



JACKSONVILLE -- Given time to think, Gus Bradley opted for change.

That was the Jaguars' head coach's assessment Monday, two days after firing offensive coordinator Greg Olson and replacing him with quarterbacks coach Nathaniel Hackett.

Bradley, speaking publicly for the first time since Saturday's announcement, said there was no particular "final straw" that led to the decision – and that he spoke with Jaguars Owner Shad Khan and General Manager David Caldwell before making the move.

"I just felt like the offense needed to be stimulated more in certain areas," Bradley said Monday afternoon in a press conference at EverBank Field, adding, "I just wasn't confident that it would go back in the right direction" had Olson been retained.

"I looked at it and said, 'You know what? Offensively, I'm not sure what's going to change next week,''' Bradley added. "I just didn't feel where we were going. I just couldn't grasp in my mind that the results were going to change if we continue going in this direction.

"I just didn't feel like personality-, philosophy wise, the change would take place."

Bradley said while Hackett will bring a "different feel" to the offense, scheme and verbiage will remain the same.

"That transition will be relatively smooth, but it will different in how we go about things," Bradley said, adding that how players are utilized could change, too.

Bradley called Olson "a great friend and a great coach," calling their relationship "very good."

"He did some very good things for us and was a tremendous asset," Bradley said. "I just think that with our team and where we're at right now – the direction we wanted to go – we just wanted to have a different vision. … After going through a lot of things it became clearer to me the direction we wanted to go.

"It wasn't anything between players and coaches. It wasn't anything like that. I just felt strongly that this was the direction."

Bradley said the move was made in the interest of what is best for the team, and added that Hackett was not involved in discussions until after the decision was made.

"It kind of caught him off guard," Bradley said, adding that Hackett's direction "meshed with what we needed at this point."

The Jaguars rank 26th in the NFL in total yardage and have scored six first-half points in the last three games. Six of their 15 touchdowns this season have come when trailing by at least 17 points.

"We want to play hard, we want to play fast and we want to play together; I haven't seen that part offensively this year," Bradley said. "I want to see us play at that level. It seemed at times it was an offense that grew with every opportunity more and more frustrated. I didn't know if that could change."

Jaguars quarterback Blake Bortles, after throwing for 35 touchdowns with 18 interceptions in 2015 in his first season working with Olson, has thrown 12 touchdowns and nine interceptions this season. He has thrown for fewer than 75 yards in the first half of the last two games.

"I think it's a great relationship with Nathaniel and Blake," Bradley said. "I think that's important. I think Blake feels comfortable. It's challenging for him. He cared about Oley (Olson) and Oley was a big part of his success, personally. At the same time he's very excited about Nathaniel. They spend a lot of time together. It's going to be a good transition. They're on the same page. I think that part will be beneficial to Blake."

The Jaguars lost to the Tennessee Titans, 36-22, last Thursday after trailing 27-0 at halftime. They had been outgained 354-60 at that point. With three extra days between that game and Sunday's road game at Kansas City, Bradley said he used the weekend for evaluation.

"I looked at a lot of things that were taking place," Bradley said. "As the weekend went on, or the day went on, things became clearer."

Bradley early Friday afternoon said on a conference call with local media he planned no staff changed. He said Monday he wanted to go through a full evaluation and that he didn't want to lead to speculation by voicing uncertainty early Friday.

"We started putting some things together, and then it went more in that direction," Bradley said. "I didn't know where the direction would take me. I didn't know what was going to take place. I didn't want to lead to speculation, nor at that time did I think there was going to be a coaching change."

Bradley said the decision was his and not that of Khan or Caldwell.