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Tom Coughlin could be back on an NFL sideline next season as head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars, per speculation Sunday from ESPN’s Adam Schefter on NFL Countdown.
.@adamschefter: If the Jaguars decide to make a change at HC when the season is over...keep an eye on Tom Coughlin.https://t.co/3UsS1cDSvk
— NFL on ESPN (@ESPNNFL) October 30, 2016
I hate to toot my own horn here, but I am going to, anyway. This isn’t exactly a revelation from Schefter. This is something I wrote about back in September when the Jaguars started 0-2 and the vultures began to circle around Jacksonville head coach Gus Bradley.
Well, the Jaguars are now 2-5 and Bradley is 14-41 in three-plus seasons as the team’s coach. It is pretty apparent that unless there is a dramatic turnaround in Jacksonville the team will have a new coach next season.
It honestly shouldn’t surprise anyone if that new coach is the 70-year-old Coughlin. You know he still wants to coach, that deep down inside he believes he should still be coaching the Giants. The fact that he was the first coach in Jacksonville franchise history and that he has ties there with the Jay Fund only make this seem like a more logical fit.
Here is what SB Nation’s Big Cat Country said regarding the Coughlin speculation:
It has to be said that Schefter did make mention that Coughlin and the Jaguars haven't spoken at all, so this was just him speculating, but it does make a lot of sense when you break it down. Coughlin was released from the Giants after the 2015 season, following back-to-back 6-10 win seasons and he was in talks with a few teams for a head coaching position. It just seemed his time, like when he was with the Jaguars his initial time, ran out with the Giants and a change had to be made.
Coughlin, 70, appears to still be interested in being a head coach in the NFL and is still considered a desirable candidate among teams looking for a proven coach. It would make sense for Coughlin to "come back home" in a season, beyond his resume with the Jaguars and just on what he did with the Giants alone. There are other potential candidates that make a lot of sense, but I have a feeling a lot of Jaguars fans are going to place this idea at the top of the list.