The next 48 hours will be a trying time for Jaguars fans, Wayne Weaver, and head coach Jack Del Rio. Last off-season rumors swirled of Jack Del Rio's job being questionable and there were rumors he was considering the Southern Cal head coaching position. Wayne Weaver had a "come to Jesus" meeting with Del Rio and kept him on as head coach. "I was interested in if Jack wanted to be here and was committed to this franchise and that he shared my vision and my goals for this franchise and how we go forward. That was the substance of the conversations," Weaver said.
"Over the past seven years, we've had our ups and down and we've been an average football team," Weaver said. "We've had some good seasons, but if you look at the body of work, we've been average. ... Had we hit on two or three of those draft choices, we'd be a different football team than we are today. I have to accept responsibility for that."
This quote from Wayne Weaver keeps being repeated, and it's necessary. When contemplating if Jack Del Rio is going to stay or go, I keep going back to it. "The definition of insanity is to keep doing the same thing over and over and expect a different result," Weaver said. "I don't think we're at that point.
Prior to the 2009 season, Wayne Weaver cleaned house. Gene Smith was brought in and sweeping changes were made, except at head coach and quarterback. "My expectations are that we're going to be better than average and we're going to be competing for the playoffs -- not just for next year, but for years to come," Weaver said. "If you do it the right way, there's no reason that you can't compete for the playoffs every year, and I think we've got the team in place."
The Jaguars have "competed" for the playoffs the past two seasons, but once they've gotten to 7-5 they've gone 0-4 and 1-3 down the stretch the past two seasons, respectively. Del Rio is 65-63 in his career as the Jaguars head coach with two playoff appearances, one playoff victory, and no division titles. This season was the Jaguars best shot at a division title and they squandered it when they had the chance. Since the 2007 season, the last winning season for the Jaguars and the last time they made the playoffs, the team has gone just 2-10 in the final four games of the year. Rebuilding or not, that's not acceptable.
I'm apathetic. I'm fine if he stays and fine if he goes. I don't think Del Rio gets fired, but it certainly feels like he's going to be.