Before the Jaguars hired Doug Pederson as their new head coach, there was word that they were close to hiring Buccaneers offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich.
Leftwich wasn’t hired, obviously, and reports indicated that his desire to see Cardinals exec Adrian Wilson replace Trent Baalke as the team’s General Manager was the reason why things didn’t move forward. During Pederson’s introductory press conference, Jaguars owner Shad Khan denied that any of the team’s candidates told them that they were unwilling to work with the current members of the team’s front office.
“There was no one who said ‘OK I don’t want to be part of it,’” Khan said, via Demetrius Harvey of SI.com.
As PFT reported in relation to the Leftwich/Wilson reports, there were multiple candidates who declined the chance to interview with the Jaguars and that Baalke’s presence was a big part of why they opted not to speak with the team.
While Khan denied that the structure of the front office was an issue in interviews, he did confirm that the team is changing that structure. They will add an executive vice president to the organization, which is a move many saw coming after they interviewed former Vikings G.M. Rick Spielman this week.
