Jaguars Fire GM Trent Baalke

This comes just weeks after owner Shad Khan defended their decision to retain Baalke as their general manager. 

Buccaneers OC Liam Coen withdrew himself from Jacksonville’s head coaching candidacy earlier today, while Ben Johnson turned them down yesterday because of organizational structure in favor of the Bears’ job. 

Earlier this month, John Shipley spoke directly with a coaching candidate who’s been linked to Jacksonville multiple times who told him that Baalke being retained would blunt his interest. 

“For the Jaguars to change direction, you have to actually change direction. Retaining Trent Baalke greatly diminishes my interest in that job. Lots of promise, but same roadblocks.”

Jacksonville opting to retain Baalke came as a surprise to many around the league. Although Kahn said he didn’t think Baalke’s presence would impact their ability to lure a top coaching candidate, that hasn’t appeared to be the case. 

Baalke, 60, began working for the Jets as a personnel scout in 1998 before joining Washington in 2001. After four years in Washington, Baalke was hired as the 49ers’ Western region scout and worked his way up to general manager. 

Baalke was named Executive of the Year by the Pro Football Writers Association back in 2011 after the team won 13 games. He spent six years in the position but was fired in 2017 after another disappointing season.

The Jaguars hired Baalke in 2020 as their director of pro personnel and eventually promoted him to GM going into 2021.  

During his tenure with the 49ers, the team produced a record of 57-31-1, which includes three playoff appearances and a conference title in 2012. In Jacksonville, Baalke has a record of 25-43 with one playoff appearance.