Jaguars’ Bradley vows to get more involved with defense

Jaguars coach Gus Bradley did not rule out taking on defensive play-calling duties next season.

The Jacksonville Jaguars fired defensive coordinator Bob Babich, the team announced Tuesday.

The Jaguars gave up the second-most points in franchise history (448) this season, and three of the five worst scoring defenses in team history have occurred under Babich.

Bradley hired Greg Olson as offensive coordinator, Nathaniel Hackett as quarterbacks coach and Doug Marrone as offensive line coach, and the Jaguars made significant strides on that side of the ball. But it wasn’t a one-year fluke, as the Jaguars have been really bad on defense as long as Bradley has been coaching there.

Bradley, 12-36 as the Jaguars’ coach, needs to get his second defensive coordinator hire right or he’ll be looking for his own coordinator job. If a player is not a good inside technique-type player and he’s a very good player for you, then you look to put him on the outside and you make adjustments.

Regardless of whether the team decides to let Bradley assume control, promote from within or pursue a defensive coordinator from outside the organization, whoever takes over the Jaguars defense will face a hard challenge.

Bradley during his day-after-the-regular-season press conference Monday had declined to speculate on potential staff changes before doing the “due diligence” to determine what moves were needed.

“Everything we’ve done in the draft and free agency has been guided toward the skill set we need”, Bradley said.

Caldwell said Bradley and the Jaguars are better prepared if he were to decide to call the defensive plays. He also noted that the team was well-stocked in cap space and were loaded with eight picks for the upcoming draft.

“It’s easier in this league to fix a defense than it is an offense”, Caldwell said. We’ve got to get a lot better. “If he had to do that and step into that, he could do it a lot more easily than the first couple of years”. Bradley and Wash also coached together at North Dakota State and with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.