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Jack Del Rio, despite multiple reports throughout Monday evening that intimated he might be leaving Jacksonville for his alma mater USC, will return at least through next season to coach the Jacksonville Jaguars.Del Rio firmed up the news through SI.com's Peter King Monday, ending all speculation that he might bounce to the college game ... and that he would forfeit nearly $15 million (more on that in a second).
King wrote: "After a profitable meeting with owner Wayne Weaver this morning in Jacksonville, Jaguars coach Jack Del Rio will stay in his current job for at least the 2010 season."
The large salary number I mention is related to Del Rio's Jaguar contract -- in the hypothetical situation that Weaver didn't fire him and Del Rio took the USC job, he would give up the $15 million remaining on his contract. (To further that hypothetical, if Weaver had fired him Tuesday and then he'd bolted to Cali, he would be very rich. And Weaver would be very unhappy.)
The truth here is that when USC was spurned by Mike Riley and Steve Sarkisian, it started going after every potential candidate with any sort of name recognition or ties to the school; the longer they're coach-less, the more likely it is that recruits begin bolting to other schools with more stability.
That's precisely why Steve Mariucci and Herm Edwards are both being floated as potential candidates, although it's certainly arguable whether either one would make a good head coach in LA (you could make a good -- or bad -- case for either coach).
What this boils down to is an opening at a top college football program in the country, and various big names being willing to listen and consider the possibility of taking over, obviously. But what will be much more intriguing is how the rest of the search plays out; if USC somehow can't land a media-employed former coach -- especially one who last left football with a stain on their legacy -- more and more questions as to the university's status with the NCAA are going to pop up.
Collegiate tangent aside, for Del Rio and Weaver this becomes a case of stability and "business-as-usual." Weaver doesn't want to pay two coaches at once (especially through the CBA and looming lockout issues), Del Rio has had the Jaguars "close" in recent years and there's the strong possibility that with another good draft and offseason, this is a playoff-caliber team.
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