Tom Coughlin’s time in Jacksonville was ending, but did it have to end like this?

Pro Football Talk reported on Wednesday that Coughlin was planning to step down as the Jaguars’ executive vice president next week. Owner Shad Khan told the website that they did not give Coughlin a chance to resign before axing him unceremoniously on Wednesday.

Coughlin’s first season back in Jacksonville saw the team stunningly reach the AFC Championship game, losing a heartbreaker to the eventual champion Patriots. But the past two seasons they have gone 10-20 since and now have Nick Foles’ $88 million contract hanging over them.

But more than the losing, it was Coughlin’s rigid nature — which led to player unrest and lost grievances — that pushed Khan into firing the former Giants coach two weeks before the season ended.

The NFLPA sent a letter to every player in the league after former player Dante Fowler filed a grievance over $700,000 in fines he received for not receiving offseason rehab treatments in Jacksonville. The note, according to ESPN.com, warned players against signing with the Jaguars, alleging that one-quarter of players’ grievances were against the Jaguars.

There were whispers that Coughlin’s meeting with Jalen Ramsey was the driving force behind the cornerback’s push out of Jacksonville that ended with him being traded to the Rams.

The early firing, though, has led to some confusion on the futures of head coach Doug Marrone and GM Dave Caldwell, both of whom may be fired by Khan after the season. And what of the 73-year-old Coughlin?

He put a happy face on the end of his tenure with a pleasant statement thanking the Jaguars for the opportunity. Agent Sandy Montag indicated, though, that this is not Coughlin’s final football act.

“The only thing I would say is there is plenty of football left in Tom Coughlin,” Montag told ESPN.com.

It’s unclear where that opportunity will come. In between the Giants and Jaguars, Coughlin worked as a senior adviser to football operations for the NFL. A soft landing with the league could be his best opportunity as his Jaguars failures have become a referendum on whether his strict style still works with today’s players.