Jacksonville Jaguars will conduct second interview with Matt Eberflus

The Jacksonville Jaguars are scheduling a second round of interviews for their head coaching vacancy.

And Indianapolis Colts defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus is the first known candidate to make the cut as a finalist.

Eberflus, 51, will interview for a second time this Thursday with owner Shad Khan, according to a person familiar with the situation spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to reveal details about the coaching search.

Though Eberflus is the first known Jaguars candidate to get a second interview, he is not viewed in any way as the clear-cut frontrunner, according to a person familiar with the situation.

There is no set timetable for when the Jaguars will conduct second interviews with the other potential finalists. Eberflus is highly regarded around the league and interviewed for the vacant Chicago Bears head coaching job on Monday.

Two weeks ago, Eberflus confirmed his desire to become a head coach to Colts reporters.

“That’s a great assumption and it's true,” Eberflus said.

Eberflus said the Jaguars initially wanted to interview him during the final two weeks of the regular season to take advantage of the NFL new rule that allows teams with head coaching vacancies to start the interview process. Until last month, teams could not begin interviewing candidates until the regular season ended.

''When the slip came through to speak to them, we decided as an organization that we were going to postpone that till afterward,'' Eberflus said.

The Jaguars eliminated the Colts from playoff contention with a 26-11 upset victory in the season finale on Jan. 9 at TIAA Bank Field. Eberflus' defense surrendered 318 yards and allowed Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence to complete 23-of-32 passes for 223 yards and two touchdowns with no turnovers.

Six days after the Colts' defeat, the Jaguars conducted their first interview with Eberflus last Saturday.

Under Eberflus this season, the Colts finished with the second-most takeaways (33), ninth in scoring defense (21.5), 10th in rushing defense (109.1), 19th in pass defense (234.1), and 16th in total defense (343.2).

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Eberflus has been the Colts defensive coordinator since 2018 after serving seven years as the Dallas Cowboys linebackers coach. Before making the jump to the NFL, Eberflus spent eight seasons as Missouri's defensive coordinator.

Eberflus got his first coaching job as a student assistant at Toledo in 1992 before becoming a graduate assistant. He served as Toledo's recruiting coordinator and outside linebackers coach from 1994-95 and remained a defensive assistant at the school until 2000.

He served as Missouri's defensive coordinator from 2001-08 before making the jump to the NFL as a linebackers coach with the Cleveland Browns from 2009-10. He left the Browns to become the Dallas Cowboys linebackers coach from 2011-15. In 2016-17, he served as both linebackers coach and passing game coordinator for the Cowboys. The Colts hired Eberflus to become their defensive coordinator in 2018.

Since launching their search began three weeks ago, the Jaguars have interviewed former NFL head coaches Doug Pederson and Jim Caldwell, Jaguars interim head coach Darrell Bevell, Tampa Bay defensive coordinator Todd Bowles, Tampa Bay offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich, Cowboys offensive coordinator Kellen Moore, Alabama offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien and Green Bay Packers offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett and Eberflus.

The Jaguars could have to extend second interviews into next week, because candidates such as Bowles, Leftwich and Hackett are involved with this upcoming weekend's divisional-round playoff games.

Jaguars owner Shad Khan cannot afford to have any missteps in this coaching search after making the biggest mistake in his 10-year tenure as owner with the hiring of Urban Meyer as head coach last year. Meyer turned out to be the biggest distraction in the franchise and was fired on Dec. 16 after 13 games and only two victories.

Florida Times-Union columnist Gene Frenette contributed to this report.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jaguars scheduling second interview with Matt Eberflus