Jaguars legend Jimmy Smith drops bombshell about previous regime

Jacksonville Jaguars Ring of Honor (and one day Hall of Fame) wide receiver Jimmy Smith called into XL Primetime on 1010 XL Thursday afternoon to discuss his thoughts on the mishandling of the wide receiver position during the Doug Marrone era.

Smith’s call began by voicing his disapproval of the Jags being okay with not having a true number-one receiver during Marrone’s tenure, which lasted from 2017 to 2020 (he was the interim head coach for two games in 2016).

Jimmy Smith didn’t stop with his critique of the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Smith also discussed the team’s decision to limit how former Jaguars wide receiver coach and Keenan McCardell would coach the receivers. A former NFL receiver himself, UNLV product was instructed to coach the receivers differently than he would have liked.

The 1992 second-round selection wonder why receivers would be standing straight up at the line of scrimmage last year. He knew that wasn’t something McCardell would teach because that’s not the way they played. Smith added that’s not the way his former teammate would want to coach because the route-running begins with the stance of the wide receiver.

Smith would give a mini-lesson on how a proper stance should look for a wide receiver.

"Standing straight up? They’re going to play the bongos on your chest. Those DBs are gonna have a field day on your chest. If you get your torso down behind your pads, they can’t do that. If they try and touch the top of your pads with no leverage there, you’ll be able to release off the line easier with much more explosion."

This inadequate coaching ended up affecting Chark’s growth.

"So that’s just like football route running 101, and we knew, those who knew the game knew Keenan McCardell was not allowed to coach those receivers, and it affected DJ Chark’s development because Keenan was not allowed to coach those receivers the way he wanted to."

Smith and McCardell were known as “Thunder and Lightning” during their time in Jacksonville back in the 1990s. Together, they combined for 771 receptions for 10,842 yards and 56 touchdowns, and four Pro Bowl appearances from 1996-1999. They’ve remained close since their glory days, so it’s no surprise McCardell would vent about the issues he had as the wide receivers coach to Smith.

Jimmy Smith’s high expectations for DJ Chark and the Jaguars in 2021

Smith also talked about the remarks from Urban Meyer a few weeks ago about wide receiver DJ Chark’s performance last season and how he played too small. Smith approved of the former Florida head coach’s challenge concerning the 2018 second-round pick to get bigger and faster and thinks he will have a tremendous 2021 season.

"He [Chark] looks stronger, he looks faster, and I think with having a quarterback like Trevor Lawrence in there, he’s going to play big."

It’s no surprise to hear this kind of narrative leak out from the Marrone era. It’s a continuation of the dysfunctional standard set by the franchise for the better part of an entire decade. Whether it was Tom Coughlin’s issues with several key players to the point of them leaving or the questionable commitment to quarterback Blake Bortles, there always seemed to be some debatable sense of direction with the personnel in charge of the on-field operations.

While this is just another chapter in the series of unfortunate Jaguars events over the years, it is relieving to view it in the rear-view mirror due to Urban Meyer’s CEO-esque approach to leading this team. There doesn’t seem to be any confusion regarding players’ or coaches’ roles within the team, which is refreshing.