The Jacksonville Jaguars fired Gus Bradley on Sunday, ending one of the least successful coaching tenures in NFL history.
Team owner Shad Khan announced the decision following a 21-20 loss at Houston, in which the Jaguars blew a nine-point lead in the fourth quarter.
Houston’s backup quarterback, Tom Savage, threw for 260 yards after Brock Osweiler, who threw interceptions on two consecutive drives, was benched in the second quarter, and Lamar Miller scored Houston’s lone touchdown on a 1-yard run with less than three minutes remaining.
Jacksonville got the ball back twice after falling behind, but failed on a fourth-down conversion the first time and Blake Bortles was intercepted the second time. Bortles threw for 92 yards and ran for a touchdown for the Jaguars (2-12), who dropped their ninth straight game, the longest single-season losing streak in franchise history.
Khan considered firing Bradley in late October, following a debacle at Tennessee on national television, but opted to keep him for seven more weeks. During that time, Jacksonville lost to three backup quarterbacks: Savage (Houston), Paxton Lynch (Denver) and Nick Foles (Kansas City).
Bradley went 14-48 in four seasons in Jacksonville, the worst winning percentage (.225) of any NFL coach with at least 60 games.
The Jaguars were supposed to be considerably improved this season. Khan spent big in free agency for the second straight year and said he felt all the pieces were in place for a playoff push. Even before the free-agent frenzy, Khan said a winning record was “everybody’s reasonable expectation.”
Bradley flew home on the team charter. General manager Dave Caldwell will name an interim coach for the final two games Monday. It’s likely to be offensive-line coach Doug Marrone or defensive-backs coach DeWayne Walker.
“I thanked Gus Bradley today for his commitment to the Jacksonville Jaguars over the past four seasons,” Khan said in a statement. “As anyone close to our team knows, Gus gave his staff and players literally everything he had. Our players competed for Gus and I know they have great respect for him, as do I.
“Gus also represented the Jaguars, the Jacksonville community and the NFL in nothing less than a first-class manner as our head coach. That counts for a lot. It is unfortunately evident that we must make a change. I thought it would be best to do it immediately after today’s result so Gus can step away, relax and regroup with his family during the Christmas and holiday season.”
Bradley, a former Seattle defensive coordinator, had no head-coaching experience when Khan hired him in 2013. Bradley spent his first two years in rebuilding mode. Bradley and Caldwell overhauled a talent-starved roster, revamping it through the draft and then supplementing it in free agency. The Jaguars spent more than $350 million (nearly $150 million guaranteed) the past two years in free agency, bringing in an influx of starters who were supposed to make a difference.
Instead, the Jaguars showed little improvement, at least in the win-loss column.
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