Jaguars' GM Dave Caldwell says team is interested in talking to Tom Coughlin about head coach job
Jacksonville Jaguars general manager Dave Caldwell held a press conference on Monday afternoon, a day after the team fired head coach Gus Bradley, ending his tenure with the team after a 14-48 record and a franchise-worst nine-game losing streak that came about with a late-game collapse against the Houston Texans.
Candidly, Caldwell said Jaguars’ owner Shad Khan realized at the owners’ meetings last week that moving on from Bradley was the best move for his team, and that Bradley would have been fired even if Jacksonville had won in Houston.
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“It became regrettably clear towards the end of last week,” Caldwell said. “We realized this was the direction we were going to have to go. After we decided that, we decided that after the game on Sunday we would relieve coach Bradley of his duties.”
Caldwell also confirmed that one of the coaches he’s interested in talking to about the opening is a highly familiar name: Tom Coughlin. Coughlin was the Jaguars’ first head coach, leading them to a 68-60 record and four straight playoff appearances (1996-1999) in his eight seasons with the team.
Coughlin, who is 70, is currently a senior advisor to football operations with the NFL; he and the New York Giants parted ways after the 2015 season. In a dozen years with the Giants, Coughlin was 102-90, with five playoff appearances and two Super Bowl wins.
“Tom will be somebody we would be interested in talking to,” Caldwell said. “Tom’s a great man and a great person. … He’s got so much experience on myself or any coach that we have in this building.”
NFL Network’s Michael Silver reported that Coughlin “lobbied” Bradley to let him join his staff, likely as a coaching consultant, an offer that was obviously declined.
A Coughlin-Jaguars re-marriage has been rumored for weeks; this month, colleague Eric Edholm spoke with former Giants’ backup quarterback David Carr, and Carr believes Coughlin would be the perfect fit to lead Jacksonville once again.
In addition to Coughlin, Caldwell acknowledged that the team will take a look at Doug Marrone for its vacancy. Earlier Monday, Marrone, the Jaguars’ assistant head coach/offensive line coach was named interim head coach for the final two games of the season.
