(01-19-2025, 12:55 PM)JagFan81 Wrote:

(01-19-2025, 11:17 AM)JagGatorMarlin904 Wrote: Yeah it’s funny, you just knew going online that the overreactions to one game were going to be flying.  No one is a guarantee to be a good head coach, you could go hire an accomplished head coach like Pete Carroll or Mike McCarthy and there is no guarantee they would be successful either.  People are kind of just looking past Washington, but they won 12 games, obviously drafted a hell of a rookie, Quinn is a hell of a defensive mind, Kingsbury sucks as a head coach but has always been an excellent OC.  Losing this game doesn’t really have much of a bearing on wether these coordinators are good candidates, you have to look at the body of work.

Johnson was still able to get 31 points against a good defense with Goff having a bad night and turning it over a lot.  The Lions went 15-2 so saying they beat up on bad teams and lost to good ones makes zero sense.  Johnson is still a top candidate, one game against a really good/hot team doesn’t change that.  Of course Coen, Brady, etc are also good candidates.  We are blessed with good options this year, just gotta hope we pick the right one.

I get fans looking at successful teams for the current season and seeing that as a blueprint to success. The problem with that, and what makes football so awesome, is every year is a completely clean slate. Last year people were praising Houston, Niners, Packers and this season it's Lions, Commanders and Rams. Every fan wants success and want a coaching staff to walk in and just make it happen.

Doug looked like the right choice and was making progress towards success and then hit a wall. Every HC is going to have up and down seasons. The path to success is teams like the Bills, Chiefs, Ravens. Build a FO and coaching staff that work together and have a style and system they want to implement and then add players that work and excel in that system. Those teams have had years of stability and progress towards that goal.

That for me is the biggest thing with the new coaching staff. We need to find someone that the whole building from top to bottom can align with and give 5 years to build the roster and franchise, regardless of how good/bad those 5 seasons are.

I think the Jaguars could easily have a winning record and even be a playoff team next year if they have a good off-season and get better coaching.  Last year, they lost 10 games by 7 points or less.  They lost 9 of those by 5 points or less.  They lost 5 of those games by 3 points or less.  It wouldn't take much to turn a lot of those games around.  It often came down to one mistake, one penalty, one bad break, one bad play call, one bad coaching decision, etc.

It's not to say that we don't need to upgrade the roster, we do, but I feel like our major holes are very fixable.  On offense, I think a new guard and a center would do wonders.  We have good running backs, but they kept running into a wall of defenders. Guard and center are non-premium positions that are relatively easy to find.  Improve our running game, and our passing game will suddenly look much better.  Getting Kirk and Engram back from injury would help as well.

On defense, we need a new SS, FS and CB.  SS and FS are non-premium positions that are easy to find.  As for CB, I think it's likely we take Will Johnson at #5 in the draft.  We need an edge to compliment JHA and Walker, but I think a decent one may be available at our 2nd round pick.  As for interior defensive line, maybe we use a draft pick, but our solution may already be on the roster.  Move Armstead from edge to the interior.  Maason Smith, a rookie, started looking good late in the year.  Jefferson, another rookie, might take a step forward in his second year and even Hamilton has looked better in prior seasons. 

I'm optimistic that this team can turn itself around quickly.

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