JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – When the final month of the season came into view, there were questions about the Jaguars' three most prominent individuals: head coach Gus Bradley, general manager Dave Caldwell and quarterback Blake Bortles.
With Bradley’s firing and the responsibility to hire the next head coach left to Caldwell, Bortles' future is now squarely in the spotlight.
After setting team records in 2015, Bortles has taken a step back in 2016. His 16 interceptions are tied for second most in the league. He threw 35 touchdowns last year and only 21 this year.
Caldwell will have to assess whether Bortles can be repaired -- whether he is a quarterback the Jaguars can win with. The new coach will have to be on the same page with Caldwell, too. The Jaguars have Brandon Allen, a rookie, under contract for next year. Chad Henne is under contract for next year, as well, but cutting him after the season doesn't make much of a ripple in the Jaguars' salary cap.
If the season ended today, the Jaguars would hold the third pick in the draft, but there is not likely to be a quarterback worthy of that high a pick, but early in the second round, we could see the Jaguars consider a quarterback.
The biggest topic of conversation between Caldwell and coaching candidates is going to be Bortles. If Caldwell, who drafted Bortles with the third pick of the draft three years ago, is still of the belief that Bortles can become a franchise quarterback, then he’ll have to find a coach who not only believes that as well, but who can himself coach Bortles and help him improve. However Caldwell said that the new head coach won't have any mandates that Bortles has to be the starter in 2017.
"There’s no untouchables in this organization, including myself, or any player, no matter how they got here, whether it was through a draft pick or a high-priced contract," said Caldwell. " My vision of looking at this team is this is going into our first year. We’ve got to correct this and make sure that, regardless of how people got there, they have to live up to their abilities. With that being said, I do still believe in Blake very much. The head coach will have a lot of input as to who the quarterback will be.”
That can be direct coaching or by bringing an offensive coordinator who can do that. Among some of the potential candidates, there are several who have great success with quarterbacks on their resumes.
- Tom Coughlin is an offensive mind who helped Mark Brunell and Eli Manning become Pro Bowl quarterbacks when he was the head coach of the Jaguars and Giants, respectively.
- Josh McDaniels has had success with Tom Brady (who hasn’t?) as the offensive coordinator in New England and was the head coach who drafted and coached Tim Tebow in Denver with mixed results.
- Sean Payton, currently the head coach of the Saints, was the offensive coordinator on a Super Bowl team with the Giants, then coached Drew Brees to a Super Bowl win as the head coach of the Saints.
- Seattle offensive coordinator Darrell Bevall has been the coach for Russell Wilson, who came into the league as a very good quarterback and has developed into one of the league's best.
- Stanford head coach David Shaw has NFL experience as an assistant for the Eagles, Ravens and Raiders and was the offensive coordinator for Andrew Luck when Luck was at Stanford. Also, remember that Brian Polian was an assistant under Shaw. Polian’s brother, Chris, is the Jaguars director of Player Personnel.
- While he’s a defensive-minded coach, Mike Smith was the head coach in Atlanta when Matt Ryan came into the league in 2008. With Smith as a head coach, Ryan was the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year and went to three Pro Bowls.
- Other former head coaches have worked with top quarterbacks as well (Bill Cowher with Ben Roethlisburger, Jon Gruden has his quarterbacks camp and Tony Dungy coached Peyton Manning).
Ultimately, how Caldwell views Bortles’ future and how much that jives with the coaching candidates' views will go a long way to determining who is on the short list to be the Jaguars' next head coach.