So, on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, numerous outlets reported the Jacksonville Jaguars were close to hiring Byron Leftwich as their next head coach.
Rick Stroud, who covers the Buccaneers for the Tampa Bay Times, reported this Wednesday morning.
Hearing there are some items left to clear up contractually but both Byron Leftwich and Jacksonville are trying to finalize an agreement to make him the Jaguars next head coach.
— Rick Stroud (@NFLSTROUD) January 26, 2022
Half an hour later, Adam Schefter tweeted that the search was still ongoing, with Colts defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus still involved.
Eberflus has since been hired as the Chicago Bears head coach, thus clearing the runway for Leftwich, right? Not exactly.
Within 12 minutes of each other on Thursday morning, these tweets were sent.
Hearing the Jaguars are close to hiring Adrian Wilson as their GM and Byron Leftwich as HC.
— Mike Jurecki (@mikejurecki) January 27, 2022
When the Jaguars private plane was in Denver on Monday, it wasn't there to take Nathaniel Hackett to Jacksonville for an interview; it was there to pick up former Broncos HC Vic Fangio, who has interviewed for Jaguars' HC job, per league sources. Fangio is a candidate for Jaguars
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 27, 2022
Speculation around the Jacksonville search has been that Leftwich gave the Khan family an ultimatum of sorts. He'd take the job, but only with an ally in Adrian Wilson, the Cardinals VP of pro scouting, in charge of personnel. (Leftwich worked in Arizona before following Bruce Arians in Tampa Bay.)
Considering that Jurecki covers the Cardinals and Stroud the Bucs, it seems Wilson and Leftwich are telling those close to them that they're about to be the new regime in Jacksonville.
Meanwhile, someone within the Jacksonville offices is telling Adam Schefter that Baalke is still in control of the Jags' search.
Baalke, meanwhile, hadn't worked for a team since 2016 when he landed in the Jacksonville front office in 2020. He was the 49ers' GM from 2011-16, with Fangio the club's defensive coordinator four of those seasons.
Urban Meyer elevated Baalke to GM in 2021. Meyer's tenure was the biggest disaster in NFL history, but Baalke remains in power in Jacksonville. At least for now.