Jaguars legend Jimmy Smith drops bombshell about the previous regime

Jaguars’ Ring of Honor (and one day Hall of Fame) wide receiver Jimmy Smith called into XL Primetime on 1010 XL on Thursday afternoon to discuss his thoughts on the mishandling of the wide receiver position during the Doug Marrone era.

Smith’s call began by voicing his disapproval of the Jaguars being okay with not having a true number one receiver during the Marrone era.

“You can’t do that, ‘cause to your potential number one receiver in DJ Chark, that’s a slap in the face.”

Smith also discussed the team’s decision to limit how former Jaguars wide receiver coach and legendary wide receiver Keenan McCardell would coach the receivers. According to Smith, McCardell was instructed to coach the receivers differently than he would have liked.

“Why is the receiver standing straight up at the line of scrimmage? ‘Cause we know that’s not Keenan. We know that’s not the way that we played, and I know that’s not the way he wants to coach because the route running begins by your stance as a wide receiver.”

Smith would give a mini-lesson on how a stance should actually look for a wide receiver.

“Standing straight up? They’re going to play the bongos on your chest. Those DBs are gonna have a field day on your chest. If you get your torso down behind your pads, they can’t do that. If they try and touch the top of your pads with no leverage there, you’ll be able to release off the line easier with much more explosion. So that’s just like football route running 101, and we knew, those who knew the game knew Keenan McCardell was not allowed to coach those receivers, and it affected DJ Chark’s development because Keenan was not allowed to coach those receivers the way he wanted to.”

Smith and McCardell were known as “Thunder and Lightning” during their time in Jacksonville together in the late 1990s and one of the best wide receiver duos in NFL history. Together, Thunder and Lightning recorded 771 receptions for 10,842 yards and 56 touchdowns, and four Pro Bowl appearances from 1996-1999. They’ve remained close since their glory days in Jacksonville, so it’s no surprise McCardell would vent about the issues he had as the wide receivers coach to Smith.

Smith also talked about the remarks from Urban Meyer a few weeks ago about wide receiver DJ Chark’s performance last season and how he played too small. Smith approved of Meyer’s challenge of Chark to get bigger and faster and thinks Chark will have a huge 2021 season.

“He [Chark] looks stronger, he looks faster, and I think with having a quarterback like Trevor Lawrence in there, he’s going to play big.”

It’s no surprise to hear this kind of narrative leak out from the Marrone era. It’s a continuation of the dysfunctional standard set by the franchise for the better part of an entire decade. Whether it was Tom Coughlin’s issues with several key players to the point of them leaving or the questionable commitment to former quarterback Blake Bortles, there always seemed to be some debatable sense of direction with the personnel in charge of the on-field operations.

While this is just another chapter in the series of unfortunate Jaguars events over the years, it is relieving to view it in the rear-view mirror due to Urban Meyer’s CEO-esque approach to leading this team. There doesn’t seem to be any confusion regarding players’ or coaches’ roles within the team, which is refreshing.