Jaguars owner makes strong claim about GM Trent Baalke

The Jacksonville Jaguars landed Doug Pederson as the team’s new head coach, but only after a number of reports suggesting that GM Trent Baalke was a mitigating factor in trying to attract other candidates.

Even before the Jaguars embarked on their coaching search, there were reports indicating that some candidates were hesitant to work under Baalke. On Saturday, Jaguars owner Shad Khan said Baalke had not come up as a negative factor in interviews with candidates.

“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 may well be telling the truth here. On the other hand, he’s only speaking about candidates the Jaguars interviewed. There were some indications that some would-be candidates turned down the chance to even speak to Jacksonville about the job. That may or may not have had to do with Baalke.

There were reports that even Pederson himself had some reservations about the Jaguars’ setup. He may have taken the job anyway, but it certainly doesn’t look like Baalke was a non-factor in the search.

Photo: Jaguars general manager Trent Baalke during Friday afternoon’s press conference at TIAA Bank Field. After his arrival in Jacksonville, Florida Friday morning, April 30, 2021, Jacksonville Jaguars first-round draft pick Trevor Lawrence along with team owner Shad Khan, head coach Urban Meyer and the Jaguars general manager Trent Baalke held a press conference in the afternoon inside TIAA Bank Field. They were also joined by the Jaguars 25th pick in the first round of the draft and former Clemson teammate of Lawrence, running back Travis Etienne. [Bob Self/Florida Times-Union]