JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The Jaguars and general manager Trent Baalke have parted ways, the team announced Wednesday — just hours after head coaching candidate Liam Coen decided to return to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
«Following several discussions with Trent Baalke this week, we both arrived at the conclusion that it is in our mutual best interests to respectfully separate, effective immediately,» Jaguars owner Shad Khan said in a statement.
«Trent leaves us with my deepest appreciation for his efforts over the past five seasons. Ethan Waugh will serve as interim general manager and play an important role, with others, as we continue the process of interviewing candidates to serve as our new head coach. I am deeply committed to building a winner here in Jacksonville and look forward to introducing a new head coach who will make that happen for our players and fans alike.»
Khan retained Baalke when he fired Doug Pederson on Jan. 6, saying that afternoon in a news conference that a complete organizational overhaul would be «suicide.» He also said that if any coaching candidate expressed reservations about the organizational structure or working with Baalke, he would be willing to address the topic.
That may have been what spurred Wednesday's move. The Jaguars lost out on Ben Johnson, the top candidate in the hiring cycle, earlier this week to the Chicago Bears, and Johnson said during his introductory news conference that he was grateful to the Bears for providing the «necessary resources» to build the team he wants.
«It was clear to me from the beginning that the priorities were straight,» he said.
After Johnson took the Bears job, Coen was the potential front-runner and was scheduled to have a second, in-person interview
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