The Jacksonville Jaguars fired Trent Baalke in a stunning move following the Jaguars missing out on a couple of their top head coaching options. In what was rapidly devolving into a complete mess, the Jaguars 2025 offseason got off to a terrible start. The Jaguars fired Doug Pederson and kept Baalke. It was widely scrutinized, and once some of the coaching dominoes began to fall, the Jaguars reacted. But it’s too late, and plenty of the top options are gone. What now?
The Jaguars Fired Trent Baalke; What Should The Jaguars Do Now?
In a stunning turn of events, the Jaguars’ head coaching landscape changed drastically in 24 hours. The dominoes began falling with Ben Johnson being hired as the Bears head coach. Next, the Jaguars found out Wednesday morning that the top option left for the Jaguars head coaching search decided to take his name out of content. Liam Coen confirmed he wants to return to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and took himself out of the running for Jaguars head coach. Aaron Glenn then was hired to be the New York Jets head coach, leading to some of the best options available to all make decisions.
Jacksonville is left with a much smaller pool of candidates, with Robert Saleh coming out as the favorite after a wild Wednesday. But the biggest change is the decision made by Shad Khan when the Jaguars fired Baalke despite retaining him in initial conversations. Keeping Baalke left many around the NFL stunned, and now, seemingly weeks too late, the Jaguars move on from him.
Fallout From The Jaguars Balking In The Moment
With the head coaching landscape rapidly developing following the Divisional round of the playoffs, the Jaguars were behind the eight-ball because they decided to keep Baalke. During the coaching search, Baalke had a role in helping to find a new head coach. Now, the Jaguars fired Baalke, coming right after some of the best Jaguars head coaching candidates made decisions to not come to Jacksonville.
Coen, Johnson, and Glenn all were hired or made their decisions final while the Jaguars held onto Baalke. Now, not only will the Jaguars be continuing the head coaching search with uncertainty in the ownership group, but they’ll have to look for a new general manager as well. In a statement announcing that the Jaguars fired Baalke, Khan said: “Following several discussions with Trent Baalke this week, we both arrived at the conclusion that is in our mutual best interests to respectfully separate, effective immediately.”
With a head coach and general manager position open in Jacksonville, the Jaguars will need to address two key organizational aspects before the 2025 offseason begins. With time winding down before the offseason kicks into full gear, the Jaguars front office needs to get the ball rolling before more of their top candidates decide to go elsewhere.
With Johnson going to the Chicago Bears, and Coen returning to the Buccaneers, the Jaguars missed out on their top two candidates for head coach. A large factor in why both didn’t come to Jacksonville was the presence of Baalke as general manager. The mind-boggling decision to keep Baalke when the Jaguars fired Pederson left a sour taste in many mouths around the NFL. That decision has come back to haunt the Jaguars, as they’ve lost out on their top candidates for head coach.
While the NFL world may never know for sure, the Jaguars’ decision to keep Baalke might’ve taken them out of two of the brightest up-and-coming offensive minds across the league. It could be a disastrous mistake to make, especially with Trevor Lawrence and Brian Thomas Jr. as cornerstone pieces on offense. There should be a lot to like about the Jaguars head coaching job, but Baalke has seemingly been a deterrent for many candidates.
With Baalke now gone, the Jaguars will have to find a new general manager. In the interim, Ethan Waugh will serve as general manager while the Jaguars look for a new general manager and head coach. Making the decisions where Jaguars fired Baalke, is one that came too late. The question going forward is how the Jaguars recover from making this move two weeks too late.
What Does the Jaguars’ Future Hold?
It’s a loaded question to ask, especially with how uncertain everything seems in Jacksonville right now following the big decision, where the Jaguars fired Baalke about a month too late. But, the most important thing is that now that Baalke is gone, how can the team move forward?
With strong draft capital, good young stars on both sides of the ball, and plenty of cap space to go with a good quarterback, the Jaguars’ job is an appealing one. The issue becomes apparent with how poorly the Jaguars owner Shad Khan handled this hiring cycle. Organizational issues affect more than just the front office, it trickles down into coaching and plays on the field. With the setup as is, the Jaguars job opening may not be as appealing as it should be.
However, the pieces remain in place, and if the Jaguars can find a way to convince someone to come in and take over in Jacksonville, there is a chance for the team to have a lot of potential. But with the owner meddling a lot, and not in a good way, the Jaguar’s search for both general manager and head coach may be a lot more difficult than it should be.
The Jaguars fired Baalke to try and fix a mistake they made earlier in their offseason, but it’s come too late. Their top candidates are out, and other candidates, seeing the mess in Jacksonville, may not want to risk their careers in coming to the Jaguars. Organizational dysfunction plagues bad teams, and the Jaguars once again show why they’re constantly put into the lower rungs of the NFL.
It’s an incredibly frustrating proposition considering the Jaguars have all of the tools to be one of the best teams in the AFC, and potentially even the NFL. The Jaguars fired Baalke two weeks later than it should have, and the entire NFL world has seen the organizational dysfunction first-hand. Khan should’ve known better when he kept Baalke earlier, but now that the Jaguars fired Baalke to make up for that mistake, there are still plenty of questions left.
Why did it take so long for Khan to decide before the Jaguars fired Baalke? Khan’s loyalty has held him back from making good organizational decisions multiple times, and this is another example of organizational dysfunction. Is the Jaguars’ job one that appeals to prospective coaches and general managers, or is the organizational dysfunction too worrisome? The “will-they-wont-they” situation with Baalke and Khan has been too public. Jacksonville needs a reset, and with Baalke gone that can begin.
The timing of everything has been perplexing, but at the end of the day, when the Jaguars fired Baalke, they took a step in the right direction. Making sweeping changes takes time, and with the potential there, the openings for general manager and head coach should hold some appeal. It’ll be a long road, but once the Jaguars fired Baalke, things began moving in the direction they should’ve right after the 2024 season.
Main Image: Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union / USA TODAY NETWORK
