Jaguars Seeking 'High Profile' Head Coach

The Jacksonville Jaguars only fired Jack Del Rio on Tuesday, but the search for a new head coach is already on in earnest. According to our Jaguars blog Big Cat Country, the team will be looking for a pretty big splash at head coach, hopefully a coach with Super Bowl experience. These comments via former head coach Wayne Weaver.

"We'll have a list of people of people we think can be real successful here. It'll be a list of people that have high profile, that have had great success, that's had one of those rings. There will be others that are young coaches that have had a great deal of success and we think they are ready to break through the ceiling."

But the big issue that they point out with that plan is that Gene Smith will continue to have complete control over football operations, and that will turn off some head coaches with super bowl experience that would want to really put their stamp on a franchise, not just coach there.

That could be an issue for a lot of potential head coaches and could limit the pool of candidates that would have an interest in the position. Coaches like Bill Cowher or Tony Dungy are highly unlikely to accept a job that limits their abilities to shape the roster. If those coaches decide to return to coaching it would likely be with the demand that they receive the same treatment that Pete Carroll received from Seattle when he became the head coach and executive VP of football operations, essentially putting him in charge of every move the Seahawks make.

In Wake Of Jack Del Rio Firing, Jaguars Make More Coaching Changes

The Jacksonville Jaguars will already have a new head coach (yet to be determined) and owner (Shahid Kahn) when the season starts, they will also likely have a fairly new coaching staff put in place by the time Training Camp rolls around. According to Adam Schefter, the Jaguars have already done a little bit of shuffling in their coaching staff for the last few games of the season.

Some will say that this merely shuffling deck chairs on the Titanic, but the Jaguars and GM Gene Smith need to get their guys in place before the new regime arrives in the offseason.

We'll have plenty more on the Jaguars coaching situation in this StoryStream, but for more on everything Jacksonville football, head over to our Jaguars blog Big Cat Country.

Fred Taylor Says Jack Del Rio Isn't A Head Coach

Jacksonville Jaguars Head Coaching Rumors: Brian Billick Reportedly Not A Candidate

The Jacksonville Jaguars fired head coach Jack Del Rio on Tuesday, and despite having an interim coach already in place, the search for a full time replacement begins in earnest as early as this week.Before you suggest that former Ravens coach and current analyst Brian Billick, Pro Football Talk can already shoot that rumor down for you.

Former Ravens coach Brian Billick, who coached in Baltimore from 1999 through 2008, doesn’t believe he’ll be seriously considered.  “They’re looking for young and cheap, and I’m neither,” Billick said.

I'm sure the Jaguars wouldn't describe their qualifications as young and cheap, maybe something more like full of potential. Here is a little bit more on what they could be looking for in a coach, and it may not sound so good for potential candidates.

Since Gene Smith will remain for at least three years as the G.M., his ongoing presence will be a huge factor, too.  Any coach who would want to run the show won’t be interested.  Thus, Smith likely will be taking a page from his non-cousin A.J.’s playbook, hiring a coach who won’t be likely to try to squabble with the front office.

Jacksonville Jaguars Sale: Wayne Weaver Tells Buyers 'We're A Jacksonville Franchise'

Wayne Weaver announced during a Tuesday news conference he will sell the Jacksonville Jaguars to Shahid Khan, ending his 18-year tenure as the owner of Jacksonville's first--and, to date, only--major professional sports team. But Weaver also said he would not sell to any buyer who intended to move the Jaguars away from the River City.

"I had calls from [prospective buyers in] California I refused to take," Weaver said. "I'd just say, 'We have no interest. We're a Jacksonville franchise.'"

Khan, who did not appear at the press conference, is expected to keep the team in Jacksonville; Weaver would not have agreed to sell to him otherwise. However, Weaver noted Khan did not commit in writing to keeping the team in Jacksonville, choosing instead to "trust in [Khan's] human nature."

The sale has yet to be completed. The NFL's owners will vote on it Dec. 14. If approved, Khan would take over the Jaguars on Jan. 4. Until then, Weaver remains in charge, as he made clear throughout the press conference, and no more clearly than when he responded to a question about whether pressure from Jags fans forced him to fire coach Jack Del Rio.

"At the end of the day, the buck stops on my desk," Weaver said.

Jack Del Rio Fired; Disliked By Front Office, Loved By Players

The Jacksonville Jaguars have fired head coach Jack Del Rio after a disappointing 3-8 start to the season — not to mention a disappointing previous nine seasons — and rumors are starting to leak out about why Del Rio got the axe. According to Pete Prisco of CBSSports.com, Del Rio wasn’t well liked within the Jacksonville Jaguars’ front office:

Del Rio’s wasn’t liked inside the building the past couple of years, and there were many inside who felt once he got paid his big contract he lost the zest for being a head coach.

According to sources, Del Rio was coming into the office this year at around 9 a.m. most days and leaving early.

That rubbed his staff the wrong way. It rubbed the front office the wrong way.

Team owner Wayne Weaver is especially loyal to those within his organization, so the fact that he decided to fire Del Rio midseason seems to suggest that these rumors have at least some basis in the truth. It’s impossible to say exactly what Del Rio did that caused him to be so unliked by fellow front office members, but Prisco has a laundry list of complaints: being inflexible, stubborn, throwing coaches under the bus, etc.

On the flip side of things, Del Rio seemed to have a loyal following in the locker room with players. There have been a number of Jaguars players that have taken to Twitter today to express their disappointment in Del Rio’s departure, so the situation is seemingly more complex than Prisco’s report would suggest.

Del Rio may have lost some of his zeal for coaching, and it may be that he rubbed some people in the front office the wrong way. But he also gained his player’s respect, taught them important lessons, and kept them from giving up or quitting on the season. He probably needed to go, and the Jaguars needed to take a new direction, but it also seems likely that he’ll find another job in the NFL one day.

To join in the conversation about this news, head over to SB Nation’s blog on the Jaguars, Big Cat Country.

Jack Del Rio Fired, Jaguars Owner Plays Coy

Jack Del Rio Fired As Jaguars Head Coach

After ten years in Jacksonville and two playoff appearances, Jack Del Rio has reportedly been fired as the head coach of the Jaguars.