JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- The Jacksonville Jaguars hired a new head coach, finalized their coaching staff and should have a new general manager in place by the end of the coming week, just in time for the NFL scouting combine.

The team held virtual interviews for 10 external candidates last week, and the plan is to name no more than five finalists -- including interim GM Ethan Waugh -- and bring them in for in-person interviews next week, according to a team source.

The Jaguars leave for the combine in Indianapolis on Feb. 24, and on-field drills begin Feb. 26.

Among the candidates they interviewed virtually were: Josh Williams (49ers director of scouting/football operations), Terrance Gray (Bills director of player personnel), James Gladstone (Rams director of scouting strategy), Trey Brown (Bengals senior personnel executive), Chad Alexander (Chargers assistant GM), John Robinson (former Titans GM), Brandon Brown (Giants assistant GM), Ian Cunningham (Bears assistant GM), Jon-Eric Sullivan (Packers VP of player personnel), and Champ Kelly (Raiders assistant GM).

The Jaguars and former GM Trent Baalke parted ways on Jan. 22, just hours after head coaching candidate Liam Coen decided to pull his name from consideration and return to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The team then re-engaged talks with Coen and reached an agreement to hire him as head coach the next day. The Jaguars also added Hall of Famer and former player Tony Boselli as executive VP of football operations.

Now that the organizational structure is nearly finalized, the Jaguars will set their sights on how to improve the team on the field.

Here are three areas they might focus on:

Fixing defense's major issue

One of the priorities for new defensive coordinator Anthony Campanile is fixing the defense's turnover problem. The Jaguars forced a league-low nine turnovers in 2024, including six interceptions, which was another league-low.

It will take a mindset change and a greater attention to detail this offseason, Campanile said, specifically in studying individual players' ball security.

"Is a guy late to the tuck after he catches the ball?" Campanile said. "Does he carry the ball on his inside arm, near the sideline? Is he a guy that switches the ball on traffic? Is the ball off his body? Is he an elbow-out runner? Those are the guys that you want to target, and you want to target them in specific ways.

"So, to me, there is a little bit of -- I don't want to say a science to that, but certainly a technique and a coaching philosophy to that."

The 2024 defense was composed of mostly the same starters that forced 27 turnovers in each of the two previous seasons (ranking tied for eighth in 2023 and tied for fourth in 2022). Nine of last year's starters were the same in 2023 and eight of last year's starters were the same in 2022.

They just didn't play well enough last season.

Campanile said he has already made turnovers a major point of emphasis in the short time the staff has been together.

"We've talked about this as a defensive staff. I don't want any drills that don't end without a tackle or a takeaway or an attempt at a takeaway because every play is going to end that way," Campanile said. "That's what we're shooting for. We're shooting for violent finish on a tackle violently, trying to separate somebody from the ball when the ball's in the air or violently trying to take the ball away at the point of attack.

"We need to be drilling that every day, and that's on me to make sure we are."

Decisions on top pass-catchers

The first two major questions the new regime faces are what to do with receiver Christian Kirk and tight end Evan Engram.

Both are under contract through 2025, but the Jaguars could save a combined $17 million by releasing both.

Kirk set career highs in catches (84), yards (1,108) and TDs (eight) in his first season in Jacksonville in 2022 working mainly out of the slot, but he has missed 14 games over the past two seasons because of groin and collarbone injuries.

Since his breakout year, he has 84 catches for 1,166 yards and four TDs combined in 2023-24 and the team drafted his eventual replacement in sixth-round pick Parker Washington in 2024.

Washington has been decent (48 catches, 522 yards, five TDs in 26 games) in the slot but has shown promise as a punt returner (15 yards per return on 18 punt returns with one TD).

Kirk is due $15.5 million in 2025 with a cap hit of $24.4 million, and he has two voidable years (2026-27) on his contract. A restructure isn't out of the question. Cutting him would save the Jaguars $10.73 million.

Engram also set career highs in catches (73) and yards (766) in his first season in Jacksonville in 2022, then topped that with 114 catches for 963 yards in 2023. Zach Ertz is the only tight end to catch more passes in a single season (116) in NFL history.

However, Engram missed eight games last season because of hamstring and labrum injuries, the latter which required surgery, and averaged a career-low 7.8 yards per catch on 47 receptions.

Engram is due $14.75 million in 2025 ($1.5 million becomes fully guaranteed on March 16) and cutting him would save $6.25 million.

However, that would leave only one tight end on the roster under contract for 2025: Brenton Strange. The team's second-round pick in 2023 finished third on the team with 40 catches and second with 411 yards last season.

Other impending free-agent decisions

Quarterbacks Mac Jones and C.J. Beathard are scheduled to become free agents, so there are no backups currently under contract for 2025. Jones didn't rule out returning to his hometown team as the backup again in 2025, but he also would like to find a place where he can compete to be the starter.

One name to watch if the Jaguars do move on from Jones and Beathard: Kyle Trask. He backed up Baker Mayfield the past two seasons in Tampa and is familiar with Coen's offense.

It is likely the team will move on from 33-year-old right guard Brandon Scherff (whose contract expires) to get someone younger. But the team can't count on Cooper Hodges, once considered Scherff's replacement, as he is recovering from a second major knee injury in two seasons.

The Jaguars have about $32 million in salary cap space and aren't likely to be major players in free agency. However, right guard and safety are two spots where they could be active.

A veteran who could start for a year or two gives the Jaguars flexibility to not necessarily have to draft a guard this year. There are multiple players the Jaguars could pursue, such as Minnesota Vikings' Dalton Risner (29) and Arizona Cardinals' Evan Brown (28), both of whom Spotrac.com projects to have a market value of $5 million or less annually.

The Jaguars signed safety Darnell Savage last season and planned to play him almost exclusively at nickel, but the coverage busts in the back end were so problematic the Jaguars moved him to safety and benched Cisco for three of the final five games. Savage could remain at safety in 2025 with second-year cornerback Jarrian Jones starting at nickel.

Fellow safety Antonio Johnson similarly struggled with coverage issues so the Jaguars could opt to upgrade there in free agency rather than the draft, especially if they prioritize other positions first (such as defensive tackle, cornerback, offensive line).