NFL Playoffs 2012: Are Jay Gruden and Scott Linehan Now in Play for Jaguars?

Saturday saw the end of two amazing runs by two unlikely football teams. The Cincinnati Bengals and Detroit Lions both exited the NFL playoffs, leaving two upstart franchises wanting more and wishing the 2012 NFL season could not come soon enough.

It also brought into question the availability of their offensive coordinators, Jay Gruden of Cincinnati and Scott Linehan of Detroit, as possible targets on the Jacksonville Jaguars' radar as a possible replacement for interim coach Mel Tucker.

Gruden, who just completed his first season as the offensive coordinator for the Bengals, has been mentioned as a front-runner for the open Jaguars slot. The Jaguars have already interviewed Carolina offensive coordinator Rob Chudzinski and Jets offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer.

Tucker, who was the defensive coordinator of the Jaguars this season while also taking over for Jack Del Rio in midseason, interviewed earlier this week with new team owner Shahid Khan.

Gruden, the brother of former Oakland and Tampa Bay head coach Jon Gruden, was instrumental in the development of rookie Andy Dalton, a second-round pick out of TCU in last year's draft—the same one that saw the Jaguars trade up to select Blaine Gabbert with the 10th overall pick out of Missouri.

Could Gruden's mentoring have the same effect on Gabbert as it did on the second-round pick and starter for the Bengals?

Gruden has not had NFL head coaching experience, but was a head coach in the United Football League of the Florida Tuskers and was a huge success in the Arena Football League.

There is no word yet if the Bengals have been contacted by the Jaguars to gain permission to speak to Gruden or his agent.

Linehan, who has had some head coaching experience in St. Louis Rams before becoming the offensive coordinator in Detroit. Like Gruden, he has been instrumental in the rebirth of the offense for the Lions, led by Matthew Stafford, who threw for over 5,000 yards this season.

Linehan was a target of the Jaguars in 2005 when they were looking for an offensive coordinator. At the time, Bill Musgrave had resigned from the team and Linehan had the same position in Minnesota under then-head coach Mike Tice. 

While Linehan has been mentioned on sports talk shows in Jacksonville on 1010XL as listeners have stated they would be interested in Linehan coming to town, there has been no connection to Linehan and the current Jaguars' search.

Khan spoke openly in the article posted on www.jacksonville.com about how he wanted an offensive-minded coach and that the NFL was a "passing league" now. Both Gruden and Linehan would fit those two requirements for the open position.