The Jacksonville Jaguars started their process of replacing Urban Meyer last week by interviewing former Philadelphia Eagles coach Doug Pederson. They continued that process this week by interviewing former Detroit Lions coach Jim Caldwell Tuesday, as well as Tampa Bay Bucs defensive coordinator Todd Bowles on Monday.
However, they still aren’t halfway through their list and it seems the interview process could leak into next week as some coaches want to wait until the regular season is over. Dan Quinn is reportedly one of the candidates on their list that wants to at least wait, and according to multiple reports, Indianapolis Colts defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus is on the same boat.
Per Colts DC Matt Eberflus, Jacksonville's request to interview him for its vacant head coaching job came last week; he, Chris Ballard and Frank Reich collectively decided it'd be best if he waited and interviewed with them after Sunday's game vs. Jax.
— Zak Keefer (@zkeefer) January 4, 2022
Before this season, interviews couldn’t be conducted until after the regular season, but a new rule change that was approved last month allowed the Jags to get a two-week head start due to moving on from Meyer early. However, the Colts are coming up on a crucial game against the Jags Week 18 where they must win to make the postseason.
“That situation came up last week when the slip came through to speak to them,” Eberflus said, per the Indy Star. “We decided as an organization, Chris [Ballard] and I and Frank [Reich], that we were going to postpone that until afterwards. We wanted to focus on the matter at hand, and that’s what we decided to do as a group.”
Eberflus is one of two defensive minds the Jags have reached out to about their vacancy in addition to Quinn. And while he’s coached in the NFL since 2009, he also is one of the candidates who would be a first-year head coach.
Eberflus started his NFL coaching career with the Cleveland Browns (2009-10) as a linebackers coach and had the same role (plus a role as a defensive passing game coordinator eventually) with the Dallas Cowboys (2011-17) before becoming a defensive coordinator in Indy in 2018.
Eberflus is a coach who has been garnering the respect of the NFL since his time in Indy and he’s received interviews with the Browns, New York Jets, and Houston Texans while with the Colts. A big reason for that is the job he’s done coaching players like linebacker Darius Leonard, lineman DeForest Buckner, and cornerback Kenny Moore, just to name a few.