The Buffalo Bills beat the Jacksonville Jaguars in Wild Card Weekend but lost to the Denver Broncos in the divisional round of the playoffs. Not long after, they dismissed head coach Sean McDermott and are turning to the Jags to fill their vacancy.
Mike Garafolo of NFL Media reports that Buffalo is leaving no stone unturned to find McDermott's replacement, noting that the list of candidates is growing. Here's the skinny.
"Brandon Beane says the head coaching search is '100 percent an open search," Garafolo wrote on Twitter. "List is still growing and evolving based on research, plus candidates on four teams still playing they can't interview. "He says Josh Allen will have some input along the way."
A familiar face is among the Bills' wish list.
The Bills are interviewing Jaguars OC Grant Udinski for their head-coaching job
Mike Garafolo's NFL Media collegue, Tom Pelissero, broke the news that Buffalo is interviewing Grant Udinski for their vacancy, adding that the second-year offensive coordinator also has a scheduled interview with the Cleveland Browns Friday, January 23.
The Bills turned heads across the league when they ousted McDermott because they retained general manager Brandon Beane. This was odd because Beane failed to consistently replenish the Bills with talent. This, in turn, put extra pressure on both McDermott and quarterback Josh Allen to win games. Somehow, though, he managed to get a promotion.
This is a long-winded way to say that the prospect of working with the quarterback of Allen's caliber and running his own team may be too good to pass up. On the other hand, the Bills' opening isn't particularly enticing when you take into account that Beane's job is safe despite the fact that he hasn't performed at a satisfactory level.
The Jaguars had a similar dynamic when Trent Baalke was around. The embattled general manager hardly ever met with reporters, which shielded him from scrutiny. Couple that with the fact that owner Shad Khan had unwavering trust in him, and it's easy to understand why Baalke and Pederson didn't appear to see eye to eye.
Related: The NFL hiring cycle just proved the Jags ditched Doug Pederson at the right time
It seems like the Jaguars will eventually lose Grant Udinski
Grant Udinski just turned 30 and doesn't even call plays with the Jags. However, he's an ascending offensive mind that's getting widespread recognition across the league, which is why the Jags are surely bracing themselves for the possibility of losing him at some point.
Even if Udinski doesn't get a head-coaching job, a team could poach him by offering playcalling duty. Dating back to his stint with the Minnesota Vikings, his work with quarterbacks has been nothing short of impressive. In back-to-back seasons, Udinski played a role in getting the most out of Sam Darnold and Trevor Lawrence. That kind of impact has teams with signal-callers salivating over his potential.
The bottom line is that it took just one season for Grant Udinski to prove that hiring him as the offensive coordinator was the right call. The downside is that the Jaguars could be at risk of losing him just one year after bringing him in.