Trent Baalke Out as Jaguars General Manager

Trent Baalke is officially out as the Jacksonville Jaguars general manager.

Baalke ends his tenure with the Jaguars after four years. In that span, Baalke compiled a 25-43 record and led the Jaguars to two winning seasons and one playoff birth.

The move to part ways with Baalke comes just two weeks after Jaguars owner Shad Khan opted to retain Baalke while firing head coach Doug Pederson. In those two weeks, Baalke has been an instrumental piece to the Jaguars' search for a new head coach.

"Following several discussions with Trent Baalke this week, we both arrived at the conclusion that it is in our mutual best interests to respectfully separate, effective immediately," Khan said in a statement.

"Trent leaves us with my deepest appreciation for his efforts over the past five seasons. Ethan Waugh will serve as interim general manager and play an important role, with others, as we continue the process of interviewing candidates to serve as our new head coach. I am deeply committed to building a winner here in Jacksonville and look forward to introducing a new head coach who will make that happen for our players and fans alike."

The Baalke news comes on the same day the Jaguars were informed by Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive coordinator Liam Coen that he was pulling his name from consideration for the Jaguars head coach job. The Jaguars also saw coaching target Ben Johnson hired by the Chicago Bears this week.

It has been the NFL's worst-kept secret since retaining Baalke that his influence and role in the organization could play a factor in the Jaguars' ability to land a top coach. So far, this year's search has proven that right.

"No, not at all," Khan said earlier this month when asked if he thinks the candidate pool could be impacted by retaining Baalke.

"I think we have a very compelling case on what we can offer the head coach and you know that. I think the players, where we stand on our draft, our salary cap, the city, the bricks and mortar, the facility and our division. It's a very compelling case, but like we did last time, the head coach needs to be comfortable with what we're doing. Our job is to be able to provide them with all the resources they want. So, we'll go through that process, and it's got to work for them.”

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