The Jacksonville Jaguars may have a head coaching opening soon.
By now, you probably head the Jacksonville Jaguars are expected to part ways with head coach Doug Marrone. If they indeed give him the boot, they could pursue a big-name candidate to take his place and while Urban Meyer is trending, the team could also opt to hire the man that replaced him at Ohio State, Ryan Day.
Meyer recently engaged in preliminary talks with the ‘Jags’ throughout an intermediary. He is already starting to put a staff together and is telling his associates he expects to land their head coaching job, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Media. However, the NFL Network insider points out that it’s likely, but not certain, that the ‘Jags’ will give Marrone the pink slips and adds that if they aren’t able to hire Meyer, they could target Day, who just beat Clemson in the Sugar Bowl.
Keep in mind it’s not a done deal this Jacksonville team will part ways with Marrone, and Rapoport mentions that if that’s the outcome, they will look for a big-name candidate, not necessarily Meyer of Day.
In any case, Day could be an enticing candidate and the Jaguars should at least explore the possibility of granting him an interview and possibly even hiring him before they come up with their final decision.
The Jacksonville Jaguars would get a coach with a proven track record.
Ryan Day started his coaching career as the tight end coach for Wisconsin in 2002. He went on to coach for different programs and later joined the Philadelphia Eagles as the quarterbacks coach in Chip Kelly’s staff. When Kelly was given the boot in ‘Philly’, he became the head coach for the San Francisco 49ers and brought Day with him.
Once the ‘Niners’ fired both Kelly and Day after the end of the 2016 season, the latter got hired by Ohio State. During his tenure with the Buckeyes, Day held different roles such as quarterbacks coach and co-offensive coordinator. He even performed head coaching duties on an interim basis when Urban Meyer earned a three-suspension to start the 2018 season.
When Meyer retired after the 2019 Rose Bowl, Day became Ohio State’s head coach. The Buckeyes went 12-0 in his first season at the helm and won the Big Ten championship, which then earned him Big Ten Coach of the Year accolades.
This season, the Buckeyes would only play five games due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but they won all of them and advance to the Big Ten Championship Game, the second one in back-to-back seasons under Day. More recently, Ohio State defeated Clemson 49-28 in the Sugar Bowl, which made Day the first Buckeyes head coach to beat the Tigers in bowl games, a feat Meyer nor Woody Hayes couldn’t accomplish during their respective tenures.
Hiring Ryan Day would be sort of risky for the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Nobody will argue the fact Ryan is a successful college coach. The Buckeyes have a 19-1 record with him at the helm and that hasn’t happened by accident. He’s very good at what he does and has been able to get the most out of his players these past two seasons.
Nevertheless, the NFL is a different deal, and success at the college level doesn’t always translate into success in the pros. For every Tom Coughlin or Pete Carroll, there’s a Steve Spurrier and a Bobby Petrino.
This doesn’t mean the Jaguars should disqualify Ryan from consideration. If the organization likes what the Ohio State head coach offers, they, by all means, should interview him. Nevertheless, they have to perform due diligence and make sure he has the qualities that will make him a successful head coach. Ian Rapoport said in his report that Jacksonville will take a few days before making an announcement, so they could be better off taking the time to find their next head coach, in case they indeed part ways with Marrone.
In the end, having the right head coach at the helm will shape the ‘Jags’ for the foreseeable future. They need to make sure they have the best one to lead the team in place.