The Jacksonville Jaguars are in need of a new head coach for next season. Given the way the Urban Meyer experience crashed and burned, you’d imagine that the franchise would want to start fresh with someone who doesn’t have a lot of baggage.
Apparently not if, as Gene Frenette of the Florida Times-Union is reporting, they have interest in Alabama offensive coordinator and former Houston Texans coach Bill O’Brien.
It appears #Jaguars do have interest in Bill O'Brien, but what isn't clear is how viable a candidate he is compared to Doug Pederson or Jim Caldwell. Part of any wide-ranging interview process is also a fact-finding mission as it is targeting someone as a legit candidate.
— Eugene Frenette (@GeneFrenette) January 6, 2022
O’Brien has some positive qualities that make him an attractive possibility, especially since the Texans went to the playoffs four times in his six seasons there. However, his time with Houston also ended when he had the ability to make his own personnel moves, ultimately losing a lot of authority with his players, something that the Jaguars just went through with Meyer. Even in the days leading up to his firing, O’Brien was still adamant about his authority and control.
O’Brien is one of the latest reclamation projects that Nick Saban took on as an assistant coach and it’s worked to varying success, given that Alabama is playing for the national title even though their offense was criticized at times during the season.
There are also a lot of concerns that the Jaguars are going to have to settle in their coaching search because owner Shad Khan refused to part ways with GM Trent Baalke. That’s a big part of the reason many of their fans are going to be protesting this weekend, dressing up as clowns.
The reaction to the news about O’Brien behind of interest for the Jaguars certainly caused a reaction around social media.
jesus christ jaguars https://t.co/9kTYP6Q8Gh
— Luke Braun (@LukeBraunNFL) January 6, 2022
Retaining Baalke and hiring Bill O’Brien is straight out of the “How to Ruin a Franchise” handbook https://t.co/P5W2xftPu2
— Кevin (@KevinFromDuval) January 6, 2022
Bill O'Brien facing the Texans twice a year is gold from the content gods. Please make this happen, Shad. https://t.co/WGa5s2EOae
— Greg Rajan (@GregRajan) January 6, 2022
Of course Jaguars have interest in a guy that got into a heated exchange w/one of the NFL’s most respected players (& Houston icon), traded NFL’s best WR for a journeyman RB and picks, and is partly responsible for the Texans being one of worst teams in the league. Of course. https://t.co/LtjmeywHVC
— Michael DiRocco (@ESPNdirocco) January 6, 2022
When you go from Urban Meyer to Bill O'Brien: https://t.co/hqZMheFcm2 pic.twitter.com/xz54S80vUo
— Doug Farrar ✍ (@NFL_DougFarrar) January 6, 2022
The Jaguars have a lot riding on their next head coach hiring. Whether it’s O’Brien or someone else, the expectations to get things right this time are going to be sky-high.