Why Jack Del Rio's Firing Will Inspire the Jacksonville Jaguars as a Team

It usually happens this way. The coach gets fired, the team has a fire lit under its posterior and it rattles off three or four victories.

In the case of the Jacksonville Jaguars, the wins would be good for the state of the franchise, but it may not be good for its case in landing a top receiver in the 2012 NFL draft.

How sad is it that we are talking about winning as a bad thing for a football team?

When Jack Del Rio was relieved of his coaching duties this week, it was done in such a manner that made the franchise look like it was being given a makeover. It looked like Ty Pennington and his crew was in Jacksonville and building the perfect team to breath new life into the NFL.

Nice thought, but not the way it should have been done.

The fact is, Jack Del Rio—according to reports on 1010XL Radio—had worn out his welcome and the writing was on the wall.

This morning on 1010XL's "1010XL Primetime," AFC South blogger for ESPN.com Paul Kuharsky said this team needed a change. It was even discussed that current Jaguars owner Wayne Weaver was set to make the move to fire Del Rio after the 14-10 loss to Cleveland.

The change, and now the subsequent naming of defensive coordinator Mel Tucker to the "interim" post, means there will be continuity but also a need for this team to play better than it has.

There comes a time when teams just deal with losing as a symptom of losing. The culture in the locker room is bleak. The coach cannot identify with players or is a little too easy with them.

All this means nothing now. If the team that has nothing to play for makes the slightest improvement with its rookie quarterback (Blaine Gabbert) and its porous receivers, there is hope for the future.

Del Rio was not the hope of the franchise. At times, he looked lost and just plain tired. He looked like a man who knew the sand was slipping through the hourglass and he wanted to just get out of the situation he was in.

Following the news of their coach being fired, players like Maurice Jones-Drew said on television that he and the team did not execute for Del Rio and let him down. Maybe that isn't the case. A coach has to inspire winning, he has to make a team believe it can win before it does.

Letting your starting quarterback go four days before the season starts and not being insistent on gaining help at receiver is not a "winning" attitude.

In the end, the choice was made to let the coach go.

Now, as the team moves forward with Tucker as the point man, the team can relax a little. What's more, they can maybe have fun and do what it is not used to doing.

That is, win a football game or two.