Jaguars not doing Trevor Lawrence any favors with head coaching search

It’s almost February, and the Jacksonville Jaguars’ search for a new head coach hasn’t ended. While there are other NFL teams with a vacancy at the same position, most of them seem to know what they’re doing. Meanwhile, the Jags look clueless and without some sense of direction. Regardless of how the process ends, it could have a negative impact on Trevor Lawrence.

See, the Jaguars are getting the search wrong. Instead of looking for someone who is going to develop their young quarterback and turn him into a franchise player the way Zac Taylor has done for Joe Burrow, Jacksonville’s goal has been to find someone that can work alongside general manager Trent Baalke.

Apparently, none of the Jags’ top candidates for the job, except for Matt Eberflus, are willing to work with Baalke. That should be a red flag but it doesn’t seem to be a big deal for the organization. Tampa Bay Buccaneers Byron Leftwich, the favorite to land the job until recently, told the Jags it was either the general manager or him. You know things aren’t good when someone has given you that kind of ultimatum.

The odds of hiring Leftwich might be bleak right now and the Jaguars are now interviewing former Las Vegas Raiders head coach Rich Bisaccia, per Adam Schefter of ESPN. There’s no doubt Bisaccia is someone worth considering after his work with the Silver and Black in 2021 but the Jags made this significantly more complicated than it should have been. While Jacksonville could ultimately end up with a good head coach, it doesn’t seem likely right now and that’s going to hurt Lawrence in the long run.

Trevor Lawrence has the right to question the Jaguars’ approach.

Throughout the 2021 season, Lawrence showed he had the emotional intelligence and the mental toughness to navigate all the dysfunction surrounding the organization. Although he expressed frustration at times, he kept things in perspective more often than not and deal with all the losing the team endured pretty well.

The Jaguars’ top priority this offseason should be to get a head coach that can squeeze every ounce of talent out of Lawrence and then surround him with as many weapons in free agency and the draft. So far, the team has failed their franchise quarterback with the first item, and keeping Trent Baalke around may make the second one equally, if not more, challenging.

Lawrence is most likely aware of everything that’s happening in Jacksonville and should be asking himself, ‘what did I get myself into?’. The former Clemson Tiger is all in and has been nothing but a pro from the moment he was drafted first overall in 2021. He’s definitely committed to the Jaguars but is the sentiment reciprocated?. What is the organization doing to ensure their franchise quarterback will be in a position to succeed? Right now, it has taken a backseat to finding someone who gets along with Baalke.

The Jaguars have turned a process that was relatively easy and straightforward into a complicated mess and it’s fair to wonder if Lawrence or any other player will be affected.