Jacksonville Jaguars Fan Forums

I'm not suggesting that Bradley or Caldwell be fired after this season (it sets a bad precedent, and they were in fact given an absolutely horrible roster). However, the fact of the matter is that this is still a franchise in the biggest professional sports league in the country. They should at least look competitive. Improving on a 2 win season is a VERY low standard for a new regime. At the very least, the product should LOOK improved. Right now we are looking at a potential 0 and 16 season, and we have only been competitive in part of 1 game (Denver).

 

Last year the Jags only had 2 wins, but they were competitive against the Vikings, Colts once, Oakland, Green Bay, Houston once, Tennessee once, and New York. That's nearly half the schedule. What we have seen so far this year is an indication that the team has actually regressed instead of "getting better." Bradley and the coaching staff should be taking at least partial blame for this, it's irrational to say otherwise. Nobody is expecting wins, but they have to show some improvement these last 8 games.

 

One other point: I think it's certainly possible, if not probable, that Caldwell and the front office went into this season expecting to fail in a big way. Indicating a lack of confidence in the current personnel, he said initially that they'd add QB competition in the draft and FA, but he ended up doing neither of those things. In fact, he didn't spend in FA at all (after all, why spend and win a few more games and take yourself out of the race for Teddy). It makes more sense to get your QB first, then invest and try to win. 

 

But then why hire a new coach and set him up to fail? Why not just hang onto Mularkey for another year if you thought this might happen? While Gus and the coaches certainly deserve some blame, this also makes you feel somewhat sorry for them.

 

 

Quote:I'm not suggesting that Bradley or Caldwell be fired after this season (it sets a bad precedent, and they were in fact given an absolutely horrible roster). However, the fact of the matter is that this is still a franchise in the biggest professional sports league in the country. They should at least look competitive. Improving on a 2 win season is a VERY low standard for a new regime. At the very least, the product should LOOK improved. Right now we are looking at a potential 0 and 16 season, and we have only been competitive in part of 1 game (Denver).

 

Last year the Jags only had 2 wins, but they were competitive against the Vikings, Colts once, Oakland, Green Bay, Houston once, Tennessee once, and New York. That's nearly half the schedule. What we have seen so far this year is an indication that the team has actually regressed instead of "getting better." Bradley and the coaching staff should be taking at least partial blame for this, it's irrational to say otherwise. Nobody is expecting wins, but they have to show some improvement these last 8 games.

 

One other point: I think it's certainly possible, if not probable, that Caldwell and the front office went into this season expecting to fail in a big way. Indicating a lack of confidence in the current personnel, he said initially that they'd add QB competition in the draft and FA, but he ended up doing neither of those things. In fact, he didn't spend in FA at all (after all, why spend and win a few more games and take yourself out of the race for Teddy). It makes more sense to get your QB first, then invest and try to win. 

 

But then why hire a new coach and set him up to fail? Why not just hang onto Mularkey for another year if you thought this might happen? While Gus and the coaches certainly deserve some blame, this also makes you feel somewhat sorry for them.

 

For me, it's not about if you can be competitive with a terrible team.    It's about can you get to the PLAYOFFS EVERY YEAR with a franchise quarterback?  Can you win a SUPERBOWL with a franchise quarterback?  Everything else is a bunch of noise.  

 

As for why they hired Gus and fired Mularkey.  They felt Gus could win them championships in the future and Mularkey, not so much.  The real test comes when Gus and Jed actually have a guy that THEY SHOULD BE WINNING WITH.  

But when your entire message is about be competitive, and you aren't, that's a problem. My point is that if they figured they weren't planning on taking a QB this year, and they thought they would be terrible, why fire Mularkey, and saddle a coach you like with that burden? The timing just seems bad, because when you make a coaching change, people expect at least slight improvement, regardless of circumstances(or if it's fair or unfair).

You worry way to much about coaches.  If Gus Bradley is even an remotely decent coach, he'll be fine in this situation.  There's no way for any coach to look good in this situation.and Gus clearly doesn't look good here.  But they picked the coach they thought would be the best going into the future.  Simple as that.  

 

I can't say much about messages made by coaches because they mean nothing to me.  Don't care if they say they want to be competitive.  Who doesn't?  They are terrible now.  That's the situation.  People are frustrated and I understand it,but making a team slightly less terrible than they are isn't the same as making CONSISTENT PLAYOFF RUNS EVERY YEAR (which is what we REALLY want).

 

The NFL is designed to help teams like us.   We'll have to take a beating and pull ourselves back up (but done the right way).