As reports rolled in last week from the NFL coaching carousel, it was believed that the Jaguars new braintrust, which consists of Head Coach Doug Marrone, Executive Vice President of Football Operations Tom Coughlin, and General Manager Dave Caldwell would be retaining Defensive Coordinator Todd Wash and Offensive Coordinator Nathaniel Hackett. Well, that was true -- partly. The Jaguars did retain Wash and Hackett, but in Coughlin and Marrone's introductory press conference on Thursday of last week it was made clear that while Wash and Hackett would be back that it hadn't been decided yet in what capacity they would return. Quite simply, this opened the door to the possibility that the Jaguars could still be on the look out for an Offensive and Defensive Coordinator, while Wash and Hackett could go back to being positional coaches.
Fast forward five days and there have been several announcements regarding the coaching staff. Todd Wash was named the Defensive Coordinator, while Joe DeCamillis was named Special Teams Coordinator, Perry Fewell was named the Secondary Coach, and Pat Flaherty was named Offensive Line Coach. Yet for some reason the Jaguars have yet to name their Offensive Coordinator. Why have the Jaguars not named Nate Hackett their Offensive Coordinator? In all likelihood the answer is that the Jaguars are still looking at other options to fill their vacancy at Offensive Coordinator. What makes this narrative even more interesting was the report that came out yesterday (1/15/17) from Adam Schefter that the Jaguars interviewed Chip Kelly prior to hiring Doug Marrone as the head Coach. Even more interesting is the idea posed by Pro Football Talk that Kelly could be in play for the Jaguars as an assistant coach. Could the Jags be interested in Kelly as their Offensive Coordinator? Boy, that would make for a true a media circus. It's hard to image the personalities of Tom Coughlin, Doug Marrone, and Chip Kelly all meshing together, but perhaps it could work. If Kelly could work on just the offense and not have to be concerned with personnel or leading an entire football team, then maybe he could get back to being one of the most feared offensive minds in all of football. Only time will tell, but if Kelly truly is in play for the Jaguars Offensive Coordinator position there will be a ton of backlash from fans who have seen the irritated, immature, and arrogant nature of Chip Kelly's personality over the last several years. There are still several other options out there including Kevin Gilbride, who has extensive experience with the Jaguars and Tom Coughlin. Stay tuned for more info regarding the search for the Jaguars next Offensive Coordinator. I personally would like to see Hackett return as the Offensive Coordinator. He has good chemistry with Bortles and despite being given literally no time to prepare for being named the Offensive Coordinator half way through the 2016 season Hackett was still able to throw in some new wrinkles and make the Jaguars offense look somewhat competent. Bortles play also dramatically improved over the last two weeks of the season. More From Generation JaguarJTM: The Jaguars interviewed Chip Kelly Prior to Hiring Doug MarroneJaguars In House Free Agents: Buy or Sell?Tom Coughlin is exactly what the young jaguars needGen Jag For Your EarsShop Gen Jag |
