By: JJ Lanier

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

Christmas came a week early for some Jacksonville fans this year. Unfortunately, for Gus Bradley, that means his stocking is full of coal and a pink slip.

The NFL is not exactly synonymous with the word “patience” so it’s not very surprising that Bradley’s tenure in Jacksonville has ended. The timing of it may have caught a few people off guard, but I’ll give the Jaguars management some credit when it comes to this. If they had already decided Bradley was going to be gone at the end of the season they were right to just go ahead and end it now. No need to prolong the inevitable.

There are a variety of reasons Bradley lost his job. A terrible record this season (14-48, overall) is the first thing that tends to jump out at you. Being a defensive minded coach whose team can’t play defense is kind of like an Italian restaurant that has difficulty cooking lasagna.

No matter what list of reasons you want to give, there should be two words at the top: Blake Bortles.

Gus Bradley lost his job because the one guy he and the organization expected to take that next step, completely blew it. If Bortles took one step forward last year, he didn’t just take two steps back this year. Instead, he took two steps back, tripped over his own feet, rolled down a hill, and got blindsided by a train at the bottom.

Ok, so maybe that’s a little bit of an exaggeration, but it’s not far off when you consider the hype Bortles had coming into the season. It’s a lot more difficult to break up the head coach/quarterback combo that every team looks for when, you know, the quarterback is actually playing well.

I guess the big question now is where does Jacksonville look next? Personally, I think they’d be out of their minds if they didn’t go with someone on the offensive side of the ball. At the very least they need to hire a head coach who can bring an offensive coordinator with him who has experience grooming quarterbacks.

There is actually a decent amount of talent on that side ball, certainly more than you’d expect in a team that has had its fair shares of issues scoring this season. If the real Bortles is more like his second season as opposed to this current one, and the Jaguars can find a running back (I am not a fan of TJ Yeldon) then they’ll be in good shape.

This kind of goes without saying, but I’ll say it anyway, you’d better make sure whoever you bring in has complete faith in Bortles, too. You don’t want a Jay Gruden/Robert Griffin III type situation. It’s easier to get rid of the incumbent starter when Kirk Cousins is your alternative. No offense to Chad Henne, but I don’t think anyone is chomping at the bit to see him take the field.

Look, I know I’m not saying anything new, but sometimes the right answer is the one staring you right in the face. Any head coaching hire is important, but this time around for Jacksonville, it’s imperative they make the right choice.

If not, then three years from now they may be looking for a new head coach as well as a new quarterback. Basically, all that means if they’ll be right where they have been for the better part of this millennium. If you’re a Jacksonville fan, we’ll, you’ve seen that lump of coal in your stocking a few too many years.