Jaguars GM James Gladstone Sounds Off on His Meteoric Rise

The Jacksonville Jaguars entered the offseason needing a new head coach and a new general manager not long after that. Jacksonville took many weeks to hire their new general manager, giving the process ample time to play out.

After a thorough search, Jaguars owner Shad Khan hired James Gladstone as the team's next general manager, making the 34-year-old one of the youngest GM hires in National Football League history.

Gladstone and Jaguars head coach Liam Coen spent time together while both were with the Los Angeles Rams and will do so again in Jacksonville in roles that work more closely together. Gladstone and Coen are among the youngest in the league at their respective positions. Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer believes Khan likely viewed this as a positive thing as the NFL continues to move into the future.

Gladstone opened up about his journey from barely knowing whether or not he wanted to work in the league long-term to becoming the Jaguars' general manager. His decision to stick with the Rams and learn the ropes has paid off handsomely.

"I think, first and foremost, Les [L.A. Rams general manager Les Snead] is unapologetically himself. He offers that same luxury to anybody he comes in contact with, and that is something that I think is one of the best things on planet Earth, to simply be able to be yourself. That's what drew me to him," Gladstone said.

"Even though I was pursuing a career as a high school teacher and football coach, one that I really wanted to embark on from a young age, and pivoted to a different path simply for the sake that I could find somebody that I wanted to learn from and support. It's been a fantastic nine years, being able to be alongside him for that journey and really building the L.A. Rams into what they are today.

"As we transition then into this conversation around, hey, is it now time for us to consider what comes next, it was never going to be something that I brought up. It was only until he raised his hand and said, it's time. At that point, when this became available when he knew that it would be a match with Liam, with Tony and everybody else that you see up here, that's when we began to accelerate sort of the progress of transitioning into the next phase and becoming a general manager.”

Gladstone and the rest of the Jaguars' front office have plenty of work to do this offseason and over the next few offseasons. It will be imperative that he hits the ground running.

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