As the Jaguars’ Great Head Coaching Search enters a third weekend, a few thoughts on them and the developments around the NFL:

1. The Jaguars have basically made the fallback candidate a serious option.

Amazing, isn’t it? Two weeks ago, Doug Marrone was viewed as the interim coach and interim coach only – he would lead the Jaguars through the last two games and then move on. He had an official interview this week. But now he’s generating buzz.

But that’s what happens when they decided to interview Marrone before they could get an appointment with Josh McDaniels and Kyle Shanahan. If Marrone wasn’t a serious option, they would have waited until next weekend and a circle-back talk with him.

Promoting a coach from within on a 3-13 team wouldn’t be totally unprecedented – last year, the Giants and Tampa Bay moved up Ben McAdoo and Dirk Koetter, respectively, after 6-10 seasons.

2. The Jaguars’ head start meant nothing.

The Jaguars have been without a full-time head coach since Dec. 18, giving them a two-week head start.

The only way it would have been beneficial was if Tom Coughlin had been introduced as the new coach on Friday.

It will be fascinating to hear what role the search firm played in this process; they were in place by Dec. 24.

Now, the guess: Team 1 will get its guy and the Jaguars will shift into overdrive and make the second hire.

3. The Jaguars’ coaching staff remains in place … for now.

The Jaguars staff is under contract through 2017 but have the freedom to pursue other opportunities as long as they keep management in the loop.

Where this comes into play: If teams start filling their vacancies and begin building staffs or Gus Bradley is hired as a defensive coordinator by a team, the Jaguars would be hard-pressed to prevent staff members from leaving before they can give them a definite answer on their status here. (They let assistant coaches leave after the 2012 season before Bradley was hired.)

4. San Francisco’s coaching post could become more attractive quickly.

If the 49ers are able to convince Green Bay director of football operations Eliot Wolf to be their general manager, their coaching job becomes a lot better.

Wolf, the 36-year old son of Pro Football Hall of Fame general manager Ron Wolf, is respected in league circles and was on Detroit’s radar last year before they hired New England’s Bob Quinn.

The 49ers hiring Wolf would be a coup and could sway Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels to San Francisco.

5. San Diego and Denver are the only teams thinking outside the box.

Highly respected Kansas City special teams coach Dave Toub is expected to meet with the Chargers and the Broncos.

The other four teams, reportedly, have stuck with the coordinator/ex-head coach options.

The Jaguars always profess to be bold, but that would only mean a college head coach or an NFL position coach. It doesn’t appear they’re heading in either direction. The Jaguars are making a mistake in not expressing interest in Redskins offensive coordinator Sean McVay.

What could really spice up the Jaguars’ search is if they want to talk to Pittsburgh offensive coordinator Todd Haley.

6. Indianapolis standing pat helps the Jaguars.

Had the Colts job opened, they would have been positioned second on our list of attractive jobs, behind Denver. Chuck Pagano remains in place, though.

The only team experiencing worse optics than the Jaguars this week is Indianapolis, whose owner (Jim Irsay) has remained silent in not announcing Pagano’s status; Jaguars owner Shad Khan’s silence (the team isn’t even confirming interviews after they take place) shouldn’t encourage fan optimism.