BREAKING: Insider Drops Ben Johnson Bombshell For Jaguars

Jeff Darlington of ESPN says Ben Johnson is eyeing the Jacksonville Jaguars job.
Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson watches practice during mini camp at Detroit Lions headquarters and practice facility in Allen Park on Tuesday, June 4, 2024.
Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson watches practice during mini camp at Detroit Lions headquarters and practice facility in Allen Park on Tuesday, June 4, 2024. / Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK
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The Jacksonville Jaguars are now a week-plus into their search for Doug Pederson's replacement, and a few names keep popping up as potential leading candidates.

Among those names are Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive coordinator Liam Coen and Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson, two coaches who entered the process as potential favorites for Jaguars owner Shad Khan.

On Wednesday, a massive report in regards to Johnson came from none other than ESPN's Jeff Darlington. Speaking about the Jaguars' job on SportsCenter, the insider noted the Jaguars' job is drawing immense interest across the NFL -- including from Johnson.

Now, the Jaguars, this is I want you to listen carefully here, because I keep hearing from coaching candidates that this is actually the most coveted job available right now, and I think it's going under the radar. And I keep hearing that Ben Johnson actually has his eyes squarely on that Jaguars position," Darlington said.

"I'm not saying that that's his top choice, but I am saying that that is a job that really interests him. Now, the Trent Baalke situation with him currently holding the position of General Manager, does throw a bit of a wrench into this. But I'm telling you, I have spoken to several different candidates who say that Jaguar job is the one that a lot of coaches are eyeing as the one that they want."

The neverending question of what Baalke's role will be in the Jaguars' front office moving forward has been asked time and time again since Khan retained his general manager following Pederson's firing.

Logic would suggest that Baalke is firmly in place as general manager for 2025 considering the Jaguars' have some heavy lifting to do for the offseason in the coming weeks. With that said, there have been reports that Khan is open to switching roles in the front office if the right candidate requests it.

Sports Illustrated insider Albert Breer floated out that Khan has expressed flexibility about Baalke and his role when it comes to speaking to coaching candidates, something that Khan himself has admitted he would be open to.

"Jaguars owner Shad Khan has expressed some flexibility to coaching candidates on his decision to retain GM Trent Baalke. And my read on that is this: If a coach has the leverage to get what he wants from the team, then Khan could still pull the plug on Baalke," Breer said.

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John Shipley
JOHN SHIPLEY

John Shipley has been covering the Jacksonville Jaguars as a beat reporter and publisher of Jaguar Report since 2019. Previously, he covered UCF's undefeated season as a beat reporter for NSM.Today, covered high school prep sports in Central Florida, and covered local sports and news for the Palatka Daily News. Follow John Shipley on Twitter at @_john_shipley.