Mike Smith reportedly the favorite in the Jaguars coaching search

The Jaguars are deep into their coaching search, but they’ve reportedly already zeroed in on a candidate – Mike Smith.

The Jacksonville Jaguars have interviewed a multitude of candidates for their head coaching vacancy, most of which are the “hot names” among the pool of current coordinators. While the rest of the teams in the head coaching hunt are seemingly moving slowly, the Jaguars have reportedly decided on their guy:

Among the candidates the Jaguars have interviewed, there’s really only one who has a defensive background: former Atlanta Falcons head coach and current Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive coordinator Mike Smith.

Smith leaves a lukewarm feeling among fans because he’s not as “hot” of a name as a Josh McDaniels or Kyle Shanahan, but Smith has a good track record as a head coach. Smith helped immediately turn around a downtrodden Atlanta Falcons franchise in just one year, a miraculous accomplishment given the dumpster fire left behind by Michael Vick and Bobby Petrino. He fell out of favor when he couldn’t get the Falcons over the hump in the playoffs, but he has a history of leading successful teams.

Additionally, Jacksonville Jaguars general manager David Caldwell has seen first hand what Smith can do:

The bar is pretty low in Jacksonville after the atrocity known as the Gus Bradley era, but Smith would be a solid choice for a team that badly needs discipline and a culture of success.

If Smith is the guy, the Jaguars will likely announce the hire very soon.