Quote:I disagree.  Coughlin was screwing up and hung himself. He was not the same coach at the time as the one he became after a mutiny in in NY almost had him canned again. 

http://www.jaguars.com/news/article-1/Wa...52300b6ac3

http://www.cbssports.com/mcc/blogs/entry...8/34107353

 

While Weaver doesn't admit to giving in to the fans (and I'll admit I've never seen that in print), he does state in the CBS article that the reason he fired Coughlin was that he felt that the team needed new ideas and new approaches. He also states in the Oehser interview that he fired Coughlin outright rather than asking him to step down as GM because he didn't think Coughlin's pride would allow for it.

 

Regardless, I do agree that Coughlin's coaching style wore very thin once his young team became a veteran one. His performance as offensive coordinator wore down over time (from 6th in scoring in 1999 to 21st in 2002--21st during the Bobby Petrino year of 2001), and most importantly, his mismanagement of the salary cap left the team unable to add the talent it needed to make up the difference. He buried himself, yeah.

 

The best argument against Weaver caving to the fans is the 2001 offseason. Jacksonville went full-on nuts for Spurrier, but Weaver held true to his coach even after two bad seasons rather than making a swing at the UF coach. If Weaver were going to cave to the fans, surely Spurrier would have been his play instead of Del Rio, a one-year coordinator and the team's sixth choice (if I recall correctly at the time).

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