Report: Tom Coughlin to interview with Jacksonville Jaguars
By John Buhler
Former NFL head coach Tom Coughlin will reportedly be the first interview that the Jacksonville Jaguars will make during their coaching search.
The Jacksonville Jaguars are one of two NFL teams to have fired their head coach before the end of the 2016 NFL season. Jacksonville couldn’t get it together on offense and fired former head coach Gus Bradley after the Jaguars fell on the road to the division rival Houston Texans.
Jacksonville had three-plus years of Bradley in North Florida and are looking for a long-term replacement. Interestingly, the Jaguars will reportedly make former head coach Tom Coughlin their first interview of their head coaching search, according to Pro Football Talk.
Coughlin is an NFL employee and had most recently coached the New York Giants. Before winning two Super Bowls with the Giants, Coughlin was the first head coach in Jacksonville. Under Coughlin, the Jaguars had tremendous success in the 1990s AFC despite being an expansion franchise.
The idea behind looking at Coughlin first is to not only interview him for the head coaching vacancy but to see if he would be interested in a front office/advisory role with the Jaguars organization.
Jaguars owner Shahid Khan has shown great patience with his team since becoming an owner. Jacksonville has been terrible under Khan’s ownership, but he has positioned the Jaguars to be a high-end job for top-tier candidates.
Likely, Bradley’s replacement will get four years on the job and will get to work with a strong general manager in David Caldwell. Coughlin is 70 years old and may only be a temporary solution at head coach.
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However, he was a model of consistency in New York and very well-respected in the NFL. Jacksonville adores Coughlin from his time as head coach. It would be great to see him get an advisory role and help whoever becomes the next head coach of the Jaguars.