Jacksonville Jaguars: Greg Olson’s firing long overdue
By Luke Sims
The Jacksonville Jaguars offense in 2015 was a big surprise for many fans. It was a welcome ray of hope in a rebuild that never ends. Then it crashed to the earth in 2016.
Greg Olson’s 2015 offense with the Jacksonville Jaguars was his second-best ever in a career that is filled with mediocre and poor offenses. His record has never been impressive but he retains respect in the coaching ranks for his willingness to work with young, struggling quarterbacks and his professionalism.
Yet it was clear he wasn’t doing enough in Jacksonville during his second season at the helm of the offense.
Olson’s offense ranks dead last in rushing attempts, 31st in rushing yards, and despite being 13th in passing yards his overall offense ranks 25th. Those are poor marks and suggest poor balance. Olson was clearly struggling to find the same magic that 2015’s team managed with mediocre running and exciting downfield passing.
Worse, the Jacksonville Jaguars offense grew predictable. Defenses could guess when a two-yard run was coming and when a pass was coming with ease. It got so bad that everybody and anybody on Twitter was guessing the play call before the offense even took the field.
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In that sense, the decision to move on from Olson was logical and overdue. His his hiring was uninspiring and so was his coordination of the offense. Even with Bortles having another shift at OC, it’s clear this could spur the offense forward.
Behind Olson the Jaguars have had Nathaniel Hackett and Doug Marrone waiting in the wings. Both of them have worked together as offensive coordinator and head coach and are offensively-inclined. They will bring their own wrinkles and new ideas to the offense. We saw very little of them in Olson’s offense and will hopefully see improvements in the passing and, especially, the running game as a result.
It’s exciting to have another shift on the team, even if it isn’t the head coach axing that many fans wanted. This one was long overdue and could still help turn things around.