supplementing it via free agency — by authorizing the three most lucrative extensions (for Trevor Lawrence, Josh Hines-Allen and Tyson Campbell) in franchise history. A miserable Monday outing in Buffalo left Pederson’s team searching for answers, and Khan may be growing restless.

Pederson’s status will be one to monitor in the coming weeks, with SI.com’s Albert Breer indicating during a Dan Patrick Show appearance a lot is probably at stake for big names in this organization over the next few weeks. Adding to what may soon become a clear status, ESPN.com’s Dan Graziano labels Pederson a candidate for an in-season firing if the team cannot rebound quickly.

While fourth-year GM Trent Baalke‘s status should be one to monitor here as well, it appears he is safer than Pederson presently. Despite Pederson having coached the Jags to back-to-back winning seasons — the franchise’s first such instance since the 2004-05 seasons — Khan publicly labeled this the most talented roster in Jaguars history. Although that seems a bit extreme considering Jacksonville’s 1999 team went 14-2 and featured seven Pro Bowlers (including Hall of Famer Tony Boselli), Khan’s stance nevertheless turns up the head for his current HC.

After a promising close to the 2022 season and an 8-3 start last year, the Jags are 1-8. The win came in a game Lawrence missed due to injury. Lawrence dealt with several injuries last season, helping explain his tailspin. But the former No. 1 overall pick is healthy now. He has completed just 52.8% of his passes (at 6.3 yards per attempt) while ranking 25th in QBR. Injuries at other spots in Jacksonville’s lineup, particularly on defense, are hurting the team. But Lawrence’s struggles bring bigger-picture questions, considering the team recently matched Joe Burrow‘s then-record-setting AAV ($55MM) to extend him.

Neither Lawrence nor Jordan Love produced enough to earn extensions at that rate, but this is how the QB market functions right now. With the Packers paying for future performance, the Jags are eyeing a leap from the former Clemson prodigy. With guarantees stretching into 2027, the team has seen its centerpiece player submit a concerning start. Pederson and/or OC Press Taylor taking the fall for this should probably be considered in play, with the Jags’ London stretch (Weeks 6 and 7) — or maybe even the two upcoming games — potentially doubling as the do-or-die window.

The England games profile as a big spot for the Khan-led team, since it plays two games overseas — as Khan also owns a Premier League franchise (Fulham FC). The Jags heading to Europe at 0-5 or 1-4 will test the owner’s patience, and he has fired coaches in-season twice in the past decade. In addition’s to Khan canning Meyer during his disastrous season in charge, he axed Gus Bradley during a historically unsuccessful tenure. How Jags ownership went about replacing Bradley suddenly seems relevant.

When the Jags removed Doug Marrone’s interim tag in 2017, Breer notes that decision came largely on the recommendation of Bill Belichick. The legendary coach continues to have a strong relationship with Jags chief football strategy officer Tony Khan (Shad’s son), Breer adds. Dot connecting would point to the Jags considering the six-time Super Bowl-winning HC-turned-omnipresent media figure in 2025, if Pederson cannot turn this operation around.

Belichick’s age will be an issue for teams, as no franchise has hired a head coach older than 66. Belichick would be 73 before Week 1 of the 2025 season, but he obviously brings credentials that will lap everyone else on next year’s HC carousel. That did not matter much this year, as six of the seven non-Patriots HC-seeking teams ignored him, but Jacksonville would be an interesting spot for the coach Pederson beat in Super Bowl LII. Thus far, Belichick had only been closely tied to NFC East destinations. Jacksonville, which did not join Dallas and Philly in considering firing its current HC after last season, may also loom as a legitimate possibility.

As for Pederson, he is 1-for-8 in 10-win seasons; the exception — the Eagles’ dominant 2017 squad — has carried the former Andy Reid staffer. Carson Wentz also rose to an MVP frontrunner before declining over the course of Pederson’s tenure, and Taylor loomed as a factor in the HC’s Eagles ouster. Philadelphia brass was uninspired by Pederson’s aim of promoting Taylor to OC after the 2020 season, and Pederson then brought one of his Philly right-hand men with him as OC in 2022. Taylor received the play-calling reins on a full-time basis in 2023.

The Jags kept their play-calling plans close to the vest this offseason, but Khan seemed to voice a preference for Pederson taking back control. Taylor still plays a key role in play-calling, but at this point, it would be rather odd if Pederson — who called plays throughout his Eagles tenure and served as the Jags’ primary conductor during the 2022 divisional-round season — did not take the lead here.

This regime is running out of time. Even though the Jags have been one of the NFL’s worst franchises under Khan ahead of Pederson at least moving it to a mid-pack operation, it would not be difficult to see another reboot — albeit around some pricey contracts — come to pass if Lawrence and Co. cannot recover soon.

Shad Khan Addresses Jaguars’ Play-Calling Situation, 2023 Shortcomings

June 27th, 2024 at 4:57pm CST by Sam Robinson

Entering Week 13 competing for the AFC’s No. 1 seed, the Jaguars tumbled to a disappointing 9-8 finish. This led to Doug Pederson canning most of his defensive staff. As for Pederson and the offensive staff, this figures to be an important season — especially now that the Jags extended Trevor Lawrence at a record-tying rate.

Lawrence is now tied to a five-year, $275MM deal, but the contract comes after the former No. 1 overall pick did not build on his late-season 2022 success. Injuries played a central role in Lawrence’s underwhelming third season, but the heat is on Pederson and OC-turned-play-caller Press Taylor.

After Pederson served as the Jags’ primary play-caller in 2022, he handed the reins to Taylor before the ’23 season. A former Pederson assistant in Philadelphia, Taylor — the younger brother of Bengals HC Zac Taylor — had not been a primary play-caller previously. Pederson has not said if he will reclaim those duties this season, but Shad Khan made an interesting comment about the situation. Referencing a New York Times piece alluding to the third-year HC’s job security, the owner said, “If I were in that situation, I’d want my hands on the wheel.”

“Yeah, I have an opinion,” Khan said, via the Associated Press’ Mark Long, on the Jags’ play-calling situation. “But I don’t want to tell people ‘We need to do it’ because then things don’t work out, they look at me and say, ‘We did it because you wanted it.‘ … Doug, he’s empowered. I’m going to let him decide.”

Khan did not indicate this is a do-or-die season for Pederson, though his hypothetical comment regarding the situation could certainly be perceived as the owner having a preference for the head coach taking back the reins. GM Trent Baalke also was believed to be taking a close look at the state of the offense during the season’s final weeks.

The Jags only dropped from 10th to 13th in scoring (DVOA placed Jacksonville’s offense 18th) between 2022 and 2023, but after a strong finish covered for a sluggish start in Pederson’s Jacksonville debut, his 2023 follow-up’s fortunes nosedived in the second half. Lawrence finished in the same QBR position (17th) as 2022, but after the team gave the fourth-year passer a $55MM-per-year deal, it stands to reason it expects a jump from the former elite prospect.

If Taylor lands another shot as the team’s play-caller, it will certainly come with high stakes for the 36-year-old assistant. Pederson showed enough confidence in Taylor he wanted to promote him to OC in Philly following the 2020 season. Eagles ownership disagreed, leading to Pederson’s dismissal two years after Super Bowl LII.

When addressing the events of last season as a whole, Khan called it an “organizational failure.” The Jags, who also made franchise-tagged defender Josh Allen the NFL’s second-highest-paid edge rusher, have one 10-win season during Khan’s 12-year ownership tenure.

“Injuries are a part of the game. We had some of those injuries, but I think it’s organizational failure that it happened,” Khan said. “All of these players I talked to, it’s like how could this happen? What happened?

“For me, it’s really a cause for self-reflection and then something good to come out of it because we just can’t have that this year.”

Pederson’s first season gave Khan some cover for his disastrous Urban Meyer decision, one he backtracked on in less than a year. Although Khan fired Meyer and 2012 hire Mike Mularkey after one season, the Jags owner gave Doug Marrone four-plus seasons and Gus Bradley nearly four years despite the latter’s tenure producing a historically bad .226 win percentage. But the Jags have been one of the NFL’s worst franchises under Khan’s ownership.

The Pederson-Lawrence partnership represents a gateway to potential contender status, and were Khan to fire the former Super Bowl-winning HC, it would tie the franchise quarterback — the only one left standing with his original team from 2021’s five-QB first round — to a third offensive scheme in five seasons. This is a rather deep AFC, however, and it will be challenging for the Jaguars to infiltrate the conference’s top tier. The team will hope a Lawrence leap can elevate the roster, one that added two new wide receivers (Gabe Davis, first-rounder Brian Thomas Jr.) and veteran linemen in Arik Armstead and Mitch Morse, this offseason.

Jaguars’ Shad Khan, Trent Baalke Disagree On No. 1 Pick?

April 25th, 2022 at 7:50pm CST by Sam Robinson

Four prospects are believed to be in play for the Jaguars at No. 1 overall, but it might be a matchup between two defensive ends by the time the top decision-makers huddle up for their final decision this week.

Shad Khan will observe the Trent Baalke– and Doug Pederson-led operation’s deliberations this week, Albert Breer of SI.com notes, and the longtime Jaguars owner said he has an opinion on which way the team should go at No. 1. Khan’s opinion appears to be that Michigan’s Aidan Hutchinson is the way to go, per Tony Pauline of ProFootballNetwork.com, who adds Baalke is backing Georgia defensive lineman Travon Walker.

Despite his college production dwarfing Walker’s, Hutchinson now trails the size-speed freak in pre-draft odds to be the top pick. The Walker-Jaguars connection has persisted for several weeks now. Khan has held roster control in the past, and it would not surprise if the 10th-year Jags owner pulled the trigger on his preferred player. Khan would obviously prefer the room forms a consensus and intimated to Breer that Pederson and Baalke have control over the football operation.

“Yeah, I have an opinion,” Khan said, via Breer, of the No. 1 pick. “I do have an opinion. We are supposed to get together on Wednesday, and so I don’t have as firm a decision as I did maybe last year, but I do have it. I think we’ll have to really firm up the draft board, so we have clarity on all the permutations and combinations we’re gonna hit.”

During Pederson’s tenure, the Eagles devoted significant resources to bolstering their offensive line. The new Jags HC may not be opposed to such a strategy this year, despite this draft’s bevy of high-end D-line prospects. The Jags were connected to Ikem Ekwonu early in the pre-draft process, before franchise-tagging Cam Robinson for a second time, and Breer hears Baalke is a fan of the North Carolina State O-lineman. Ekwonu remains in play for the Jags at 1, ESPN.com’s Matt Miller tweets.

The team is rumored to be close on a Robinson extension, and Jawaan Taylor has started at right tackle in Jacksonville for the past three years. Pro Football Focus, which graded Jacksonville’s O-line 24th overall last season, viewed Taylor as the team’s weakest link up front in 2021. Of course, no Jaguar blocker graded particularly well here. Jacksonville added Brandon Scherff but could upgrade at its other guard spot. Ekwonu played tackle and guard in college; some view guard as his better NFL position.

Jaguars’ EVP Search On Hold

March 1st, 2022 at 10:56am CST by Adam La Rose

The Jaguars were thought to be making multiple additions to their front office personnel, including an executive vice president. However, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reports (via Twitter) that that search has been put on hold.

It came out in February that owner Shad Khan was conducting a search for a new EVP as part of a general strategy to add more “brainpower” to the organization. Many thought that former Vikings GM Rick Spielman was the favorite for the job, as he had already interviewed for an unnamed position which would outrank current Jaguars GM Trent Baalke.

Instead, Rapoport notes, internal meetings with new head coach Doug Pederson have been going well, to the point where maintaining the status quo at the top of the organization has becomes Khan’s preference. Specifically, Khan “doesn’t want to impede significant progress with a new voice”. It was noted that the team was planning on moving towards a more “collaborative approach”, and turning its attention to long-term building rather than quick-fix solutions with an experienced voice in Pederson.

In a follow-up tweet, Rapoport adds that other front office hires could still be forthcoming. Most notably, an assistant GM is still being sought out; if that ends up being the highest-ranking member of the organization brought in, Baalke would maintain his position of only reporting to Khan himself. For now, it seems as though the Jaguars will enter the offseason maintaining essentially the same structure that they finished the regular season with.

Latest On Jaguars’ Front Office

February 15th, 2022 at 9:54am CST by Adam La Rose

The Jaguars are in the process of rebuilding not only their coaching staff, but also their front office personnel and structure. As ESPN’s Michael DiRocco writes, the team is looking to add multiple new executives, including an executive vice president of football operations.

As he states, owner Shad Khan is looking to hire not only an EVP, but also “someone to work under” general manager Trent Baalke. It wouldn’t be the first time the Jaguars had a structure like that, as a similar one was in place when the Jaguars were last in playoff contention.

When speaking about the changes, Khan said, “One of the reasons we had the [coaching] search was not only looking for the head-coaching candidate but really to learn about other organizations… So some of the practices, some of the structure that works, we got great insight into it. Strengthening the football operations, more staff, that’s part of our goal. We’ve had too flat an organization and we want to add brainpower and more people to strengthen that”.

Tom Coughlin held the EVP title beginning in 2017 during the Doug Marrone coaching era in Jacksonville. That season ended with a trip to the AFC Championship game, but the organization was streamlined after Coughlin was fired in 2019. Khan elected to try a more coach-centric structure when he hired Urban Meyer, a decision that proved to be borderline disastrous. A return to the previous system so quickly after Meyer’s firing would represent a very fast about-face from Khan and the organization.

Many believe that Rick Spielman will eventually be named as the new EVP. The former Vikings GM recently interviewed for a position that would outrank Baalke, though nothing has been made official yet. In addition, the team would have to meet with at least two external minority candidates for the position in order to satisfy the Rooney Rule.

Especially after the hire of former Super Bowl winner Doug Pederson as head coach, the Jaguars are “taking a collaborative approach”, DiRocco writes. With an emphasis on long-term building, as opposed to a less patient, win-now approach with Meyer, more voices being involved in decision making could be a productive first step towards turning around a franchise which has finished at the bottom of the NFL for two straight years.

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