The Jacksonville Jaguars were said to be on the verge of naming Byron Leftwich their next head coach less than two weeks ago. They have since hired Doug Pederson, and owner Shad Khan says that has nothing to do with Leftwich making demands the team chose not to meet.
There were reports last month that Leftwich wanted the Jaguars job but did not want to work under general manager Trent Baalke. It looked like Leftwich might convince Jacksonville to fire Baalke, but that obviously did not happen. Khan was asked about those reports during Pederson’s introductory press conference on Saturday. He said they were untrue.
“There was no one who said ‘okay I don’t want to be part of it’” – #Jaguars Owner Shad Khan when asked about the perceived trepidation with the Jacksonville front office structure.
— Demetrius Harvey (@Demetrius82) February 5, 2022
Khan did, however, acknowledge that the Jaguars are changing the structure of their front office. They are planning to add an executive vice president. It would not be a surprise if that results in Baalke having less power.
Baalke is extremely unpopular in Jacksonville. Thousands of Jaguars fans dressed in clown costumes for the final game in the regular season to show the team how unhappy they are with the job the GM has done.
It’s unclear how close the Jaguars were to hiring Leftwich, but they obviously still believe Baalke can help the organization turn things around.
Photo: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
