The Jags have been linked heavily to Urban Meyer, but it appears he’s still deciding on whether he wants to coach on the NFL level.
With the Jacksonville Jaguars hitting the one-week mark of not having a coach, many fans have begun to get anxious about the vacancy left by Doug Marrone. In particular, many have been watching Urban Meyer’s name closely, as he’s been heavily linked with the team for quite some time.
With Tuesday starting rather silently on the Jags’ end, NFL insider Mike Garafolo finally provided the football community with an update Meyer — and it may not have necessarily been the news Meyer fans wanted to hear. After watching the situation closely the last few days, Garafolo stated that he gets the sense that Meyer hasn’t been “full steam ahead” in regards to taking the job.
He also added that the Jags appear willing to give Meyer the job, but haven’t been able to get a concrete answer from the former Gators coach.
From NFL Now on @nflnetwork: The #Jaguars are waiting on Urban Meyer, who seems like he's still trying to decide what he wants to do. Figure this comes to a head one way or another soon. pic.twitter.com/168QC9kV0h
As Garafolo said, the situation should come to a head sooner rather than later. From all the reports that have been documented, the Jags have made it pretty clear they want Meyer, but it would be understandable if they were to move on in the coming days to avoid coming up short.
If Meyer remains undecided on taking the job, the Jags are in position where several others would eagerly jump on the opportunity. With them having a clear path to Trevor Lawrence (and 10 other 2021 picks), the highest projected cap space total, and ownership that’s willing to provide resources, most have called their vacancy the best available.
Owner Shad Khan expressed that the team would consider many options, so he undoubtedly has a Plan B. According to our tracker, they’ve interviewed at least four others. That list includes Robert Saleh (49ers), Raheem Morris (Falcons), Arthur Smith (Titans), and Eric Bienemy (Chiefs), who all interviewed last week.
The Jags Wire crew was joined by Aaron Smiley and Eric Serna to talk about the Jags’ offseason, which has been highlighted by Urban Meyer.
The first week of the NFL postseason has arrived, and while the Jacksonville Jaguars aren’t apart of the process, we’ve continued our work in the booth with “The Bleav in the Jags Podcast.” This week, Jags Wire contributor Phil Smith and I were joined by Eric Serna from “The Wait For it Podcast” and Aaron Smiley of “The Sports is to Life Podcast” to have a good old round table conversation about the Cardiac Cats.
Episode 53 started off with a chat about the firing of Doug Marrone, which occurred on Black Monday. Specifically, all members of the discussion talked about how Marrone will be remembered by the city of Jacksonville as he was one of the more respected coaches in the team’s history.
Afterward, we discussed why the Jags’ vacancy is the most attractive in the NFL right now as the team is searching for a general manager and head coach, at the moment. We then followed it up with a conversation about the Jags’ interest in former Ohio State coach Urban Meyer, who looks to be the favorite to replace Marrone.
To hear our full conversation, feel free to listen to the media player below as the Jags’ offseason is going to heat up pretty soon.
With the Jags now able to interview executives in the league, they’ve requested a meeting with one of the Saints’ top executives.
The Jacksonville Jaguars had a busy Monday in terms of their coaching search after firing Doug Marrone, but it appears their front office search is taking off, too. Per Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated and “The MMQB,” they also put in a request to interview Terry Fontenot of the New Orleans Saints’ front office.
Source: The Jaguars put in a request to interview Saints VP/assistant GM of pro personnel Terry Fontenot. Jacksonville's the third team to put in for New Orleans' rising star.
He set to interview with Detroit tomorrow and Atlanta on Wednesday.
Fontenot is another candidate of interest who appears to have a busy schedule ahead of him with interviews set up with the Detroit Lions and Atlanta Falcons in the next two days. However, with 11 draft picks (including the first overall pick) and a ridiculous amount of cap space set to be available, it’s hard to imagine he won’t have interest in meeting the Jags.
Fontenot, who currently holds the Saints’ vice president/ assistant general manager of player personnel role, has been with the organization his whole career (16 seasons). He initially was a marketing intern for the team and found his way into the scouting department. As for his current title, he’s held it for the last six seasons.
During Fontenot’s time with the Saints, they’ve made a postseason appearance nine times and have been NFC South champions seven times. They also won Super Bowl XLIV during the 2009 season.
Per the Saints’ official site, his job description with the team is as follows:
“His responsibilities in managing the pro personnel department include recommending player acquisitions by evaluating players from all professional leagues, including the Saints roster, monitoring the waiver wire and supervising the advance scouting of upcoming opponents.”
The Jags’ interest in Fontenot makes a lot of sense when looking at how well the Saints have flourished with team-building over the years. Of course, that’s been a big reason why they’ve become a world-class organization, which seemingly has intrigued owner Shad Khan.
Fontenot’s biography indicates just how highly the organization views him as they selected him to attend the Stanford Business School’s Executive Education NFL-Stanford Program for Managers. According to their site, the program and honor is one that is a vital training ground for promising executives.
With two games left, the Jags will only have the ability to interview personnel members not in the league at the moment like Riddick and Smith. There will undoubtedly be more in-season interviews to occur over the next two weeks, too.
With the Jags having plenty of assets with regards to draft picks and cap space, there won’t be a shortage of interest when the regular season is over, either. That will especially be the case if the Jags acquire the No. 1 overall pick and Trevor Lawrence enters the draft.
Of course, with just two interviews conducted, it’s super early in the process and more work has to be done, but here is what we know about the search at the moment:
The Jags are one of four teams who’ve fired their general manager this year and they now have interest in ESPN’s Louis Riddick for the role.
The month of January will be a busy one for the Jacksonville Jaguars as they will have a general manager vacancy to fill and possibly one for a head coach. Thanks to ESPN, we now know of at least one candidate the team has interest in — and that’s their own, Louis Riddick.
Per insiders Adam Schefter and Chris Mortensen, the Jags have expressed interest in meeting Riddick for their general manager vacancy, though nothing has been scheduled at the moment. The news came after it was announced that Riddick, who is now an analyst and “Monday Night Football” broadcaster, will be interviewing with the Houston Texans Wednesday and the Detroit Lions Friday.
One other note on MNF analyst Louis Riddick: Jacksonville has expressed interest in setting up a meeting with him about its GM job, but nothing has been scheduled, per @mortreport and me. https://t.co/rcs1aMGP4V
Riddick’s name has been buzzing for a while due to having front office experience. He began his NFL scouting career with the Washington Football Team back in 2001 as a pro scout and eventually became their director of pro personnel from 2005-07. Afterward, he joined the Philadelphia Eagles and started his career as a pro scout again (2008), then moved to their assistant director of pro personnel role (2009), then their director of pro personnel role (2010-13).
Riddick also brings experience as a player into the mix (a former safety) as he spent time with the San Francisco 49ers, Cleveland Browns, and had multiple stints with the Atlanta Falcons, to name a few. His time in the league began with the 49ers, who drafted him in the ninth-round (No. 248 overall) of the 1991 NFL Draft.
The Jags are one of a few teams set to conduct a general manager search this offseason and a solution could be within their own division.
The Jacksonville Jaguars made their biggest move of 2020 last month by firing longtime general manager Dave Caldwell, who had been with the team since 2013. With his spot now available (Trent Baalke is serving as the interim), the Jags are one of four teams who’ve fired their general manager during the 2020 season and will be looking for new leadership.
With some valuable assets like cap space and several draft picks, the Jags could be a desired destination for a new front-office leader. In fact, they couldn’t have chosen a better time to have such an abundance of riches as there are several great general manager candidates to choose from.
Of course, four games are left to be played before the Jags can begin casting the proper net for their opening, so it will be a while before a decision is made (around late January). With that being the case, we figured this would be the perfect time to start putting together some general manager profiles, starting with Indianapolis Colts assistant general manager Ed Dodds:
Background
Dodds began his NFL career in 2003 with the Oakland Raiders as a player personnel assistant back when the late Al Davis owned the team. Eventually, he joined the Seattle Seahawks in 2007-16 where he climbed the ranks and eventually became their senior personnel executive after serving as a national scout. Under his personnel executive title, he was responsible for evaluating players on both the college and pro side.
While with the Seahawks, he played a part in putting together a team that went to the postseason seven of his 10 years, including their Super Bowl win in 2013 and their Super Bowl appearance in 2014. After a largely successful run there, he joined the Colts in 2017 as their vice president of player personnel. During the following season, he was named their assistant general manager under his good friend Chris Ballard, who he’s known for 25 years, dating back to when they worked together at Texas A&M-Kingsville.
Why Dodds is a good choice?
Dodds’ time in Seattle and Indy are intriguing and explains how he’s made a name for himself and is well respected. The Seahawks’ front office is the definition of consistent, and the Jags could learn a thing or two from anyone who has played a role in building that franchise.
Simply put, it’s a reason why Dodds and Seahawks executives Trent Kirchner and Scott Fitterer are some of the top names when it comes to general manager candidacy. Their franchise is one that’s been consistently good for the last decade as they’ve won at least nine games eight times since 2011. Additionally, they are on course to hit 10 wins again in 2020, and of course, scouting has played a huge role in their consistency.
Dodds is an executive who is believed to have played a big role in putting together the “Legion of Boom.” Additionally, he’s played a part in a front office that has drafted notables like defensive end Frank Clark, receiver Tyler Lockett, linebacker Bobby Wagner, quarterback Russell Wilson, and safety Earl Thomas, to name a few. As for his time with the Colts, he’s played a role in a front office that has drafted notables in guards Quenton Nelson and Braden Smith and linebacker Darius Leonard.
Simply put, that’s an impressive list, and Dodds has gotten the opportunity to learn from Ballard and Seahawks general manager John Schneider throughout their process of making these decisions. Add in his relentless dedication towards winning, and it’s clear that Dodds will be a favorite front office candidate to Jags fans over the coming weeks.
After a decade of fuddy duddies and loser mentality becoming woven into the fibers of this franchise, give me Ed Dodds for GM.
Pair him with Saleh and McDaniel, as was the rumor with CLE last year, and watch the energy in this building do a complete 180. pic.twitter.com/U3YG5BjLXr
What direction could Dodds go in terms of a head coach?
Two names stick out who are connected with Dodds — and they are Colts defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus and San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh.
Of course, he currently works with Eberflus, a coaching candidate who has surfaced as a head coach candidate over the past few years. He interviewed the Cleveland Browns last season, but they settled with Kevin Stefanski as their guy.
Dodds’ connection with Saleh dates back to their time with the Seahawks. Saleh was a defensive quality controls coach under Gus Bradley for two years (2011-12), then served the same role under Dan Quinn (2013) for a year. Saleh left the Seahawks in 2014 to reunite with Bradley when he became the Jags’ coach. While under Bradley, he was a linebackers coach for three seasons (2014-16), so he’s familiar with the Khans and organization.
The COVID-19 pandemic will provide hurdles for teams who need to fill job vacancies in 2021 and the league has set up protocols to help.
The process of interviewing general manager and coaching candidates will be different with the NFL as the coronavirus pandemic is still a major issue for the United States. The nation is currently at an estimated 14.6 million cases with alarming numbers coming in by the day. With that being the case, the NFL released their guidelines for teams like the Jags who will be searching for new personnel come 2021.
Here’s the full NFL memo on new COVID-19 procedures for interviewing head coach, GM and other candidates — including virtual interviews only until the season ends, and mandates for shorter in-person interviews, masks and social distancing. pic.twitter.com/allPJvRZCt
The most important announcement to come from the NFL’s memo is that interviews for coaches and general managers will be done virtually for teams participating in the playoffs. However, once the candidate’s team is out of the playoffs they can have an interview in-person. Candidates who aren’t currently employed by the NFL will also have to interview virtually until the regular season concludes.
For those who will have in-person interviews, the interviewing team and the candidate will be required to wear masks and stay six feet apart. The league has also recommended that the in-person interviews be as short as possible, with meetings of 30-minute intervals being the preference over those that are two to three hours.
Another key takeaway is that in-person meetings that occur outside of a team’s city will be subject to COVID-19 testing demands, while NFL personnel members must abide by local, state, and federal regulations that concern quarantining, testing, etc.
As many are aware, the Jags will be looking to fill their general manager vacancy in 2021 (and probably for their coaching staff, too) as Dave Caldwell was fired Week 12. The protocols above should help them (and others) be productive in their searches, while also keeping everyone safe and eliminating the spread of COVID-19.
