How much of a departure would Schottenheimer be from the approach Mike Mularkey brought to Jacksonville?  Source:  Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports

With Thursday’s firing of head coach Mike Mularkey, the Jacksonville Jaguars are in the market for a new head coach.  While some teams, like the Kansas City Chiefs and the Cleveland Browns, have started filling their vacancies, the Jaguars are just beginning.  Potential candidates range, but the proposed emphasis seems to be on offensive coordinators.  Today we’ll look at current St. Louis Rams offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer.

Schottenheimer was identified as a candidate for the HC job by Adam Schefter and the Jaguars requested permission from the Rams to interview Schottenheimer.  Schottenheimer served as the OC for the New York Jets for six seasons prior to spending this past season with the Rams.  During his time as OC, Schottenheimer offenses have done a good job of establishing the run.  He has had three top 10 seasons in yards rushing and has helped the Jets get to the playoffs multiple times.

During his time with the Rams, the team got noticeably closer to their potential and the players frequently outplayed their talent level.  If you had said the Rams would finish the season at 7-8-1 and 6-1-1 in the division, I doubt I would have believed you.  A large part of that is head coach Jeff Fisher’s approach to building a strong foundation the right way, but part of that is Schottenheimer helping players like Sam Bradford and Danny Amendola start to get on track toward reaching their potential.

All in all, Schottenheimer is a well respected OC in the NFL even if his team’s numbers are never so stellar that they jump off the page.  Part of that is being part of rebuilding efforts in New York and St. Louis and part of that is being attached to Mark Sanchez with the Jets.  With a clean slate, the ceiling will be terribly high with Schottenheimer at the helm.

Brian Schottenheimer’s father is legendary coach Marty Schottenheimer of the Kansas City Chiefs and San Diego Chargers.  Marty finished his career 200-126-1.  If pedigree is part of the process, then give the nod to Schottenheimer.  If it’s based on past experience, I don’t see the Jaguars taking a swing on him right now.

- Luke N. Sims

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Schottenheimer isn’t the most popular candidate – at least not if you take a gander at Jags fans on Twitter.  Source: Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports

According to Adam Schefter, both St. Louis Rams OC Brian Schottenheimer and San Francisco 49ers OC Greg Roman are expected candidates for the Jaguars.  Roman has been linked to Caldwell through his interviewing process and it is expected that the Jaguars will entertain the idea of bringing him in.  Another possible candidate may be Cincinnati Bengals OC Jay Gruden, at least if last year’s coaching search is any indication.  Gruden has been a darling of many franchises looking to get a young up and coming offensive minded coach in the top spot, but he has yet to leave Cincy for any of them.

It will be curious to see who the Jaguars pursue and whether Caldwell, himself only 38, is looking to go young or is looking for someone to with previous head coaching experience.  The feeling around the twitterverse at least is is that he’ll want to go young and look for a head coach who can bring a fresh take to the Jaguars.

Meanwhile, some people are wondering if the head coaching vacancy is even a desirable job for someone to go to.  We may know more about the intentions of Caldwell after the press conference today, but there is no guaranteeing that the Jaguars show their cards so early in the process.  For us Jags fans it seems like the position would be desirable for someone who wants to build a team in his own image.  For those actually shopping for an NFL team to coach, it may seem like a position with rapid turnover and limited immediate development.  But hey, if it doesn’t work out you could end up getting paid for two years to do nothing like Mularkey will be.

- Luke N. Sims

Feel free to leave comments on here or visit us at Facebook or Twitter!

You can also find me on Twitter @LukeNSims