Tom Coughlin is back in the NFL.
NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported Monday that the Jaguars hired their one-time head coach in the role of executive vice president, per a source informed of the situation.
The team later made the announcement.
Coughlin previously interviewed for the team's head-coaching vacancy, but will land instead in the front office after the Jaguars on Monday also hired interim coach Doug Marrone as head coach.
As the cherry on top of an active day in Jacksonville, the team also extended the contract of general manager David Caldwell through 2019, matching the deals given to both Coughlin and Marrone.
Coughlin, who last coached with the Giants in 2015 -- winning two Super Bowls in New York -- got his first NFL head-coaching opportunity in Jacksonville, where he amassed a 128-68 regular-season record over eight seasons.
The Jaguars were clearly intrigued by Coughlin, with Caldwell telling reporters last month: "Tom Coughlin is someone we'd be interested in talking to. ... He's got so much experience on myself or any coach we have in this building and he's a great individual, and I think you can always learn from people."
On Monday, Rapoport told NFL Network that the Jaguars "do really think they got it right here" in adding Coughlin, who spent the past year in the league office after logging 27 seasons of NFL coaching experience.
"Coughlin interviewed as a head coach. That is what he wanted to do," Rapoport explained. "He was very clear. He did not want to come in as an executive, he wanted to be the man on the sidelines. And then they decided to hire Doug Marrone and ... Coughlin reversed course a little bit and decided to come on as an executive."
As for the power structure, which has yet to be officially announced, Rapoport said it "sounds like" Caldwell will still pick the players, "just given Coughlin's title and given ... Caldwell's role in the situation."
Asked if Coughlin was ever seriously considered for the role of head coach, Rapoport said: "My impression was -- they did not. I never got the sense from the people I was speaking with that he was really a legitimate head-coaching candidate. What I did get the sense of was that they had a lot of respect for him. They wanted to meet with him."
The upshot in Jacksonville? They interviewed two men for one job and wound up hiring both in roles that will ask a handful of strong-willed people to coexist.
Whether this will work is anyone's guess.
