Pretty happy with Caldwell as a GM which is to say I'm pretty satisfied with his picks. I don't harbor many unrealistic expectations (as too many on this board seem to...) regarding our win/loss record for the first couple of years given the total rebuild involved. That's 'total' rebuild; as in new owner, new gm, new hc and other coaches as well as essentially a new roster of players... the majority of whom are rookies or inexperienced vets. Not many NFL teams have ever undergone this depth of rebuild. The Jaguars are, for all intents and purposes, as of last season essentially a new franchise with an already established fan base.... except we don't get the benefits of a new franchise like extra draft picks, etc.

 

Given those circumstances, I think Caldwell has done a pretty good job so far; not perfect, but pretty good. There are a lot of impulsive, 'knee jerk' reactionaries to the struggles this essentially new franchise is having. We're only in season two folks, it's a little premature to already be calling for the head coach to be fired....

 

But it does raise a legitimate question though (and maybe this should be the topic for a separate post...) At what point do we have valid reason to question the choice of head coach? Or offensive coach? Or even the choice of 'franchise' quarterback? In the case of our franchise quarterback, I think that Bortles more or less gets a 'free pass' this season as long as he doesn't start displaying characteristics similar to Blaine Gabbert. Skills like good foot work and the like can be taught and coached; heart and guts can not. So although Blake is having his issues, we shouldn't write him off just cause he's struggling in his rookie season. We've seen enough good out of this guy to hang with him. Now... if next year he's no better after starting most of the games this season, then we have reason to be concerned. If by his third season we are still losing games almost totally due to him then we have to start thinking he might be a 'bust'. We'll see....

 

As for the head coach... Gus was the best choice available at the time. All a gm can do is look at the qualifications and try to make an intelligent selection based on those. Gus has a super bowl ring as a defensive coordinator for the seahawks. He knows how to put together a champion defense. However, he doesn't have the same caliber of players or depth here after a total rebuild that he had at Seattle. He can only do what he can with what he has to work with... and he is a rookie head coach; there is a learning curve for him too. Same for the offensive coordinator as well. How long do they get before they are legitimately on the 'hot seat'? IMO, the first two seasons are 'free rides'. That sucks for us as fans given the years we've endured poor football from our pro team; nevertheless, you do not want to throw your coaching staff under the bus prematurely. A winning team (that includes the coaches) takes time; time to learn schemes, time to develop pro level skills, time to draft... So here it is... IF by the end of next season this team hasn't shown improvement that reflects in it's win/loss record, say (and I am arbitrarily choosing this number) in the neighborhood of 8-8, then there is at that point some legitimacy in questioning the effectiveness of our coaching staff... specifically the head coach. 

 

So there it is. I've tried not to be impulsive in suggesting this criteria for our team; but I don't think this fan base is ready to endure more back to back losing seasons and excuses.

 

Please excuse the length of this post...

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