Jacksonville Jaguars set to interview former Las Vegas Raiders interim head coach Rich Bisaccia
The Jacksonville Jaguars have turned their attention toward former Las Vegas Raiders interim head coach Rich Bisaccia in their exhaustive head coaching search that has extended for more than a month.
A person close to the situation confirmed the Jaguars had an interview scheduled for Monday with Bisaccia, who led the Raiders this season to the playoffs this season. However, the Raiders did not keep Bisaccia, as they reached an agreement Sunday with New England Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels to become their next head coach.
Bisaccia, 61, becomes the ninth candidate the Jaguars have interviewed for their vacant head coaching job. He has no previous connection with Jaguars general manager Trent Baalke, who is part of the franchise's search team that includes owner Shad Khan and his son, Tony.
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As special teams coordinator, Bisaccia's first NFL coaching job was with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 2002-07. In 2008, he was promoted to assistant head coach, running backs and special teams coach coordinator. He was hired by the San Diego Chargers in 2011 as special teams coordinator.
Bisaccia spent two seasons with the Chargers before moving on to the Dallas Cowboys to serve as assistant head coach and special teams coordinator from 2013-17. He was hired by the Raiders in 2018 and was named interim head coach last October when head coach Jon Gruden was forced to resign.
Prior to becoming an NFL coach, Bisaccia spent 19 seasons as a college coach from 1983 to 2001.
Jags cannot interview O'Connell until after Super Bowl
The Jaguars had also expressed an interest in Los Angeles Rams offensive coordinator Kevin O'Connell, according to the NFL Network. .
But the Jaguars will have to wait until after the Super Bowl to interview O'Connell because they did not formally make a request to interview him during two-week window like the Minnesota Vikings did as he become one of their finalists for the head coach opening.
The Vikings had their first interview with O'Connell last week and they are reportedly planning to interview him for a second time at some point this week even though the Rams clinched their spot in the Super Bowl with Sunday's 20-17 victory over the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship game..
Buccaneers offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich remains in the mix, but nothing is assured, especially with new candidates continuing to surface. The only other NFL team interested in Leftwich besides the Jaguars are the New Orleans Saints, who have made an interview request.
Current defensive coordinator Dennis Allen is considered to be the frontrunner for the Saints job to replace Sean Payton, who resigned a week ago after 16 seasons.
Reports have surfaced that Leftwich is not in favor of having a pre-arranged situation in which Baalke would remain as general manager.
Leftwich wants the Jaguars to hire Adrian Wilson, the vice president of pro scouting with the Arizona Cardinals. However, the Jaguars have not officially requested permission to interview Wilson.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jaguars coach search: Raiders' Rich Bisaccia to be interviewed
