Firing Jack Del Rio won’t solve the Jaguars’ problems. That said, owner Wayne Weaver doesn’t seem to have any choice but to dump his head coach. And he needs to do it soon – like now.
The Jaguars desperately to need shake up things. The disconnect between the Jaguars’ coach and the team’s shrinking fan base is beyond repair. The change isn’t going to suddenly fix the situation, but this is that rare case when change for change’s sake will offer a glimmer of hope for a troubled franchise both on and off the field. As the cliché goes, you can’t fire the team, so the coach gets the axe.
I have often listed my reasons for supporting Del Rio through his eight-plus seasons in Jacksonville. Mainly, it’s a lack of talent and friction between the front office and the coach. Now there’s every reason to believe the players have tuned out their leader. Lack of execution is one thing, but the Jaguars give all the signs of being disorganized and uninspired.
I bite my tongue when saying this after only five games, but its now time to play for the future, and clearly Del Rio’s isn’t part of he team’s future.
It should have been obvious to everyone that Weaver and General Manager Gene Smith were looking beyond this season when they released starting quarterback David Garrard five days before the start of the season and soon turned the game’s most important position over to a rookie, Blaine Gabbert.
A lot things point to Gabbert having a bright future, but there will be growing pains, particularly with a team void of playmakers at wide receiver and an average-at-best offensive line. A rebuilt defense is performing well. The offense needs more talent and time to catch up and make the Jaguars a legitimate playoff contender.
Firing JDR now means having an interim coach, likely to be linebackers coach Mark Duffner, a quiet and likeable veteran NFL assistant and former college head coach (Holy Cross and Maryland). More importantly, it gives Weaver and Smith a jumpstart in finding the new head coach. Would Bill Cowher take the job? Jeff Fisher? Tony Dungy? Jon Gruden? Maybe a proven coordinator who’s flying under the radar?
Another reason to fire JDR now is because he comes across as dead man walking. He insists he’ll keep grinding; he insists he remains confident he can turn around the team. But his words sound hollow. There’s fire in his eyes and voice but there’s a sense of helplessness as well.
I’ve never suggested Del Rio is any thing more than an average NFL head, but he has been put in situation that would challenge coaches Vince Lombardi, Tom Landry, Chuck Noll, Don Shula and any other Hall of Famer in their prime.
Maintaining the status quo is not a sensible option.
lammatlarge 
Can the GM!
Canning Jack Del Rio right now will give Crummy GM Gene Smith an even bigger list of excuses as to why his experiment of drafting from Division 3 Schools doesn’t work in the real NFL! Yes he can bring in all of his division 3 players but he needs to draft real talent and not ones coming off injuries that sit for 2 or 3 years before they take the field.
Agree 100% with your analysis, David Lamm. The Jack Del Rio era ended with Sunday’s loss.
Now the question is, when does Wayne Weaver accept Jack Del Rio is a zombie walking the sidelines and do the decent, respectable thing. Coaches are hired to be fired. No need to humiliate Jack Del Rio by keeping him beyond the next game.
Best wishes in life to Matt Turk. Read up on him last night. Seems like a decent fellow who was handed the chance to “live the dream” one more time and took it. He tried to fill a need and it wasn’t possible. Still, he was there when called and came. We can thank him for that. Sorry the results were not more positive. Again, best wishes in life for Matt Turk. Hope we’ve found a punter in the new guy.
Unfortunate Jacksonville worked so hard to earn a franchise only to see the mismanagement of the team spill into what we see on the field.
I do not pretend to know what the politics or inner workings of an NFL franchise are, but I can say with confidence the results of the decisions made by the Jags have not been good and do not look like they are getting any better.
Drafting a QB with a first round pick, waiving the incumbent QB. A coach, who is not endeared by the team fanbase, on the hotseat while presiding over a rebuilding team.
If they fire the coach, they are left with an incumbent GM and a rookie QB. Thet will have to bring in a new coach, who will have to work with someone else’s rookie/second-year QB. How well has that worked out so far for Denver?
I’m fairly certain any scenario where they keep the current coach will lead to what the pro’s call “fan abandonment”.
If you’re going to “blow the team up”, wouldn’t you fire the GM and the coach, then let the new staff pick/draft their own players, i.e., the QB? Jack and Gene should have been gone last year. If Weaver was going to keep one or both of them (maybe because of the lockout), I think he should have held off on drafting a QB.
They do not win consistently, they don’t lose consistently (up until this season, anyway). They don’t import high profile, marketable or personable players and personalities to keep people tuned in when the team is irrelevant in the AFC South standings – which is often. Just does not appear like this team has a plan – at least not one everyone within the organization agrees on, anyway.
I’ve been a Jags fan since the teams inception… As a youth, I attended the first mini-camp before there were any players. I shook hands with Tom Coughlin, and got an up-close view of his Denver Super Bowl ring. I was there to play with my band at the Jacksonville Landing when we won the right to host the super bowl. I say all this to prove one point… We had a better first 5 yrs than we’ve had the past 8 under JDR. I understand that all of it isn’t his fault but the team is lead by the coach. If the coach is failing the team and ultimately the FANS…. off with his head and on to the next one! We miss chances to pick up cheap famous athletes if only for one reason, to fill the stands. Mike Vick, T.O., Plaxico… all we need is something to believe in and Mr. Wayne Weaver is too cheap to take a chance… I’m tired of waiting for an owner to wake up and a coach to man up. I WANT RESULTS! And as a Jacksonville native and Jags fan I DEMAND IT!!! OUT WITH JDR!!!!