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The Jacksonville Jaguars were a little late to take a hint, but Shahid Khan and company parted ways with general manager Trent Baalke. The timing of the move was very surprising, as the Jaguars are in the middle of a head coaching search and had previously said that Baalke would be sticking around even after former head coach Doug Pederson was let go.
The decision to let go of Baalke came after the Jaguars missed out on their top two head coach targets. Former Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson is going to be the new head coach for the Chicago Bears and Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive coordinator Liam Coen is staying put. Now, the Jaguars have to look for a new general manager and a new head coach out of a picked over cycle.
Shortly after the move was announced, the clear reason for the decision came out via Ian Rapoport of NFL Media.
From The Insiders on @NFLNetwork: The #Jaguars, respectfully, moved on from GM Trent Baalke today. And all that it means. pic.twitter.com/X21e7PMpKU
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 23, 2025
“Shahid Khan really liked general manager Trent Baalke,” Rapoport said. “Liked the roster he built, liked what he had done around the building, liked that he had put this team in a position to win. But it was very clear from talking to the candidates, from the reluctance of some of the top candidates to commit to visits with Jacksonville, that they had to move on. The reputation of Trent Baalke, which was not positive around the league despite a lot of the good things that he did inside the Jaguars organization, really took over here. It was a surprise based on the timing, but it was not a surprise that it happened.”
Baalke’s reputation around the league has been poor for a long time, so it’s a little bit surprising that it took the Jaguars this long to catch onto that. As a result, the Jaguars may have lost out on a chance to hire both Johnson and Coen as a result of their stubbornness.
A lot of the more qualified general manager candidates have also been scooped up already, so the Jaguars are now stuck picking from a limited selection for both positions. However, the fact that Baalke is out is good news for most Jaguars fans regardless of the timing.
The post The real reason why Jaguars moved on from Trent Baalke appeared first on ClutchPoints.
