Why Jaguars owner Shad Khan cannot let Bill Belichick's Super Bowl rings woo him

The Jacksonville Jaguars could be looking for a new head coach if Doug Pederson cannot right the ship after a rough start to the 2024 season. One trendy candidate who's emerged in recent days is Bill Belichick, and it's easy to see why. During a span of 24 seasons, he led the New England Patriots to six Super Bowl championships.

Add the fact that Jags owner Shad Khan has previously gone after big names, and it wouldn't be shocking if he makes a strong effort to bring The Hoodie to Jacksonville. However, he shouldn't repeat the same mistake he made when he hired Urban Meyer in 2021.

Steven Ruiz of The Ringer predicts Belichick will be coaching Jacksonville in 2025, pointing out that Khan has had no qualms about pursuing a big-name coach if that means winning.

Bill Belichick is going to be coaching the Jaguars next season, and we'll know it by New Year's. It
won't be official, but it will be the worst-kept secret in the NFL," Ruiz told colleague Bill Simmons. "Well, first of all, I know some beat reporters down in Jacksonville, and I think you know there's already whispers there. I'll start with that. The real reason why I believe this is Shad Khan is a hands-off owner."

Ruiz continued, "I don't think he's going to get spooked like Atlanta did when Bill Belichick comes in and goes, 'I want to run the organization like this. I want to have GM powers. I want to be able to hire my own coordinators. I want to be able to decide the direction of this franchise.' I don't think he's going to get spooked by that. I think he's going to like that. I think he's going to want it, if Belichick comes in and throws those rings on the table. I think that's enough."

"I think Shad Khan needs a proving winner. Someone where he can't get blamed for hiring the coach, because if you hired Belichick, it doesn't work out. It's like, yeah, the greatest coach."

Simmons goes on to say that nobody will be mad if Khan goes with Belichick if the team has an opening at head coach. And he kind of has a point.

After all, Belichick is indeed one of the greatest coaches in NFL history, and his defenses have led the way in innovation during his run in the league. That said, he comes with red flags. The biggest one is that he's not a great talent evaluator. Years of bad personnel decisions left the Patriots devoid of talent. To make matters worse, he leaned too much on subpar coaches like Josh McDaniels and Matt Patricia.

In fact, most assistants who coached under Belichick didn't have much success outside Foxboro. It's fair to assume that he will bring many of his past collaborators with him to Duval. Make no mistake, he can coach, but giving him full control of an organization would be a massive risk.

It's also worth noting that when Ruiz says he's heard whispers, it's not clear what he's referring to. Has he heard that Doug Pederson is on the hot seat? That Khan has made it clear he'll be pursuing Belichick? Both things could be true.

On the other hand, Doug P won't give up his job without a fight. It's hard to picture him just nodding and tanking to pave the way for Belichick. Furthermore, it's still too early to tell how things will play out in 2024. As underwhelming as the Jags have been, there's still plenty of football left.

It's easy to forget it now but Jacksonville was 3-6 and already written off in 2022. With their backs against the wall, though, they made a playoff push and went on to win the AFC South. Here's Ruiz's exchange with Simmons, in case you want to give it a look.

Bill Belichick could be Urban Meyer all over again for the Jaguars

Despite his success with the New England Patriots, Bill Belichick didn't have a robust market for his services in the last hiring cycle. The Atlanta Falcons showed a bit of interest but ultimately rolled with Raheem Morris. That's because he may want to have general manager powers and full autonomy instead of being part of a committee. That should be the first reason for concern.

The fact that Belichick couldn't recreate his success once Tom Brady left the Pats should also give Shad Khan pause. What makes you think that he will be able to turn things around in Duval after failing with New England? Ok, he has six Super Bowl rings, so what?

When Khan hired Meyer, he made the mistake of courting him instead of vetting him because he won national championships with Ohio State and Florida. Rather than conduct extensive research, the owner told the embattled head coach that he could have everything he wanted if he became the head coach of the Jags. Along the way, the owner missed Urb's massive red flags.

To nobody's surprise, it didn't take long for Meyer's skeletons to come out of the closet. Whether he got caught dancing improperly with a woman who wasn't his wife Shelley or berating players and his assistants, he showed he had no idea of what he was doing in Jacksonville.

Granted, there's a massive difference between Meyer and Belichick. For one, he can actually get the most out of his players and has the hardware to prove it. Having said that, Khan could once again make the same mistake and be lured by Belichick's previous success while ignoring all his flaws.

The bottom line is that if it comes to that, the Jaguars must conduct an extended search to ensure they get the best coach available. Also, it would help to give Doug Pederson the chance to turn things around before they consider kicking him to the curb.

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