{"id":60189,"date":"2025-07-12T18:11:29","date_gmt":"2025-07-12T18:11:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/60189\/"},"modified":"2025-07-12T18:11:29","modified_gmt":"2025-07-12T18:11:29","slug":"offseason-in-review-jacksonville-jaguars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/60189\/","title":{"rendered":"Offseason In Review: Jacksonville Jaguars"},"content":{"rendered":"

After authorizing the three biggest contracts in team history, the Jaguars moved through a disastrous season. The team\u2019s 4-13 campaign led to Doug Pederson<\/strong>\u2018s ouster, as the former Super Bowl-winning HC\u2019s fate became easy to predict as the season\u2019s final weeks transpired. The team\u2019s initial offseason plan, however, took on water as it became clear GM Trent Baalke<\/strong>\u2018s presence was interfering with the search to replace Pederson.<\/p>\n

A course change midway through led the Jaguars to their eventual Liam Coen<\/strong>\u2013James Gladstone<\/strong> pairing. This brings far less experience compared to Pederson-Baalke, but Jacksonville had seen its fortunes worsen as that pair\u2019s third season ended. Coen will be asked to elevate Trevor Lawrence<\/a><\/strong> to justify the $55MM-per-year contract awarded last year, and the new regime\u2019s defining move equipped the former No. 1 overall pick with one of the most unique weapons in NFL history.<\/p>\n

Coaching\/Front Office:<\/p>\n

Before Travis Hunter<\/a> <\/strong>became in play for the Jaguars, they needed to sort out their leadership positions. It took a bit. Pederson, though, received an early pink slip. He was the only coach fired on Black Monday this year, and although reports of uncertainty did emerge late in the season, it was not hard to see where the situation was heading. After a 9-8 2022 season that featured a Lawrence-led 27-point comeback win over the Chargers in the wild-card round, the Jags were 8-3 and sniffing the AFC\u2019s No. 1 seed a year later. They finished Pederson\u2019s tenure with five wins in their final 23 games.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Lawrence\u2019s health, a non-issue until his third season, hurt the Jags in this span. But the former Clemson super-prospect has not developed as the team hoped. The Jags ranked 24th offensively last season, one that ended with Lawrence sidelined due to a concussion and a nonthrowing shoulder injury that required surgery.<\/p>\n

Pederson\u2019s first Jacksonville season brought a 10th-place offensive ranking, the best of his tenure, with the HC being the primary play-caller. The veteran coach, however, gave OC Press Taylor<\/strong> the call sheet before the 2023 season and kept outsiders in suspense about his play-calling plans for 2024. Shad Khan<\/strong> even voiced support for Pederson taking the reins back, but Pederson stuck with Taylor \u2014 a development that reminded of the HC\u2019s Eagles undoing.<\/p>\n

Pederson had aimed to have Taylor promoted to Eagles OC in 2021, but ownership was not onboard. This helped lead to a split. Pederson brought Taylor with him to Jacksonville and stuck with him as play-caller for the past two seasons, even as the walls tumbled down. Pederson firing Mike Caldwell<\/strong> as DC did not bring a 2024 boost, as the Jags regressed in both points and yards allowed (dropping to 27th and 31st in those categories, respectively) under Ryan Nielsen<\/strong>. Josh Hines-Allen<\/a><\/strong> and Tyson Campbell<\/a><\/strong> joined Lawrence in failing to justify their 2024 paydays.<\/p>\n

While Pederson\u2019s tenure did not reach the depths of Gus Bradley<\/strong>\u2018s or Doug Marrone<\/strong>\u2018s, Khan gave him less time by moving on after three years. That came months after the owner labeled the 2024 Jags as the most talented roster in team history. Khan attempted to have only Pederson take the fall, keeping Baalke on to help hire the next HC. Although Khan stopped short of guaranteeing Baalke would remain GM, coaching candidates certainly assumed that would be the case (even Pederson had been hesitant about the then-GM in 2022<\/a>).<\/p>\n

This created a disjointed search, as both Aaron Glenn<\/strong> and Ben Johnson<\/strong> had reservations about Baalke<\/a>. This contributed to Johnson choosing the Bears despite the coveted candidate\u2019s reported Jags interest<\/a>. The Jags then saw Coen decline a second interview, bowing out of their search and agreeing to a Buccaneers extension worth roughly $4.5MM per year on January 22nd<\/a>. The Bucs\u2019 extension offer was contingent on Coen not taking a second Jaguars meeting, but once he realized he held a strong chance at landing the Jags gig, another raise ask occurred. Bucs ownership declined it, however. This sequence proved to be an important stretch regarding the Jaguars\u2019 big-picture direction.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Hours after Coen backed out on his second meeting, Khan fired Baalke. The owner did so despite claiming a full-on overhaul would be \u201csuicide\u201d for the franchise. Signaling the GM was the primary hang-up, Coen circled back and met with the Jags<\/a>. This then involved Coen avoiding Bucs contact, telling Todd Bowles<\/strong> he was dealing with a personal matter, as a clandestine mission in north Florida commenced<\/a>.<\/p>\n

An agreement emerged Jan. 23. The one-and-done Tampa Bay OC certainly burned bridges on the way out of town \u2014 to the point the Bucs blocked two assistants from becoming Coen\u2019s O-line coach \u2014 but he secured stunning power given his limited experience and history of leaving jobs quickly.<\/p>\n

The Jaguars\u2019 2024 struggles prompted Khan to hand the keys to Coen. This came four years after the owner placed Urban Meyer<\/strong> atop the personnel pyramid. With Pederson not doing enough in between, the Jags are a coach-centric operation again.<\/p>\n

Coen, 39, has not stayed in the same job since his first Rams stint in the late 2010s. Sean McVay<\/strong> hired Coen as assistant wide receivers coach in 2018 and moved him to assistant QBs coach in 2020. Coen then bounced from Kentucky to the Rams and back to Kentucky \u2014 all in OC roles \u2014 before yo-yoing back to the NFL with the Bucs, who gave the young coach his first NFL play-calling shot.<\/p>\n

The 2022 Rams did not impress, but Coen coaxed a breakout Will Levis<\/a><\/strong> junior season (2021) and later helped Baker Mayfield<\/a><\/strong> build on his 2023 resurgence. Mayfield established career-high marks across the board last season, throwing 41 TD passes and completing 71.4% of his throws. This came as he reached a career-best 7.9 yards per attempt, checking enough boxes for Coen to follow Dave Canales<\/strong> in receiving a head coaching offer after one season as Bucs OC. Robert Saleh<\/strong>, who worked under Bradley in Jacksonville, was believed to be the team\u2019s fallback option<\/a> if Coen did not reconsider his stance.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Rumors over the past several years paint a grim picture of life during a Baalke GM stay. The 49ers keeping their GM over Jim Harbaugh<\/strong> in 2015 proved a mistake, as the team sunk to its lowest depth since the late 1970s, and the Jags\u2019 2022 HC search featured hiccups involving the GM. Khan firing Meyer increased Baalke\u2019s organizational power ahead of a draft that brought a Travon Walker<\/a><\/strong>-over-Aidan Hutchinson<\/a><\/strong> pick. An early-season report last year also depicted friction between Baalke and Pederson, with Taylor\u2019s status a point of contention.<\/p>\n

Baalke following Tom Telesco<\/strong> off the GM tier this offseason means no second-chance GMs are currently employed, illustrating the high stakes these jobs carry. No team has hired Baalke or Pederson, and the Jags\u2019 midwinter changeup brought in Gladstone, who is the NFL\u2019s youngest GM (at 34).<\/p>\n

Gladstone spent nine years in Los Angeles, rising from an assistant to the general manager position<\/a> to director of scouting strategy. The Jags were Gladstone\u2019s only GM connection, and it came after reported Coen preference<\/a> Mike Greenberg<\/strong>, the Bucs\u2019 assistant GM, declined an interview. Bears assistant GM Ian Cunningham<\/strong> also checked in as an early frontrunner. Gladstone and Coen worked together for four nonconsecutive seasons in L.A., and the former had worked under Brad Holmes<\/strong> before he became the Lions\u2019 GM.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>The Rams have an established history of finding draft gems in the McVay era, and their 2023 and \u201924 drafts \u2014 efforts that helped create a formidable pass rush as Aaron Donald<\/a><\/strong> exited \u2014 reflected well on their scouting strategy chief. Seeing Holmes do wonders in Detroit, the Jags will roll the dice on a young exec. He joins Coen and Boselli as part of a decision-making troika, but the HC is atop the pyramid.<\/p>\n

Coen did not hire an experienced OC. Udinski rises from Vikings assistant quarterbacks coach to this post. Even though the Jags\u2019 OC position is currently a non-play-calling gig, this represents quite the vault for a 29-year-old assistant. Udinski landed this job after candidate Nate Scheelhaase<\/strong> bowed out to stay with the Rams<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Like Gladstone, Udinski rose from the \u201cassistant to the\u201d level. This climb, however, occurred within a two-year span. Kevin O\u2019Connell<\/strong> made Udinski his assistant QBs coach in 2023, and Sam Darnold<\/a><\/strong>\u2018s belated breakthrough garnered attention for the staff. Udinski becoming an OC before Vikes QBs coach Josh McCown<\/a><\/strong><\/strong> is interesting, but O\u2019Connell \u2014 Coen\u2019s Rams boss in 2020 \u2014 has become one of the NFL\u2019s most respected coaches. This represents the first major branch off his coaching tree.<\/p>\n

Campanile, 42, has no history with Coen or Gladstone. He spent four years in Miami as linebackers coach, arriving under Brian Flores<\/strong> and being retained by both of Mike McDaniel<\/strong>\u2018s first two DCs. Campanile only interviewed for the Jags\u2019 DC job this year but met with the Dolphins and Giants about their positions in 2024. The Jaguars are now on their fifth DC of the 2020s. Nielsen has now been a one-and-done DC in New Orleans, Atlanta and Jacksonville over the past three years, managing to pull this off without technically being fired. The 2022 Saints co-DC took the Falcons\u2019 job in 2023 and was subsequently tied to two canned HCs.<\/p>\n

Trades:<\/p>\n

Among the extensive receiver turnover in Jacksonville, this move stands out. The team was prepared to release Kirk, who turned heads with his $18MM-per-year contract as a 2022 free agent, but collected a low-end return from a division rival. While dealing Kirk to the Texans may have signaled the new staff\u2019s view of his abilities, this is more of a salary dump from a regime that had no ties to Lawrence\u2019s previous top target.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Kirk is still just 28 and delivered two impressive seasons in Jacksonville. Proving the Baalke-Pederson regime right for a market-reshaping contract \u2014 via the wave of deals made after Kirk\u2019s \u2014 the former Cardinals second-round pick helped elevate Lawrence with an 1,108-yard 2022 showing and was more productive on a per-game basis in 2023. The slot weapon averaged a career-high 57.6 yards per game in 2023 but went down with a core muscle injury early in Week 13. That setback coincided with the Jags\u2019 swoon, as they were 8-3 in the games Kirk finished that season.<\/p>\n

A broken collarbone shelved Kirk last season, denying teams \u2014 including the then-WR-fixated Steelers<\/a> \u2014 a chance to make trade offers near the deadline. The Jags moved on from Kirk\u2019s $15.5MM 2025 salary in the final year of the contract, saving $10.44MM as a result. Though, the Coen-Gladstone regime did OK a $13MM-plus dead money hit via this trade. The Jags have made two significant WR investments in the past two drafts, lessening the blow to Lawrence.<\/p>\n

Free agency additions:<\/p>\n