NFL insider believes one major Jaguars red flag could hinder hiring next HC after Doug Pederson's firing

The Jacksonville Jaguars may have fired Doug Pederson, but filling in that void may be more difficult than the team assumes. The Jaguars have already sent out requests to eight hopefuls, including Robert Saleh and Aaron Glenn, for interviews to gauge them for the job.

However, NFL insider Albert Breer said that there was one major red flag in the organization that would deter many coaches from applying for the job. That red flag happens to be Jacksonville general manager Trent Baalke.

"I can tell you on good authority coaching candidates will not touch that job if Trent Baalke is to remain in it," Breer said on his podcast (Timestamp: 14:04). "If you're a coaching candidate, how do you look at that? If you don't have a personal relationship with Trent, are you going to trust that it's going to go the right way after so many others didn't?

"Are you going to believe that it will work for you when it didn't for so many others? Or will you look at it and say, 'No, I don't want that one'?"

What's so repulsive about the GM that coaches would think twice before working with him? Breer delved into Baalke's history and outlined a pattern. When he became the San Francisco 49ers' GM, he feuded with then-coach Jim Harbaugh and was instrumental in not just his firing, but in that of his hand-picked successor, Jim Tomsula.

He was fired from the organization in 2016, but the Jags GM at the time, David Caldwell, took a bet on him in 2020. Caldwell himself was fired and Baalke became GM himself. He also oversaw Urban Meyer's firing and in 2025, the firing of Doug Pederson.

There was already some rift between him and Pederson's offensive coordinator, Press Taylor, and he was heavily involved in pushing for changes in the coaching staff after last season's disappointment.

Hiring Doug Pederson's successor will be an uphill task for the Jaguars

Mike Florio also highlighted that he had heard that coaches would also be wary of working with Shad Khan, the team's owner, although he did not elaborate why on his show.

"That's a bold move by Khan because what it means is he's not going to get any head coach who has options," Florio said. "The word on the street is nobody wants to work with him. And anybody who's got juice is going to go somewhere else."