The Jacksonville Jaguars’ regular-season collapse in the second half resulted in the dismissal of defensive coordinator Mike Caldwell
by head coach Doug Pederson. The Jaguars seem to have shifted their attention to their next target after other NFL teams denied their
demands for interviews.
Although it didn’t have a major issue in the latter part of the season, Jacksonville’s defense declined after playing like a top-10 team
throughout the first half of the season. The opponents of the Jaguars averaged roughly 350 yards per game and a 42 percent third-
down conversion percentage in their last seven games.
But the Jaguars’ initial efforts to appoint a top defensive coordinator were unsuccessful. Jacksonville requested interviews with
defensive play-caller Ryan Nielsen of the Atlanta Falcons and defensive coordinator Ejiro Everon of the Carolina Panthers, but both
requests were turned down.
Former New York Giants defensive coordinator Wink Martindale is one of the players the Jaguars are most interested in, according to
NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, and the team has arranged an interview with him now that their best alternatives are no longer
available.
Martindale’s departure from New York isn’t going well. After discovering that Giants head coach Brian Daboll had dismissed two of
Martindale’s assistants, he became enraged and launched an expletives-filled outburst on Black Monday. He and Daboll had fought
during the regular season.
The 60-year-old defensive coordinator is well-liked by players around the league and is generally thought of as a good play-caller,
despite his problems in New York. Even though Martindale wasn’t a part of the Giants defense, that was mainly due to the team’s lack
of skill overall.
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