The NFL is a brutal business. People are fired on their day off or the day before Super Bowl, left with degenerative injuries for life, or even have to play for the Cleveland Browns. It’s rough. So it’s no surprise to see Gus Bradley fired by the Jaguars with time left on his contact, nor is it all that surprising that he then had to ride home from Houston on the team plane.
Former Jaguars HC Gus Bradley will return to Jacksonville on the team charter.
— John Oehser (@JohnOehser) December 18, 2016
What that means is Gus was either fired before he and the team even made it to the tarmac after their latest 21-20 loss to the Texans. The Jags somehow forced two turnovers, returned a kick for a touchdown, got a quarterback benched, allowed just 79 rush yards, and still lost. That’s actually quite impressive, just in all the wrong ways.
So Gus had to suffer through the plane ride of shame, surely making for the most awkward two hours of his 2016. He never quite panned out as a head coach in Jacksonville, tallying a 12-48 record in his four seasons with the team, the worst win percentage for a coach with at least 50 games in the Super Bowl era. Still, Gus will be in demand as a defensive coordinator this offseason as his claim to fame was helping set the foundation for the Seattle Seahawks dominant, Super Bowl-winning defense.
