The rumor mill is churning about the Jacksonville Jaguars courting all-time great coach Bill Belichick to be their next man on the sideline. If you aren’t familiar with the scuttlebutt among the Duval Devout, they want the head coach Doug Pederson to be fired ASAP. The pitchforks have been raised and the mob has formed while shock abounds throughout NFL circles that owner Shad Khan hasn’t pulled the trigger during the bye in removing him (and/or general manager Trent Baalke). However regardless of when, Pederson parting from Duval County seems highly likely. Here are some reasons why they should think twice before signing on the dotted line with Belichick

Do They Really Want Bill Belichick the GM?

Belichick’s name is already heating up for teams with head coaching vacancies (like the Jets) or others are expected to have vacancies on Black Monday  (January 6th), the day after the final NFL Sunday of the regular season. Some of these teams are more storied franchises within the NFL. It seems hard to believe that the eight-time Super Bowl winner (six as a head coach) would “lower himself” to take a job in Jacksonville. That being said, for all the opinions out there in the sports media that profess it was Hall of Fame quarterback Tom Brady who is more responsible for the six Super Bowls in New England than he was as head coach, the aroma of opportunity to uplift his legacy to bring a franchise its first ring as its head coach is alluring.

Let’s say that allure draws coach Belichick in. Considering the New York Jets, Chicago Bears, and the Las Vegas Raiders (just to name a few) are also teams in play to offer the former eight-time Super Bowl winner. It is within reason that he would negotiate to have the same functions as both GM and head coach.

However, if you look at what general manager Belichick has done for New England lately, there are questions. Is he entirely responsible for this year’s edition of the Pats (which is one of the Jaguars two wins coincidently)? — No. But he is the reason the current foundation of players on the roster have suffered the biggest losing drought under Bob Kraft’s ownership this season.

Can He and Trent Baalke Get Along?

So much noise has been made about Bill Belichick heading to Duval County and it is due to the historical link he and current Jagaurs GM Trent Baalke share. Baalke worked for the New York Jets from 1998-2000 where then defensive coordinator Belichick was also working under head coach Bill Parcels before he went on to establish his New England dynasty. Is that relationship enough for Belichick to come to a job where he’s just a head coach and owner Shad Kahn allows Baalke to keep his job in Jacksonville on the strength of the fact that Baalke brought in a big name to coach? Only time will tell, but assuming all that happens there are other concerns.

Baalke doesn’t necessarily have a great track record with hiring coaches or dealing with big personalities. Before bringing in Doug Pederson, Baalke was the one responsible for the disaster that was Urban Meyer’s short stint with the Jags where he finished 2-11.

Jacksonville wasn’t his first stop as a general manager. While with the San Francisco 49ers he also hired Chip Kelley and Jim Tomsula who were both single-year coaches for the 49ers. Tomsula went 5-11 while Kelly went 2-14.

The argument could be made that the best hire Baalke ever made was the first one he executed in his career as a general manager — current Los Angeles Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh. Harbaugh was 44-19 as the 49ers head coach over four years where he never had a losing season. After Harbaugh completed his fourth season at 8-8, conflict brewed between the head coach and Baalke where Harbaugh would eventually leave to become the head coach for the Michigan Wolverines and bring them a national championship in the college football ranks.

If Baalke had a conflict with the first successful coach that he hired in his career, what might happen if he and Belichick don’t see eye-to-eye?

Bill Belichick as a “defensive” head coach.

There’s a school of thought that the main reason for Brady’s marathon of success in New England starts with how devoted he was to protecting Brady. But how much of that was that Brady being a Hall of Famer as opposed to the offensive line being good? While there is a possibility that Belichick may be able to rebuild an offensive line for the Jags, but his success often depended on other guys as offensive coordinators to assure success.

While Charlie Weiss and Josh McDaniel are guys most associated with the Patriots success at that position, they are spots that must either be filled by Baalke or Belichick. It was only a few short seasons ago that Belichick injected defensive coordinator Matt Patricia into being the offensive head of the coaching staff, but can that be trusted any more than Baalke’s head coach hiring record?

While it is definitely a non-zero chance that Belichick is hired and succeeds in Jacksonville, it would certainly defy a lot of expectations help among the Duval Devout.