The general manager has followed the head coach out the door.
It feels like only yesterday that Jacksonville Jaguars parted ways with their head coach, Doug Pederson, after a disappointing season.
It was an inevitable decision, and less than two days after the season ended, he was shown the door.
The more surprising decision was that general manager Trent Baalke was retained. It is typical that after a head coach is fired, there is a changing of the guard in both positions.
Now that Baalke is gone too, it will be a fresh slate for the franchise.
Too many mistakes
I think the timing of this is significant. Something made Shad Khan change his mind about keeping Baalke.
I admit that I have not been as tribally opposed to Baalke as some fans have been. For the most part, I have focused more on the on-field action rather than the off-field politics.
Maybe it is the fact that head coach candidates have been put off by being paired with Baalke – a reason rumoured to be why star candidates Ben Johnson and Liam Coen walked away from negotiations.
It could be that only nine of his last 38 draft picks have resulted in full-time starters for the Jaguars. Nobody wants a 25% success rate for that kind of statistic, with only a couple making it to the Pro Bowl.
He was also instrumental in hiring Urban Meyer; we fans remember that travesty all too well.
These three reasons together make a compelling case and leave me stunned as to why it took so long to remove such an obvious hinderance from my football franchise.
Things can only get better. A clean slate and a new season. I remain in hope that this is the turnaround off season for the Jaguars.
