Trent Baalke's firing has officially sent Jaguars head coach search off the rails

• The Jaguars will now have to clean the mess left by Trent Baalke.

Owner Shad Khan talks with general manager Trent Baalke Monday, Aug. 14, 2023 at Miller Electric Center at EverBank Stadium in Jacksonville, Fla. Today was the 14th training camp session.
Owner Shad Khan talks with general manager Trent Baalke Monday, Aug. 14, 2023 at Miller Electric Center at EverBank Stadium in Jacksonville, Fla. Today was the 14th training camp session. | Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union / USA TODAY NETWORK

The Jacksonville Jaguars got off to a good start in their search for a new head coach. Just one day after dismissing Doug Pederson, they put in requests to meet with a handful of candidates. By all accounts, things went well. But somewhere along the way, things took a turn.

First, the Jags lost Ben Johnson to the Chicago Bears. Then, they saw Liam Coen return to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after arranging a meeting with him. Fortunately, owner Shad Khan finally realized that general manager Trent Baalke was hindering the search and moved on from him. On the other hand, the move might've come a bit too late, as the team dug itself in a hole.

Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports reports that Jacksonville is going to continue its search for a head coach and then look for a general manager. He adds that it's not a common approach in the NFL but the one the organization chose.

Following the ousting of Baalke, the Jags announced that Ethan Waugh will serve as the interim, so he'll help throughout the process. In fact, he may even interview for the position and get the job on a full-time basis.

Circling back to Jones' comments, the Jaguars are in a unique situation, because teams don't usually fire their general manager during their coaching search. On the bright side, they could pair candidates with an executive who shares the same vision. That's the setup Ben Johnson wanted and got with the Chicago Bears.

Rumors say that Coen also wanted to bring Buccaneers executive John Spytek with him, but because the Jaguars weren't receptive to the idea, he returned to Tampa Bay. Again, this isn't confirmed, but it tracks based on how things have unfolded in Jacksonville.

The Jacksonville Jaguars are still on time to fix their coaching search

The Jacksonville Jaguars find themselves in a less-than-ideal situation. The silver lining is that they pushed the panic button in the middle of the search and not near the end. Ideally, they would've kicked Trent Baalke to the curve when they dismissed Doug Pederson, but there's not much they can do but course correct.

Working in their favor is that most of the candidates the Jags have already interviewed for the opening are still available. Furthermore, they could add a few names to the list, including Pete Carroll or Kilff Kingsbury. Add that Baalke will no longer scare candidates away, and Jacksonville has a reasonable chance of ending up with a good candidate.

Sure, the Jaguars will need to be patient, especially if they want to pursue Kingsbury or Joe Brady. Their respective teams are still in the playoffs and cannot currently interview. Then again, they put themselves in this position, so they need to avoid getting desperate and stay disciplined in the search.

The Trent Baalke firing most definitely sent the coaching search off the rails. The silver lining is that the Jaguars will have a chance to fix things from the ground up and at last turn into a perennial contender.

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