The Jacksonville Jaguars are out of luck when it comes to hiring Ben Johnson, as the crown jewel of this hiring cycle chose the Chicago Bears. Similarly, Aaron Glenn is slated to meet with the New York Jets and may become their head coach. The Jags are now set to interview three candidates for their coaching vacancy in the upcoming days, but there's no guarantee any of them will get the job. In case things take an ugly turn, Bleacher Report came up with an unexpected suggestion.
Doric Sam of Bleacher Report came up with several landing spots for Mike McCarthy after failing to reach an agreement with the Dallas Cowboys to return as their head coach. He included Jacksonville as one of the destinations, pointing out that McCarthy would have ample offensive talent to work with and could get the most out of Trevor Lawrence.
"McCarthy is widely regarded as one of the best offensive minds in the NFL, so he will surely be able to bring out the best in Lawrence and company. Jacksonville missed the playoffs for the last two years despite hoping to establish itself as a top contender in the AFC, so adding a coach of McCarthy's caliber could put the team where it wants to be."
Sam goes on to say that the Jaguars had one of the worst defenses in the league, so McCarthy would have his work cut out on that side of the ball. On a related note, the other two teams he included were the New Orleans Saints and the Las Vegas Raiders. It's fair to say that Jacksonville would be a more enticing destination for aspiring head coaches.
Circling back to McCarthy, he's been an NFL head coach for 18 years and has had a combined 11 winning seasons with the Green Bay Packers and the Dallas Cowboys. He also won a Super Bowl and has routinely put together some of the best offenses in the league.
Having said that, McCarthy's offensive schemes often lack creativity and rely too much on his players' talent. Furthermore, he has struggled to pass beyond the Divisional Round of the playoffs in recent years, and that's partly due to his underwhelming coaching.
The Jaguars must steer away from Mike McCarthy
After five seasons together, it looked like the Dallas Cowboys were going to re-sign Mike McCarthy. Heck, they didn't let him interview for the opening with the Chicago Bears. However, they ultimately changed their mind and he walked.
One thing McCarthy has going for him is that he's used to working with a meddling owner who had general manager powers. That would come in handy if the Jacksonville Jaguars would pair him up with Trent Baalke.
The issue is that you don't want a coach whose best skill is to get along with a general manager. You want one who'll employ a collaborative effort, will put his players in a position to succeed, and get your team over the hump. McCarthy doesn't fit the profile.
If the Jaguars want an offensive mastermind who'll untap Trevor Lawrence's potential they're better off pursuing either Liam Coen, Todd Monken, or Joe Brady. They would have to wait for Brady until the Buffalo Bills lose, but it would be worth it.
On the other hand, they already met with Coen and Monken and will interview the former again. All of them are much better options than McCarthy.
The bottomline is that it doesn't make sense for the Jacksonville Jaguars to go after a coach that can't win in the playoffs and runs an outdated offense.