Amidst the madness that was yesterday's Jaguars news, Wayne Weaver discussed that when looking for a new head coach, the team intended to look at candidates with strong résumés.
"We'll have a list of people of people we think can be real successful here. It'll be a list of people that have high profile, that have had great success, that's had one of those rings. There will be others that are young coaches that have had a great deal of success and we think they are ready to break through the ceiling."
Finding a "high profile" coach with a ring may be difficult for the Jaguars though, as a move made by Weaver yesterday could lessen the interest of said coaches.
Yesterday the Jaguars also announced the re-signing of Gene Smith as general manager of the Jaguars with a three year contract that ensures he will continue to build the team in his way, by his philosophies. During his last two and a half seasons as general manager he has essentially been the only one running the ship and all personnel decisions during the offseason and roster moves during the regular season have gone through him.
That could be an issue for a lot of potential head coaches and could limit the pool of candidates that would have an interest in the position. Coaches like Bill Cowher or Tony Dungy are highly unlikely to accept a job that limits their abilities to shape the roster. If those coaches decide to return to coaching it would likely be with the demand that they receive the same treatment that Pete Carroll received from Seattle when he became the head coach and executive VP of football operations, essentially putting him in charge of every move the Seahawks make.
The Jaguars have not ruled themselves out from finding a coach with a Super Bowl championship ring to be their next head coach, but it would have to be a coach that earned that ring as an assistant coach. There can be only one highlander and when Wayne Weaver signed Gene Smith's contract extension he ensured that the highlander quota in Jacksonville was filled.