With an 8-3 record in Week 12, the Jacksonville Jaguars were in the running for the AFC’s top seed. The club then finished 9-8 and missed the playoffs after losing five of their last six games. Heads had to roll with that kind of collapse, and it appears that Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson chose not to fire defensive coordinator Mike Caldwell and a few defensive assistant coaches in order to keep owner Shad Khan from doing so.
Pederson laid into Caldwell, who had just finished his second season in Jacksonville, on Black Monday in the NFL. According to ESPN, Pederson fired the majority of his senior coaches in addition to the defensive coordinator.
Along with Deshea Townsend, the Jaguars also dismissed Tony Gilbert, the inside linebackers coach, Cody Grimm, the safeties coach, senior defensive assistant Bob Sutton, Tee Mitchell, the defensive quality control coach, and defensive line coach Brentson Buckner.
Coaches of outside linebackers Bill Shuey, defensive quality control Patrick Reilly, and defensive line coach Rory Segrest are the only top defensive lieutenants who survived.
With 27 turnovers this season, good for fourth in the league, and tenth in rushing yards allowed, Jacksonville’s defense has shown promise at times. On the other hand, they ranked 26th in passing yards allowed and 17th in scoring.
amid the team’s five last losses, they allowed 29.2 points and 146.8 rushing yards per game, which was a far worse total amid the season’s collapse.
Troy Fautanu, Bucky Irving, Kool-Aid McKinstry, and the Jaguars are all mentioned in the 2024 NFL Draft.
