Jaguars hire Gus Bradley as head coach, according to report

The Jaguars have hired Gus Bradley to be the team's new head coach according to a report from ESPN's Adam Schefter. Bradley had been a leading candidate to accept the Eagles head coaching job until that position was abruptly filled Wednesday with Philadelphia's hiring of Chip Kelly.

Now, he'll take over the Jaguars instead. Bradley's coming off a massively successful year as the Seahawks defensive coordinator, and the Jaguars are coming off ... Well, another year of being the Jaguars. Bradley will be just the fourth full time head coach in franchise history--the first two were Tom Coughlin and Jack Del Rio and enjoyed some decent longevity. The third was Mike Mularkey, fired this year after just one awful season.

The Jaguars were linked to other coaches, like Mike Nolan.

The team bottomed out with a 2-14 record this year, and it'll be up to Bradley to take things in a new direction. Jaguars management was rumored to be considering 49ers offensive coordinator Greg Roman, as well, but with San Francisco still in the playoffs, it appears they weren't willing to wait. So Gus Bradley's the choice, then. And there's nowhere to go but up.

For more, check out the news and reaction at our Jaguars blog, Big Cat Country.