How Jacksonville Jaguars are helping Chicago Bears coaching search

The Chicago Bears still have every intention of moving on from Matt Nagy at the end of the season, but the team has let him coach out the end of his run. This has some fans annoyed, especially this season because teams can set up Zoom interviews for coaches if they have an opening.

By the Chicago Bears keeping Nagy, they are also missing out on a two-week window to get some of their coaching candidates in order. However, on the flip side, they may not be missing as much as some think.

Currently, the Raiders and Jaguars are the only two teams who could interview head-coaching candidates. The Raiders have not taken advantage because they currently sit in a playoff hunt. The Jaguars have taken advantage, but reports are out that these are not going well because the team has not decided their intentions on GM Trent Baalke.

Reports are that coaching candidates are just using their Zoom time to try to figure out who will be the GM, while being far less concerned about the actual job.

"Several sources close to candidates on the Jaguars’ list said their clients would agree to a virtual interview with the Jags next week but would be using the forum to try to gather information about why owner Shad Khan chose to conduct his search with the GM still in place and to ascertain how married to this concept ownership is. Several executives from other NFL teams, who are closely watching the situation in Jacksonville, believe that by the end of the process the Khans will also be searching for a general manager due to the reaction from the team’s fans and considering the type of feedback they will be getting about Baalke as they go through the interviews."

Baalke has a long list of issues, but this should be no different than the Ryan Pace situation. It is so much easier to start clean, hire a new GM, and let the new GM and head coach come in on the same terms.

In Jacksonville, or in Chicago with Pace staying you would see a desperate GM have a smaller list of coaches to choose from because they know the GM is not acting in their best interest. He is trying to save himself.

This once went from a disaster where Bears fans are afraid Pace will ruin their next coach to a possible positive outcome.

The Jaguars job is equally as appealing as the Chicago job, and the big difference could be whether you prefer Justin Fields or Trevor Lawrence. However, if one job has a young QB and a new GM, and the other has a young QB and a GM that smells desperate, all of a sudden the former job becomes much more appealing.

All of the debates about which job is better between Jacksonville and Chicago would be over if the Chicago Bears move on from Ryan Pace while the Jags stick with Trent Baalke. All the more reason that moving on from Pace is too obvious.