The Jacksonville Jaguars are close to wrapping up their search for a general manager. They've nearly interviewed the finalist for the position and should announce who got the job the upcoming weekend. While there's always a chance the decision could take a bit longer, the NFL is making sure they'll make a decision before this year's scouting combine.
The league posted the speaking lineup for the combine. New head coach Liam Coen will be meeting with the media at 11 a.m. ET Tuesday, but what stands out about the announcement is the slot for the Jaguars general manager says "TBD", or to be determined. This ensures that someone will have the position by then. Not only that, but he'll be holding a press conference.
GM & HC podium schedule for Indianapolis. pic.twitter.com/wrViqnU7QD
— Ryan Fowler (@_RyanFowler_) February 21, 2025
This normally wouldn't be noteworthy, but the search for a new general manager to replace Trent Baalke has been from normal. It's also important to point out that the Jaguars announced the finalist for the job late on Valentine's Day, which fell on Saturday, so the unusual timeframe is no longer surprising.
To begin with, Jacksonville wasn't planning to move on from Baalke even though he played a role underwhelming 4-13 record last year. However, the team changed its stance when it realized he was scaring away head coaching candidates. Not long after the embattled general manager was ousted, Coen became the head coach.
But it wasn't until Coen was close to finalizing his staff that the Jaguars began the process of finding a replacement for Baalke. Along the way, they brought in a couple of puzzling candidates, but it's fair to say that all the finalists have a case to seize the job.
The last candidate to interview for the job was Los Angeles Rams director of scouting James Gladstone. Before him, the Jaguars met with interim Ethan Waugh, Green Bay Packers vice president of player personnel Jon-Eric Sullivan, San Francisco 49ers director/scouting and football operations Josh Williams, and Chicago Bears assistant general manager Ian Cunningham.
We have completed an in-person interview with James Gladstone for our General Manager position. pic.twitter.com/tWz6NuJb9e
— Jacksonville Jaguars (@Jaguars) February 21, 2025
The timeline for the Jaguars NFL search isn't surprising
Throughout their history, the Jacksonville Jaguars have always operated in an unusual way. Sure, this offseason has been different, but it's far from the only time they've done things differently.
Back when they hired Urban Meyer, they announced the firing at midnight and only did it when he became too much of an embarrassment. Then, they spent nearly two months looking for his replacement. Before that, the NFLPA warned free agents not to sign with Jacksonville because of former executive vice president Tom Coughlin.
You could make the case that the Jags have only been "different" under Shad Khan but that's not the case. Back when Wayne Weaver was the owner, they kept then-head coach Jack Del Rio out of the loop in the 2011 NFL Draft.
The silver lining is that you cannot blame the Jacksonville Jaguars of being dull or bland. If anything, they alway give fans something to talk about, even if is always isn't good.