Jack Del Rio staying as Jacksonville Jaguars head coach
Although Jack Del Rio will be coming back as head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars, he will no longer be in charge of the team’s defense.
The owner of the Jags, Wayne Weaver, talked to ten players on Monday and then had a long meeting with Del Rio. He was told to explain where he went wrong during the season and how he would fix those problems. Weaver then asked Del Rio to give up the post
of defensive coordinator.
Weaver also told Del Rio that in order to keep his job, the team needs to reach the playoffs next season.
“If we’re not in the playoffs, it’s pretty apparent we’ll have a different coach,” Weaver said.
Marcedes Lewis, tight end, said that the players are up for the challenge.
“Pressure either makes pipes burst or makes diamonds,” Lewis said. “We’re going to make diamonds. We’re heading in the right direction. We almost made the playoffs this year. We know how close we are. We know we can get it done.”
Weaver did not renew the contracts of Del Rio’s assistants, which means that they will only be around for next season. If Weaver does decide to fire Del Rio and the rest of his staff, it would cost the franchise about $5 million.
Del Rio is 66-65 with the Jags and the first coach since the establishment of the modern NFL system to lead a single team for eight successive years and still not win a division title.
Weaver has been very patient with the team’s progress, especially when he decided to keep Del Rio after changing the front office staff and let many of their players go in 2008
Weaver says that his decision to keep Del Rio for another season is based off of an evaluation of his last two years, not his entire eight years in Jacksonville.
“There’s no point in looking back,” Weaver said. “We made a conscious decision to dismantle our roster.”
Hopefully, Del Rio will be able to lead the Jags to the playoffs next season and keep his job as head coach.
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