The Jacksonville Jaguars must've felt frustrated when they watched Ben Johnson become the head coach of the Chicago Bears. After all, they were seen as the best destination for the crown jewel of this hiring cycle early in the process. Moreover, the Jags had everything Johnson needed to succeed: A talented (but inconsistent) quarterback in Trevor Lawrence, ample talent to work with, and draft picks to address the team's biggest needs.
On the other hand, Jacksonville had Trent Baalke around, and that was the deciding factor for Johnson to pick the Bears. Former Jaguars player Tom McManus provided confirmation.
The day after Baalke got the boot, TMac had a live broadcast on social media and said that someone who's familiar with the situation told him Johnson didn't choose the Jags because of Baalke. Here's the skinny.
"Heard from a really good friend of mine, a really good source on this, Ben Johnson to the Bears, it's all Baalke," McManus said. "I stand corrected. He wanted to work with Trevor. That's all I can say about a really reliable source. I let my personal feelings get in.
McManus continued, "I personally think that Caleb and his receivers have more upside than we have in Jacksonville. But hopefully that changes, Trent Baalke is out and it sounds like that, it's going to be the right move, and hopefully get exactly who we want with no encumbrances of a jam getting in the way."
As McManus noted, the Bears also had an appealing vacancy with the promising Caleb Williams in the fold and plenty of cap space to fill several roster holes in free agency. Below is the full clip of the former Jaguar discussing what he heard about Johnson going to Chicago.
— Tom McManus (@meathead55) January 23, 2025
This goes against what Tony Boselli consistently said during the hiring process. That Baalke wasn't an issue during the coaching search and the media shouldn't come up with conjectures because they don't know how things are unfolding behind the scenes.
Not long after Boselli defended Baalke, the Jaguars moved on from Trent Baalke showing that he was indeed the issue and was holding back the search. Surprisingly, the Pro Football Hall-of-Fame left tackle has gone silent.
Ben Johnson not going to the Jaguars because of Trent Baalke makes sense
This isn't necessarily breaking news, though. If anything, Tom McManus confirmed what everybody knew. Trent Baalke was toxic and Shad Khan's trust in him was misplaced. Fortunately, he realized that the former general manager had a negative impact on the search for a new head coach and dismissed him, even though that's something he should've done at the end of the 2024 regular season.
In the end, Khan pulled the trigger and the Jaguars still have a chance to land a good coaching candidate. While Ben Johnson is now the head coach of the Chicago Bears and Liam Coen returned to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Jacksonville still has a few exciting or at least viable options.
The Jags could go after Mike McCarthy or add another candidate to their wish list. Conversely, they could focus on either Patrick Graham or Robert Saleh. Both of them are scheduled to meet with the Jaguars in the upcoming days.
The bottom line is that the Jaguars aren't making the same mistake again. Two times was more than enough.