FIRE TOM COUGHLIN

David Rosenblum/Icon Sportswire

Coughlin's toxic reign must end. 

BY JORDAN DE LUGO

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Yes, it's time. The Jaguars must fire Tom Coughlin — TODAY. 

Ever since a misguided speech during the voluntary portion of minicamp this past offseason, it's been clear that Tom Coughlin is out of touch and out of place. 

Sure, Tom Coughlin is the greatest coach this franchise has ever seen. With two AFC Championship appearances in the mid to late 1990s, he will forever have a place in Jaguars' history. 

But that's precisely what he needs to be: History. 

For those that have been following the Jaguars closely in recent years, the picture has become more and more clear. Tom Coughlin is the biggest problem in a toxic Jaguars' organization. As the head of the proverbial snake, Coughlin publicly shamed players for not being at VOLUNTARY minicamp. He's not allowed to do that. He then ran Jalen Ramsey off. 

If those two incidents didn't cause you to question Coughlin's leadership, an NFLPA (Players Union) statement released on Monday should illuminate just how poor of a job Coughlin is doing. 

The NFLPA reported that more than 25% of all player grievances had been filed against the Jaguars. TWENTY-FIVE PERCENT. That's one team in a 32 team league accounting for ONE-QUARTER of all the player's grievances.  

On Monday, an arbiter ruled in favor of Dante Fowler and the NFLPA against the Jaguars, who fined Fowler 25 times for some $700,000. The reason? Fowler didn't show up to the team facility to rehab during the offseason. Was Fowler required to do so by the current Collective Bargaining Agreement? You may have already guessed the answer: no. 

The NFLPA even warned potential free agents not to sign with the Jacksonville Jaguars. 

This is beyond wins and losses — we'll get to that in just a second. Tom Coughlin has made the Jaguars the laughing stock of the league. His unwillingness to follow the rules and be a decent team leader has led Jacksonville to a new franchise low.

Since 2017, when Coughlin fell into a perfect situation, the Jaguars are just 10-20.

Oh yeah, how 'bout the job he's done in terms of acquiring talent via the draft and free agency? In 2018, instead of attempting to draft a QB of the future — Hello, Lamar Jackson — Coughlin rolled the dice on Blake Bortles, who had one decent season in the NFL. He then signed a career backup, Nick Foles. Signing Foles wasn't the problem there. No. Getting into a bidding war with himself to show Foles' new teammates that they should respect him was the issue with that disaster of a signing. 

So, yeah. Let's spend all our money on below average QBs, while we have a star pass rusher — PAY YAN — sitting in our laps. Nah, we shouldn't give him the sort of long term deal he wants. Why would we want to build a culture around the hardest-working player on the team? That's just crazy. 

When it comes to the draft, Tom Coughlin and Dave Caldwell have been hit or miss. This year Josh Allen fell into their lap (Thank you, Mike Mayock). They pulled the trigger, but it was an easy decision. Their first-round picks prior to that are much less exciting. Coughlin and Caldwell drafted a very good running back and a defensive tackle that can't even get into the starting lineup with their other first-rounders. Leonard Fournette is an excellent back, but when you look at the running backs drafted later on in the 2017 draft, you see how much of a reach it was to take him in the top five. Dalvin Cook, Joe Mixon, Kareem Hunt, Tarik Cohen, James Conner, Alvin Kamara, Chris Carson, and Aaron Jones were all selected after the first round in 2017. Heck, Austin Eckler, and Matt Breida went undrafted. 

You can't commit malpractice over and over and keep your job. Especially when it gets to the point that players want out, and even the NFLPA is warning players not to sign with your club.

Tom Coughlin's reign must end. 

// Rant Complete. 

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