Jaguars Plan to Hire EVP of Football Operations to Work with Trent Baalke

The Jacksonville Jaguars plan to hire an executive vice president of football operations as part of a front-office restructure.

Jags owner Shad Khan told reporters during head coach Doug Pederson's introductory press conference Saturday that the team will hire an EVP, who will out-rank current general manager Trent Baalke.

Jacksonville also plans to hire another front-office executive who would report to Baalke.

The Jags are coming off a 3-14 season that saw the team fire first-year head coach Urban Meyer after a 2-11 start amid a tumultuous tenure.

Khan noted that the team has filed a request to the NFL to add an EVP to the team.

As ESPN's Michael DiRocco wrote, the Jags went the EVP route before when they brought in former New York Giants head coach Tom Coughlin and gave him control of football operations in 2017. General manager Dave Caldwell was essentially second-in-command.

The team had one of the best seasons in franchise history in 2017, going 10-6 and nearly making the Super Bowl before falling to the New England Patriots in the AFC Championship Game.

However, that team ended up being a one-year wonder, as the Jags dropped to 5-11 in 2018 and 6-10 in 2019.

Coughlin was let go with a few weeks left in the latter season amid news that over 25 percent of grievances filed through the NFL Players Association over the previous two years were from Jags players. Khan said he planned to part ways with Coughlin at the end of the season regardless.

Caldwell ran the show in 2020 until being fired in November. The Jags then opted to turn to a combination of Meyer and Baalke, but that did not work either.

Now Jacksonville will try another tactic as they bring some fresh faces into the building.

Adding Pederson, who led the Philadelphia Eagles to their only Super Bowl title in franchise history, appears to be a good start as the Jags look to move past four ugly years of football.