JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – It’s official. Trent Baalke is no longer the general manager of the Jacksonville Jaguars.
The news broke on X around 3 p.m. when ESPN insider Adam Schefter tweeted, “Trent Baalke is out as the Jaguars GM,” which was followed by a statement he obtained from team owner Shad Khan.
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Following several discussions with Trent Baalke this week, we both arrived at the conclusion that it is in our mutual best interests to respectfully separate, effective immediately. Trent leaves us with my deepest appreciation for his efforts over the past five seasons. Ethan Waugh will serve as interim general manager and play an important role, with others, as we continue the process of interviewing candidates to serve as our new head coach. I am deeply committed to building a winner here in Jacksonville and look forward to introducing a new head coach who will make that happen for our players and fans alike.
Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shad Khan
Just hours earlier, it was reported that Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive coordinator Liam Coen “took himself out of the running” for the Jags head coaching position to stay in Tampa on a new contract that “placed him amongst the highest-paid coordinators in the NFL.”
Coen, who led the Buccaneers' offense to prolific numbers and a Wild Card berth during the 2024-2025 season, was seen as the betting favorite to become the Jaguars' new coach.
Baalke’s tenure with the Jags ends in a disappointing fashion after he joined the team as its general manager in 2021. Since then, the team bookended a brief moment of success with the Urban Meyer era and a 4-13 season.
News4JAX asked to hear from you, the fans, and we received a plethora of responses that portray a fanbase tired of watching their team string together miserable season after miserable season.
“Too little too late,” said one News4JAX reader. “We’ve already lost our best bet because you insisted on keeping Baalke.”
“Just lost probably our first two choices as head coach due to Baalke still being GM,” wrote another reader named Mark. “Why didn’t the Jags fire him earlier? I agree with the firing but it was too late.”
Other fans expressed just a tad more positivity.
“Finally!!!!!” wrote Judy Johnson. “I feel better about the Jaguars’ future without Baalke,” added JD Dunnigan.
Another anonymous submission read, “Yay! Yay! Yay!!! Way overdue. So glad that Shad Khan finally realized how much Trent was hurting the Jaguars. The man is worthless and has been forever. Now I think the Jaguars are headed in the right direction and this gives fans a new life and brings quite a bit of excitement!!!”
“Better late than never! As a season ticket holder since day one, I was on the verge of giving up my support but am willing to take a wait-and-see attitude!” Glyn H. said.
Some fans decided to put their GM cap on and relayed their vision of how the Jags could turn things around.
“Get Steve Spagnuolo from the Kansas City Chiefs, talk to him after but call him in between,” an anonymous submission stated. “Let him pick a GM to work with and pluck from the Kansas City Tree of winners. My goodness, Mr. Khan. Go after winners. This is not the time to play hard to get. Let your interim GM stay through the draft because of how late you waited, but get a defensive-minded head coach in Spagnuolo. Remember 2017 when the Jaguars roared our way to the playoffs with Bortles? You mean to tell me you don’t want that and a ring?”
The Jaguars are likely to choose a head coach in the coming weeks, but now, they must add selecting a new general manager to their list of things to do.
