Jaguars can’t be considering Bill O’Brien as viable HC candidate, can they?

The same day the Jacksonville Jaguars played the New England Patriots, a report surfaced about the presence of general manager Trent Baalke potentially affecting the search for a new head coach. One item that stood in the report was Baalke’s pushing for former Houston Texans head coach and general manager Bill O’Brien. Where there’s smoke, there’s fire it looks like there is indeed some level of interest from the Jags.

Eugene Frenette of The Florida Times-Union says the Jaguars do have interest in Bill O’Brien. However, he goes on to say it’s not clear how high the interest is compared to Doug Pederson or Jim Caldwell, two of their top two candidates for the vacancy left by Urban Meyer.

Update: John Reid of The Florida Times-Union reports O’Brien will be interviewing for the Jaguars head coaching job. Ian Rapoport of NFL Media later confirmed Reid’s report.

The Jacksonville Jaguars have crafted a pretty good list of head coaching candidates and their opening should be one that generates plenty of interest due to the amount of cap space they currently have, the first overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft (tentatively), and the presence of Trevor Lawrence. Why they are interested in O’Brien and see him as a viable choice when there are other more capable candidates is anyone’s guess.

There are more qualified HC candidates the Jaguars can interview.

The Jaguars’ list of candidates is a pretty illustrious one. Pederson’s and Caldwell’s names stand out but they aren’t the only ones that could do a good job if they were to get the job. Even though either one would be a first-time head coach, both Dallas Cowboys offensive coordinator Kellen Moore and Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich have the kind of football acumen that would make you feel comfortable if they took over. On the other hand, O’Brien leaves much to be desired when you look at his tenure with the Texans.

Back in Houston, O’Brien made the playoffs in four different seasons and won the AFC South the same number of times. Moreover, Deshaun Watson became one of the top five quarterbacks under his watch. But that’s where the positives end and all the cons start. He got into a quarrel with defensive end J.J. Watt in 2020 and seemed interested in getting rid of any talented player the Texans had, including All-Pro wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins and edge rusher Jadeveon Clowney.

The Jaguars have options when it comes to their head coaching search and there’s no reason why they should be scrapping the bottom of the barrel for D-tier candidates like O’Brien. If Trent Baalke is sincerely considering pursuing O’Brien, that’s one more reason why the Jags need to move from him. At this point, it makes more sense that they get in touch with Pat Graham, who has done a heck of a job at the helm of the New York Giants defense in 2021.

The Jaguars can’t keep shooting themselves on the foot and interviewing O’Brien could set them back even longer. They have a list of worthy candidates lined up, there’s no need to deviate from it.