Jaguars fire Gus Bradley: 5 replacements Jacksonville should hire
By John Buhler
1. Josh McDaniels, New England Patriots offensive coordinator
The best head coaching candidate in the 2017 NFL coaching carousel is easily New England Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels. Since returning to Foxboro in 2012, McDaniels has made the Patriots offense the most intriguing in football.
New England doesn’t have vertical threats on the outside, a reliable running game, or tight ends that can stay healthy. In a bubble screen league, New England is just better at the short passing game than everybody else.
Bortles is the better pro prospect over what McDaniels had to work with as the head coach of the Denver Broncos in Kyle Orton and Tim Tebow. Caldwell is a disciple of Falcons general manager Thomas Dimitroff, who in turn is a Bill Belichick disciple in team building. There’s a good chance McDaniels and Caldwell could get on the same page and turn the Jaguars around quickly.
Yes, there are other jobs that rare more appealing for McDaniels to leave New England for. The Tennessee Titans have Marcus Mariota at quarterback and former Patriots executive Jon Robinson as general manager. The Lions are run by former Patriots executive Bob Quinn. However, Jacksonville has the better roster of those three mediocre NFL teams.
The AFC South could be appealing to McDaniels for two reasons:
1.) There is no elite team in the division. The Jaguars and Titans have been bad for a decade. Indianapolis is one of the most dysfunctional organizations in football. The Houston Texans are good, but not great.
2.) The two outdoor stadiums are in the warm weather cities of Jacksonville and Nashville. Houston and Indianapolis play in dome stadiums. Including the annual London game, McDaniels has 10 games a season where bad weather isn’t a factor. North Florida sunshine has to be better than harsh New England winters.
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Though he may not leave New England for Jacksonville, the Jaguars need to get on the phone and inquire about McDaniels’ interest in coaching their football team next year. A good head coach turns Jacksonville into an AFC Playoff team overnight.