The Jacksonville Jaguars were looking for a change and they certainly made one when they announced the firing of Tom Coughlin on Wednesday. Team owner Shad Khan announced that the team was relieving Coughlin of his duties effectively immediately.
That really sucks for Coughlin, because he was actually planning on retiring next week, according to Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk. The report explains how Coughlin was going to walk away gracefully before the season finale against the Indianapolis Colts in Week 17.
The Jags had other plans.
“Per multiple sources, the two-time Super Bowl winner was planning to retire at the end of the season. One source suggested that Coughlin had planned to announce next week that he’d leave the organization upon conclusion of the Week 17 game against the Colts.
But if he indeed had to go today, in the aftermath of a series of player grievance rulings confirming that the time for his hard-line tactics with players has come and gone, why not give him a chance to leave on his own terms? Through a spokesman, Jaguars owner Shad Khan has admitted that Coughlin was not given an opportunity to resign or retire before being fired.
He should have been. He likely would have accepted, and he could have left with some degree of dignity, in a way that minimizes the impact of such a difficult outcome on Coughlin and his family.”
All of this stems from the NFLPA winning a grievance against the Jaguars for fining injured players ridiculous amounts of money for not participating in the team’s offseason medical treatment program.
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The 73-year-old had the team in the AFC Title game against the Patriots on January 1, 2018, but the team has gone just 10-20 since that time.
