Jack Del Rio never bought into the idea the writing was on the wall that this was his last season as coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars. Not even on Tuesday, when team owner Wayne Weaver fired him after eight-plus seasons. "I never gave into that," Del Rio told WJXT TV when asked if his firing was inevitable. There was certainly plenty of that kind of speculation," said Del Rio. "Any time an owner makes a statement like 'you better be in the playoffs or else,' and then you end up starting the year the way we started, the reality is it was tough. But we never gave in to that, the players never gave in to that. I think when you look at the way the team is fighting, competing, you really should be proud of that. No one likes to lose." As the Jaguars continued to lose, Del Rio said it "was not even close" that he lost the locker room. He said he addressed the team after finding out about his firing Tuesday morning. I told them they need to continue to do the right things," said Del Rio. "That even when it didn't feel good, even it when it doesn't go the way you like, fight for what's right, there's something worthwhile there. Having the courage to stay strong when things are tough, it speaks to your character. I encouraged them to continue, because they've been doing that for me." Source: NFL.com
granted, it's going to be hard for anyone to win in jacksonville with a weak front office/lack of talent, but del rio lost that locker room a couple of years ago.
