Jaguars' New Regime Is Shad Khan's Biggest Bet Yet

With the hire of James Gladstones as general manager, Liam Coen as head coach and Tony Boselli as EVP, Shad Khan is taking a big roll of the dice on the exciting new regime.

Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Liam Coen, left, speaks next to Jacksonville Jaguars Hall of Famer Tony Boselli Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025 at EverBank Stadium in Jacksonville, Fla. Jaguars fans got a chance to see the new head coach speak and give a warm welcome at the stadium. | Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Jacksonville Jaguars have set their new path.

With the hire of 34-year-old James Gladstone as their new general manager, the Jaguars have officially defined their new future. They have embraced a bold direction. One they have never quite gone down before.

Gladstone is the definition of a wunderkind; he has spent the last nine years working for the Los Angeles Rams, serving as a close assistant to general manager Les Snead after Snead gave him his start in the NFL.

The Rams have been at the forefront of the NFL for the last eight years with Snead and head coach Sean McVay at the helm. They went with a full youth movement when they hired McVay in 2017, and it has helped the franchise become one of the most cutting edge and successful teams in the NFL since.

Now, the Jaguars are taking a chapter out of their book as owner Shad Khan makes his biggest bet yet. A bet on potential. A bet that, if it pays off, could help the Jaguars become the AFC version of what the Rams set out to be.

It is a big bet, of course. If it was easy to find the next McVay, every team would do it. But in Gladstone, the Jaguars now have a general manager who, while young, has seen and been a part of everything the Rams have done during the McVay era.

They also have a new head coach in Liam Coen who, like McVay in 2017, is taking over for a pained franchise after the failures of a veteran head coach. What he lacks in experience, he offers in energy, offensive prowess, and most importantly hope.

On top of all of this, the Jaguars also have a first-time offensive coordinator in Grant Udinski, a first time defensive coordinator in Anthony Campanile, and a first-time front office executive in Executive Vice President of Football Operations Tony Boselli.

With a new energy inside EverBank Stadium and the Miller Electric Center, the Jaguars are hoping their youthfulness will become not a detriment, but a defining feature of what they are building toward. It worked for the Rams, and the hope is it can work in Jacksonville.

Khan has tried everything else before; rising defensive coaches, experienced head coaches, stars from the college ranks, retread general managers. None of it has worked up to this point, and he is now looking in one of the only places he hasn't before.

The Jaguars have now completed the major revamping and makeover of their franchise. Now, it is time to see how Khan's bet pays off.

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