Would Jaguars have Ben Johnson as HC instead of Liam Coen had they fired Trent Baalke earlier in offseason?

Shortly after former Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson rejected the Jacksonville Jaguars and other suitors to become the next head coach of the Chicago Bears, the Jaguars somewhat surprisingly parted ways with general manager Trent Baalke. That move ultimately resulted in Jacksonville convincing then-Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive coordinator Liam Coen to leave the Bucs to become the Jaguars' next head coach. 

For an update shared on Monday, Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated suggested the Jaguars could've landed Johnson had they simply taken care of the Baalke situation earlier in the month. 

"My belief is that Ben Johnson was very high on the Jaguars' job -- high enough on it to have taken the interview with Jacksonville even before they let Baalke go," Breer explained. "Jacksonville was high on Johnson, too, enough so to discuss making a big-money offer. But in the end, I’m not sure Johnson wanted to have to push Baalke out to go there. So Johnson chose the Chicago Bears over the Las Vegas Raiders, and the Jags moved on."

Before the Raiders fired general manager Tom Telesco, it was reported that Johnson was "intrigued by" possibly joining the Jaguars "but might want his own general manager in place" instead of Baalke. With Baalke as the GM, Jacksonville went 25-43 with a single playoff victory from 2021 through Week 18 of this season. 

Johnson emerged as one of the hottest candidates of this offseason's hiring cycle largely for his work in helping quarterback Jared Goff become a Most Valuable Player Award candidate. It's now hardly a secret that Johnson was keen on working with Chicago signal-caller Caleb Williams, the first pick of the 2024 NFL Draft, but some within the Jaguars may be wondering if Johnson would've welcomed the task of getting the best out of QB1 Trevor Lawrence had Jacksonville simply shown Baalke the door back on the NFL's "Black Monday." 

"Baalke’s presence was a factor," Breer continued. "As I’d heard it, Johnson’s camp did get the impression from [Jaguars owner Shad Khan] that the Jaguars would consider moving on from Baalke to land Detroit’s offensive coordinator."

The move came too late, and Khan will now hope Coen will prove to be everything and more than the Bears think they have in Johnson.