Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel.com writes that the Jaguars should have kept head coach Tom Coughlin.
Coughlin, fired by the Jags in 2003, coached the New York Giants to the Super Bowl title last season and is the prohibitive favorite to win yet another championship this season. If Coughlin wins his second Super Bowl, he is almost a shoo-in to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
The reason we bring this up is because — with the struggling Jaguars (4-5) hosting Fisher’s unbeaten Tennessee Titans (9-0) Sunday — it’s hard not to play the what-if card. What if Jaguars owner Wayne Weaver had stuck by Coughlin like Titans owner Bud Adams stuck by Fisher? Isn’t it possible the Jags would be Super Bowl contenders today instead of one of the most disappointing teams in the NFL?
This is no knock on current Jaguars Coach Jack Del Rio. He was a decent hire and has taken the Jaguars to a couple of playoff appearances in his six years as head coach. But he’s certainly no Coughlin. In the NFL coaching hierarchy, Coughlin is Casablanca; Del Rio is the ABC Movie of the Week.
In this day and age, we all want to change coaches like we’re changing rolls of toilet paper. Use ’em, flush ’em and move on to the next one.
It’s a little easy to suggest that the Jags should have kept Coughlin when he’s currently sporting a Super Bowl ring and Jacksonville has vastly underachieved under Jack Del Rio this season. Just because Coughlin won a title in New York, doesn’t mean that he would have won one in Jacksonville. Sometimes it’s time for a team or coach to move on.
