Field Gulls
Having lost to one Florida team last week, the Seattle Seahawks will go to the Sunshine State to take on the Jacksonville Jaguars. Last time Seattle faced Trevor Lawrence, the Jags were on their way to a 3-14 season in which Urban Meyer didn’t even last the full season as head coach. Things are slightly different in 2025, as the Jaguars are 4-1 under first-year head coach Liam Coen, boasting a defense that leads the league in takeaways and an offense that has not been great but at least good enough to win games.
It’s time for another edition of 5 Qs and 5 As to get better acquainted with Seattle’s next opponent. This Q&A was conducted by John Gilbert and Jaguars beat writer Gus Logue of Big Cat Country and Duval 22, but since Gilbert is on the road and unable to post, I am taking the liberty of introducing this on John’s behalf.
1. The Jaguars are five games into the Liam Coen era, and currently sport top ten scoring units on both sides of the ball while perched atop the division. Is that just early season success for a new coaching staff, or should fans expect the Jaguars to be in the thick of things in the AFC into November and December?
Jacksonville has forced a turnover on a league-leading 25% of defensive drives — a rate that’s sure to regress — but due to the parity in the AFC this season, I do expect the team to be fighting for playoff seeding during the holiday season.
The Jaguars’ new coaching staff deserves all the credit that’s coming to them, in part for the culture they’ve already helped to build, but they’ve really just done what previous coaches have failed to do: put players in the best position to succeed. Some guys (e.g., Travis Etienne, Devin Lloyd) have certainly taken a leap under the new staff, but this team had more talent than its records in recent seasons would indicate.
2. Trent Baalke was part of the front office that drove Jim Harbaugh out of San Francisco and ushered in the Jim Tomsula and Chip Kelly eras for the 49ers which Seahawks fans remember so fondly. How big a relief is it for Jaguars fans that Baalke is no longer a part of the franchise?
It is a huge, huge relief. Baalke isn’t the worst talent evaluator in the world, but as you indicated in your question, he’s never been a people person — and that’s a huge part of the job. Baalke almost seemed to invite power struggles, and he’d stalk around practice fields offering coaching tips to players (bizarre behavior for a GM). Plus, his team-building process was a mess. He seemed to have no sense of the word “value” after the first round of drafts, as he’d double down on non-premium positions and take huge reaches relative to consensus draft boards.
Jaguars fans are extremely pleased with...
