Doug Pederson was introduced to the media and Jacksonville on Saturday, and of course, there is a lot to unpack as his press conference was over 40 minutes long.
However, no takeaway was bigger than what the Jags had planned for their front office structure with concerns surrounding general manager Trent Baalke. As many witnessed in the interview process, his poor reputation hurt the coaching search as candidates were skeptical to work with him.
Thankfully, it appears fans got confirmation on that and more. When asked about a structure around Pederson and Baalke, owner Shad Khan said the plan is to have an executive vice president and assistant general manager. That’s a scenario that would put someone above Trent Baalke and below him.
Shad Khan says Jaguars are planning on adding an EVP and also someone else to work under GM Trent Baalke. Per Rooney Rule the Jaguars must interview at least two external minority candidates for the EVP spot.
— Michael DiRocco (@ESPNdirocco) February 5, 2022
Most expect the executive vice president role to go to former Minnesota Vikings general manager Rick Spielman, who was fired in January and is available if he wants to continue working in the NFL. Reports surfaced earlier this week stating that the organization interviewed him and continued to make progress throughout the week.
On Friday, The Athletic’s Arif Hasan, who covers the Vikings, said that his understanding is that the deal is basically done, so it seems the reason why Spielman hasn’t been announced is that there is a process that must go through the NFL. That includes interviewing two minority candidates through the Rooney Rule.
The Jags once had an EVP role within the organization, which was held by Tom Coughlin from 2017-19. It was a process that the Jags had success with the first year, but the wheels fell off afterward as Coughlin was too involved in coaching-related matters and rubbed players the wrong way.
However, that’s not to say the position wasn’t needed as Khan has said he wants to be more hands-on with the team, but it hasn’t shown. That said, a football president would be a wise addition to the organization and a person with Spielman’s résumé would know how to handle the job significantly better than Coughlin did.
