Jaguars: Discussing the Future of the Franchise

Tom Coughlin has been fired as the Executive Vice President of the Jaguars.  Will he be the only casualty moving forward?

The conversation around the Jaguars franchise has not been positive in the last two seasons as well as others prior to 2017. It is time to address the turmoil, clean up the messes, and start fresh with new leadership.

It’s possible a complete clean sweep would create a huge void and probably add to the team’s recovery time. Some stability is needed but more changes must be made. Frankly, I would not like to see everyone fired, but that still might happen.

If I were hired to replace former executive vice-president of football operations Tom Coughlin, which is highly unlikely, I would like to know certain things first. Is the medical and training staff doing a good job?  One of the issues is players not wanting to attend voluntary training appointments. Also, former Jaguars cornerback Jalen Ramsey and a few others preferred to train elsewhere in the offseason.

"Per Michael DiRocco of ESPN.com, “Rather, the All-Pro cornerback decided to train with his father in Nashville instead because he believed that would better prepare him for the season — and help him avoid the injuries that he has suffered in each of the last two springs. It’s a decision he doesn’t regret, and he doesn’t think his teammates were upset that he wasn’t around.”"

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I am not advocating firing the medical or training staff but it never hurts to take a look and make improvements.

Next, I would look at the scouting staff. It is their job to observe college players as potential draft choices.  Let’s be honest, our draft choices, particularly in the first round, have not been the best in recent years. Some of our later-round choices have been head-scratchers as well. Because of this, general manager David Caldwell has come under fire for some of those decisions. Has he been getting poor information about player prospects, or did someone else have the final say in who was selected with each pick?

I believe that Caldwell hasn’t done a good enough job and it’s time to start new with an experienced general manager and let that person make the scouting staff decisions as well as personnel decisions.

I would also look at the coaching staff.  I don’t know who was making the coaching decisions, but I do know players like and respect Doug Marrone. I would keep Marrone with some stringent conditions. He must improve the offense and defense schemes as well as play calling. If this requires new coordinators, so be it.

He and the new general manager need to be on the same page.

There are some positives a new regime should be excited about. Although not ideal, the Jaguars have two potential starting quarterbacks to compete for the starting job in Gardner Minshew and Nick Foles. The offense has a solid running back in Leonard Fournette and a potential All-Pro receiver in DJ Chark. If we keep Yannick Ngakoue, to go along with rookie Josh Allen, we have two top edge rushers.

Its time to look forward. Team owner Shad Khan realized that Coughlin stepped over the line and has moved on. It will take time to rebuild the team’s reputation and to that end, the disconnect between the front office and coaching staff as well as the connection with the fanbase.