BREAKING: Trent Baalke Will Assist in Jaguars HC Search

The Jacksonville Jaguars will be retaining general manager Trent Baalke.

Feb 27, 2024; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Jacksonville Jaguars general manager Trent Baalke talks to the media at the 2024 NFL Combine at Indiana Convention Center. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images / Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images

Jacksonville Jaguars general manager Trent Baalke has survived -- again.

The Jaguars officially fired head coach Doug Pederson on Monday morning, but Jaguars owner Shad Khan announced that Baalke would serve alongside him and others as they look for Pederson's replacement.

Baalke has been general manager of the Jaguars since 2021 and now will take on the unprecedented torch of working with a third head coach.

"I had the difficult task this morning of informing Doug Pederson of my intention to hire a new head coach to lead the Jacksonville Jaguars.  Doug is an accomplished football man who will undoubtedly enjoy another chapter in his impressive NFL career, and I will be rooting for Doug and his wife Jeannie when that occasion arrives," Khan said. "As much as Doug and I both wish his experience here in Jacksonville would have ended better, I have an obligation first and foremost to serve the best interests of our team and especially our fans, who faithfully support our team and are overdue to be rewarded.  In that spirit, the time to summon new leadership is now. I strongly believe it is possible next season to restore the winning environment we had here not long ago. 

"I will collaborate with General Manager Trent Baalke and others, within and close to our organization, to hire a leader who shares my ambition and is ready to seize the extraordinary opportunity we will offer in Jacksonville."

Sources told Jaguars On SI in recent weeks that Baalke was not given any indication by Khan on his future and had been working as if he would still be general manager in 2025. It appears that is now the case, with Khan set to keep Baalke as he looks for a new head coach.

It remains to be seen what kind of head coach candidates the Jaguars will attract with Baalke as a key member of the search. Candidates privately expressed reservations about working with Baalke during the 2022 coaching search, and this could again be a key factor in how the Jaguars approach candidates and, more importantly, how candidates approach the Jaguars.

One thing is for certain, however. Some change is coming, but Baalke is not part of it.

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