The Jacksonville Jaguars have been one of the biggest surprises of this NFL season. Their success may have everything to do with moving on from former San Francisco 49ers general manager Trent Baalke.
The Jags took down the Denver Broncos over the weekend, which gives them a chance to be the No. 1 seed in the AFC. No matter what, they have a great chance to make the playoffs and may be a dangerous team with how hot they have been as of late.
Head coach Liam Coen has done a great job in his first season. While Baalke was scaring away potential head coach candidates, Coen eventually agreed to take the job in Jacksonville once Baalke was let go.
Baalke has a history of not being able to work well with coaches, which Niners fans are all too familiar with. He and Jim Harbaugh famously butted heads to the point where CEO Jed York essentially decided to force Harbaugh out after four seasons, not one of them a losing season, that produced two NFC Championship game appearances and one Super Bowl berth.
The 49ers were atrocious after letting Harbaugh go, and after two disastrous seasons of Jim Tomsula and Chip Kelly at head coach, Baalke was finally let go, too. It is no coincidence the Niners returned to glory under the next regime of general manager John Lynch and head coach Kyle Shanahan, who obviously have a much better working relationship than Baalke ever did with any of his head coaches.
Baalke does deserve some credit, though.
He drafted several of the key players who contributed to the championship runs San Francisco had during the Harbaugh years. Harbaugh was the coach who was able to put things together on the field, but Baalke did at least help identify and draft some of that talent.
The ousted GM also deserves credit for drafting players like Arik Armstead and DeForest Buckner, who were a huge part of the 49ers defense during the 2019 season, which helped them reach the Super Bowl.
Still, the fact Baalke has historically been so difficult to work with is why there has never been sustained success in any of the places he has been.
The Niners now how a much more sustainable model for success, and the Jaguars seem like they may be building something similar after they finally moved on from Baalke.