Potential Jaguars head coaching candidates

The Gus Bradley era in Jacksonville is over.

Bradley was relieved of his duties after the Jacksonville Jaguars’ 21-20 loss to the Houston Texans. His career record as head coach ends at 14-48 — that’s a .226 career winning percentage.

I’ve been critical of Bradley in the past, as many of you know. However, due to the kind of guy Bradley is as a person, I wish him the best in his future endeavors.

Although there are still two weeks left in the season, I’m sure the Jaguars are already doing their homework on searching for a new head coach for the future. Here are some guys I think the team should reach out to.

Todd Haley

I’ve been a huge Todd Haley fan for a while now. The current Pittsburgh Steelers offensive coordinator and former Kansas City Chiefs head coach is an intriguing name heading into the offseason as a potential head coach.

A UNF graduate, Haley’s head coaching record isn’t mightily impressive — 19-26 — but he led the Chiefs to the playoffs with a 10-6 record in his second year. He was let go in the middle of his third season as coach due to a major disconnect between himself and the front office, per reports.

Haley is currently the Steelers offensive coordinator, and has held that post for five years. Throughout his tenure in Pittsburgh, the Steelers have continuously had one of the more electric offenses in the NFL.

Mike Smith

Mike Smith would also be a solid hire. The former Jaguars defensive coordinator was the Atlanta Falcons head coach from 2008-2014. In those seven years, he compiled a 66-46 coaching record, along with four playoff appearances, where he went 1-4.

Smith is currently the Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive coordinator. With him holding that position, the Buccaneers have dropped their points allowed per game from 26.1 in 2015 to 22.8 this year. The Buccaneers also have 30 sacks this year, which is tied for 13th best in the NFL.

Smith was recently linked to the Jaguars as a likely candidate for the position, but I wouldn’t buy into that until we get into the offseason and the Jaguars begin to interview candidates.

Josh McDaniels

The current New England Patriots offensive coordinator and former Denver Broncos head coach has been a big name as of late in terms of potential head coaches.

McDaniels has been the Patriots offensive coordinator for five years now, and the Patriots have continuously had one of, if not the, best offenses in the NFL. In Denver, he led the Broncos to a 11-17 record in just under two seasons as head coach, but was fired in Week 14 of the 2010 season after the team had fallen to a 3-9 record.

McDaniels has also been linked to the Jaguars, but as I said with Smith, take that with a grain of salt at the moment.

Tom Coughlin

Coughlin, the former Jaguars and Giants head coach, has been a hot name for the Jaguars head coaching job recently. He holds a career record of 170-150, with a postseason record of 12-7, and two Super Bowl victories.

Coughlin is certainly the most experienced candidate for the job, but he might just be too old to lead a franchise again. He’s currently 70 and will be 71 before Week 1 of the 2017 season. I would much rather him take a front office role, much like how John Elway is the “Executive Vice President of Football Operations” for the Denver Broncos.

Kyle Shanahan

If the Jaguars chose to hire a coach without head coaching experience, I would personally say Kyle Shanahan is the best bet. The son of Mike Shanahan, Kyle has been the offensive coordinator for four teams — the Houston Texans, the Washington Redskins, the Cleveland Browns, and currently the Atlanta Falcons.

Since 2012, Shanahan has had four top-10 offenses in yardage, and two top-10 scoring offenses. Although his offense in Atlanta this year is his most notable (1st in points, 3rd in yards, 3rd in giveaways), he also had a good year in his lone year in Cleveland as offensive coordinator. He ran an offense that totaled 1728 rushing yards and 17 rushing touchdowns. The Browns went 7-9 that year, their best record since 2007. He resigned due to the Browns front office mandating that Johnny Manziel become the starting QB, which Shanahan disagreed with.

Who would you like to see as the Jaguars next head coach?