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Jaguars narrow general manager search to five candidates, including interim GM Ethan Waugh
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- Jaguars narrow general manager search to five candidates, including interim GM Ethan Waugh
The Jacksonville Jaguars have narrowed their general manager search to five.
The team will begin in-person interviews Wednesday.
The five include:
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Josh Williams, San Francisco 49ers director of scouting and football operations.
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James Gladstone, Los Angeles Rams director of scouting strategy.
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Ian Cunningham, Chicago Bears assistant general manager.
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Jon-Eric Sullivan, Green Bay Packers vice president of player personnel.
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Ethan Waugh , current interim Jaguars general manager.
The Jaguars are expected to hire a general manager by the end of the week.
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Here's a look at each candidate:
Josh Williams, director, scouting and football operations, San Francisco 49ers
Williams was a four-year receiver for Columbia University before joining the 49ers in 2011 as an assistant in the scouting department.
He was promoted to a pro personnel scout two years later, serving in the role for three years (2013-15). In 2016, Williams was the team's National Football Scouting rep. He was moved to area for five years (2017-21) before spending the last two seasons as a national scout. He was promoted to director, scouting and football operations this past season.
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James Gladstone, director of scouting strategy, Los Angeles Rams
Gladstone, 34, is in his eighth season with the Rams and his fourth as director of scouting strategy.
Gladstone has worked directly with Rams general manager Les Snead since joining the franchise in June of 2016, assisting Snead in the team's front office. He met the Rams GM as a high school educator and football coach at St. John Vianney High School and Clayton High School. He met Snead through Snead's son who was a player at Clayton.
Since joining the franchise, Gladstone has steadily grown, eventually into the role he's in today and has become a fast-riser among potential general manager candidates.
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Ian Cunningham, assistant general manager, Chicago Bears
One of the hottest GM candidates on the market, Cunningham has been with the Bears since 2022, joining forces with GM Ryan Poles in Chicago .
He began his executive career with the Baltimore Ravens as a personnel assistant from 2008-16 before being promoted to area scout (2013-16). Cunningham left Baltimore to be the Philadelphia Eagles ' director of college scouting (2017-18) and assistant director of player personnel (2019-2020) before finally becoming the team's director of player personnel in 2021.
Cunningham has interviewed with the Los Angeles Chargers , was a finalist for the Washington Commander's post, was a candidate with the Titans and turned down an opportunity to become the Arizona Cardinals ' GM to stay with Chicago.
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Cunningham has been a name associated with Coen since well before the season ended. As of today, he appears the most likely to land the gig.
Jon-Eric Sullivan, Green Bay Packers vice president of player personnel
Sullivan has been with the Packers since 2004, beginning his career in the football operations department. He has been a regional scout, the director of college scouting and the co-director of player personnel and has been the vice president of player personnel for the past three years.
Ethan Waugh, interim general manager, Jacksonville Jaguars
Waugh was hired as the team's assistant general manager ahead of the 2022 season, working closely with Baalke.
Jacksonville Jaguars assistant general manager Ethan Waugh talks with the media before the start of Friday's rookie minicamp session. The Jacksonville Jaguars held their first day of rookie minicamp inside the covered field at the Jaguars performance facility in Jacksonville, Florida Friday, May 10, 2024.
Before joining the Jaguars, Waugh was with Baalke in San Fransico in multiple roles dating back to 2005. Under Baalke from 2011-16, Waugh worked as the team's senior personnel assistant (2012-14) and senior player personnel coordinator (2015-17).
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He was vice president of player personnel for the San Francisco 49ers before joining the Jaguars. He was the director of college scouting and football systems for San Francisco before that. He spent more than a decade with the franchise in various roles, dating back to 2005.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jacksonville Jaguars narrow general manager search to five candidates
