Shahid Khan Has Three Coaches In Mind

The Jacksonville Jaguars head coaching search is in full bore and new owner Shahid Khan talked a bit about the situation last night on Jaguars This Week. He was asked directly if the team had been in discussions with former Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Bill Cowher, as rumors have been swirling that the team had spoken with him, but Khan did his best "no comment" while also leaving it vague enough to sound like the team had in fact contacted him. Outside of the Cowher rumor, the Jaguars have requested interviews with five offensive coordinators who are currently employed by NFL teams: Mike McCoy (Denver Broncos), Bill O'Brien (New England Patriots), Mike Mularky (Atlanta Falcons), Rob Chudzinski (Carolina Panthers), and Brian Shottenheimer (New York Jets).

"It's nonstop," Khan said in an interview with the Times-Union. "This is a one-owner-at-a-time league, [but] that doesn't mean we can't prepare. We've had our first 25 plays and we're executing them. This is not something you wait for. We know who our top three choices are. All three are excellent." The top three may not be any of the known coaches the Jaguars have had discussions with, however. Those assistant coaches are only known because you must file paperwork with the league in order to speak with the employed assistants.

"What you are seeing is tip of the iceberg," Khan said. He was then asked about hiring coaches who have previously won Super Bowls. "Statistically, we know those are the people who maybe did it once, but I don't think anybody's done it twice with another team," Khan said. "To me there's always the first time. We've talked to people like that. To me, I want to learn. They want to talk to us, so why shouldn't we talk to them?"

Khan also mentioned on the radio that when the position became available, they actually had quite a few coaches contact the Jaguars about the position. "But the fact is, there isn't anybody we've contacted who said, ‘I'm not interested.' Flip side, there are other names that have contacted us that we thought might not have an interest," Khan told the Times-Union. "It's a wider net than even we thought because of the volunteers."