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Jacksonville Jaguars coach search: Why this may be the most attractive available NFL job
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- Jacksonville Jaguars coach search: Why this may be the most attractive available NFL job
As Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shad Khanand general manager Trent Baalke wrap up the first round of coaching interviews Saturday with Buffalo Bills offensive coordinator Joe Brady , they have the benefit of selling candidates on one of the better jobs in the NFL market.
Despite the team's disappointing 4-13 record, there is probably only one other coaching vacancy — the Chicago Bears — that holds as much or more appeal as the Jaguars' job and that coach will have to compete in the ultra-strong NFC North division.
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Of course, the biggest advantage for Jacksonville, Chicago and New England (already hired Mike Vrabel) in this coaching cycle is they have franchise quarterbacks already on the roster in Trevor Lawrence , Caleb Williams and Drake Maye , respectively.
The Jaguars-Bears comparisons are especially interesting because five of Jacksonville's 10 candidates — Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson , Baltimore Ravens OC Todd Monken , Detroit Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn , Minnesota Vikings DC Brian Flores and Brady — either interviewed with Chicago or were requested to interview.
Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shad Khan (L) and general manager Trent Baalke have plenty of advantages to help sell prospective candidates on the vacant head coaching job. They have no excuses to not make a good hire.
More: Jacksonville Jaguars coaching search: Here's who should be top candidate (and two backups)
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Make no mistake, this coach search process is more important to the future of an NFL franchise than any regular-season game because it can set a tone for an organization for years to come.
The Jaguars have a lot to offer prospective candidates – a promising quarterback who needs better structure, an owner willing to spend money, living in Florida with no state income tax and a healthy salary cap situation at plus-$35.1million, per Spotrac.
Unlike his previous five coaching searches, Khan is interviewing a lot more candidates, presumably to increase the Jaguars' chances of identifying a long-term head coach. His former coaches last one season, four seasons, four seasons, 13 games and three seasons, all finishing with losing records.
After 13 years of mostly abject failure, Khan and the Jaguars have enough built-in advantages to make a good hire. They better not mess this up.
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Renovated EverBank a huge plus
One of the more fascinating aspects to the Jaguars' coaching search is how each candidate will react to the team transitioning into a renovated $1.4 billion EverBank Stadium in 2028.
Keep in mind that in Year 2 and 3 for the next Jaguars coach, he must deal with EverBank being at reduced capacity in 2026, then the team playing an unspecified amount of home games in Orlando, Gainesville and London during the 2027 season.
Among the many advantages the Jacksonville Jaguars have to offer a new head coach is the prospect of playing in a renovated $1.4 billion EverBank Stadium in 2028. This is an artist rendering of the proposed renovations to EverBank.
It's two years of challenging home-game circumstances for the Jaguars before they get to a bona fide home-field advantage: fans having the comfort of a roof-covered stadium and a state-of-the-art venue that will make for a livelier, louder environment.
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While president Mark Lampingisn't sitting in on the coaching interviews, he's confident Khan and Baalke are painting a picture for each candidate on how the Jaguars intend to deal with the transition process.
"I'd be interested in the feelings of a prospective head coach about how they would handle all that," said Lamping. "These are all obvious things that should be discussed [in the interview].
"Some work needs to be done to handle a transition year, but come 2028, you have a much better football environment for our players and fans. With a roof, you're going to have a superior fan experience and the stadium is going to be much louder."
But for the next Jaguars head coach to enjoy the benefits of a renovated EverBank, it's imperative for Khan to hire a candidate who can win enough to last that long.
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Looking at all the Jaguars' advantages in this coaching cycle, they have no excuse to not make a good hire.
Rough travel itinerary for Jaguars
The good news for the Jaguars in 2025 is the NFL schedule doesn't work out for them to play any more than one game in London. The bad news for their new coaching staff and players is they must endure the most demanding travel schedule in franchise history.
In addition to the London trip, the Jaguars have four non-division road games against the Denver Broncos , Las Vegas Raiders , San Francisco 49ers and Arizona Cardinals . Those five plane trips add up to 11,835 air miles.
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The Jaguars' overall record in Pacific time zone and Mountain time zone regular-season games is 8-19. The only year in which the Jaguars made more than two trips to the West coast or Denver was 2013, and they lost all three games.
In 2025, the total travel distance for the Jaguars will be 14,447 air miles, the most in team history, ahead of 2021 (13,248) and 2013 (13,023).
When oddsmakers establish an over-under win total for the Jaguars in 2025, you can bet they'll factor in that rugged travel schedule.
Quick-hitting nuggets
After watching former Jaguars offensive tackle and current Minnesota Viking Cam Robinson impersonate a turnstile for the Los Angeles Rams ' defense in Monday's 27-9 NFC wild-card game — allowing 12 pressures (per PFF) and one of nine sacks on quarterback Sam Darnold — it's quite a coup for Jacksonville that it might fetch a fourth-round draft pick from trading Robinson to Minnesota in October. For all the criticism directed at GM Baalke, particularly for a dreadful free agency class he brought in last year, he scored big with that deal. ...
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Former Jaguars special-teams coordinator Joe DeCamillis(2007-08, 2017-20) worked in the NFL for 32 consecutive seasons before taking a job as a special assistant to Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian in 2023. He's now the special-teams coach at South Carolina under Shane Beamerand recruits the Jacksonville area. Asked how much he likes coaching in college, the 59-year-old DeCamillis replied: "I'm having a blast." ...
Pigskin forecast
Buffalo Bills over Baltimore Ravens by 3 ( Josh Allen cold dishes of revenge); Kansas City Chiefs over Houston Texans by 4 ( Chris Jones ' QB feasts); Detroit Lions over Washington Commanders by 10 (Jaguars' coach search monitors); Los Angeles Rams over Philadelphia Eagles by 1 (Philly special); Ohio State over Notre Dame by 7 (Big Ten taunts). Last week: 4 right, 2 New England Patriots ' Rooney Rule protocols.
Gfrenette@jacksonville.com ; (904) 359-4540; Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at @genefrenette.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jacksonville Jaguars have built-in advantages to make good coach hire
