New Era: 5 Observations on Jaguars Owner Shad Khan's Season-Ending Press Conference
Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shad Khan spoke for roughly 25 minutes on Monday, just an hour after former head coach Doug Marrone was informed of his firing.
In the near-half hour, Khan touched on a variety of topics such as the quarterback position, Urban Meyer, the decision to fire Marrone, and more. To say Khan made his fair share of revealing comments would be underselling the occasion. Monday served as the official launch of the reset of the Jaguars and Khan explained what his vision for that reset is.
But what stood out the most about what Khan said on Monday? We weigh in for our five biggest observations.
Shad Khan is reversing his ownership strategy in a big way
If there is one thing that Shad Khan did on Monday, it was ensure the Jaguars would be moving dramatically away from how they have operated in the past. Perhaps not wildly different compared to how they have operated in the past year considering Khan has been more active in the post-Tom Coughlin era, but still a big change.
Khan is doing what many on the outside have long wondered if he would do; he has taken control of the Jaguars. It is Khan's franchise and he made this known Monday, quite the contrast from his previous hands-off ownership style in which he let his football personnel run the show.
“Well, I’ve gone through the rite of passage as a new owner coming into the league. The advisors, consultants, whatever, we did that. This time around, I think I have a much better sense myself. So I am the key decision-maker, but we do have people at the Jaguars," Khan said when asked about the search process for head coach and general manager. "Mark Lamping would be one who will be working with these people, so they will be involved from that viewpoint. But when it comes to who the key decision maker is going to be, I mean, you’re looking at him.”
The last line is what sticks out the most. Khan has too often delegated major decisions to those he has entrusted his team with. He did it with both Dave Caldwell and Tom Coughlin, with Coughlin especially running rampant with the responsibility. Khan was seemingly a step behind far too often when it came to the Jaguars in recent years. On Monday, he ensured he will no longer be reacting and walking behind. Instead, he will be leading the charge into the future.
Whether this is the right strategy will be determined by time, but it is at least a major change from Khan's past operating style. Khan also made the important point that the next head coach and general manager will each report directly to him, which is the same power structure the Jaguars had in 2020 but vastly different than past power structures the Jaguars have deployed.
Khan's comments on "roster control" were picked apart for the wrong reasons
When Khan said on Monday that he had control over the Jaguars' roster since Coughlin was fired, and would continue to have that power, a lot of eyebrows were understandably raised. The idea of an NFL owner with relatively limited experience compared to others in the league dictating roster decisions is a curious one, and it received the response most would expect. The only thing is, the comment was picked apart for all the wrong reasons.
For the sake of clarity, below are Khan's comments on roster control.
"I think I can also share with you that last season, especially after Tom [Coughlin]’s departure, he had the roster control, so I kept the roster control. The candidates, the general manager candidates, I’ve been talking to them, [I told them that] for the immediate future I’m going to keep the roster control. I want the coach to know that also. It’s not really [about] who’s coming in, but it’s to really have a rhythm that everybody’s aligned on who might be leaving the team and who might be coming in, at least for the immediate future. Those are some of nuances that I want to make sure that everybody’s on board with because I think it’s really important here that we don’t head off in a wrong direction with an imbalance in power, for lack of a better word. So I hope that kind of explains some of the logic.”
"The roster control is [because] you don’t want players going in and out or contracts given until you’re aware of that. So striking the balance between delegation and abdication, I think, is an important point. Certainly, I found that in the last 15 months, having that necessitates a conversation, you’re part of the conversation with the GM and the head coach. So being part of that here for the immediate future I think is important to me.”
So yes, Khan says he has roster control moving forward, but this certainly doesn't read like an owner who is deciding who the swing tackle or nickel cornerback are going to be. Instead, it reads more like an owner who wasn't in the major conversations too often in the past and wants that to change. Considering the mass exodus of Jaguars stars since the 2017 season ended, this is logical.
But the reason this should have been picked apart has nothing to do with that. Instead, Khan should have caught flak for having to step up his influence in the Jaguars' building to begin with. Khan was so distant and hands-off as an owner, especially during the Coughlin tenure, that the organization was simply run in a dysfunctional way. Him having a voice in major decisions should have already been happening; the fact that it wasn't is likely a good reason why the Jaguars have lost 36 of their last 48 games and have lost more star power than some teams ever find.
Khan is keenly aware of the opportunity facing him and the Jaguars
Jacksonville has been looking for a new general manager for over a month now, while the search for a new head coach officially kicked off with Doug Marrone's firing on Monday. To say there has been widespread attention drawn to just how attractive the Jaguars are due to their cap space, young talent, the number of draft picks and ownership of No. 1 overall pick would be an understatement.
Khan knows this is a rarity, at least for the Jaguars. And from the sounds of it, it doesn't appear that he is shying away from embracing the newfound interest in his team, especially considering how much more interest there is in the job compared to 2013 when the Jaguars were last looking for a new head coach/general manager combo.
"Well, I certainly think there’s a huge amount of interest in this, much more so than the last time around. And I also look at really—we’re in a much different, and I would say a better position today than we were a year ago," Khan said. "A little over a year ago, as you well know—and I think you reported—we did have team disharmony and we were—for lack of a better word—salary cap hell. I think today, I frankly thought that we would do better. We won six games last year [2019], but you know, certainly we have a lot of salary cap availability along with the draft picks and obviously the number one pick. But what’s evaded the history of the Jags, really, has been a franchise quarterback. And I think what’s unique, certainly, is that we have the ability now to make a choice and it’s going to define the franchise moving forward.”
Khan has never faced bigger decisions as owner. The Jaguars have frankly never had a bigger offseason. It isn't often a team can create head coach/general manager/quarterback synergy all in one offseason, let alone with the No. 1 overall pick, but that is exactly what Khan and the Jaguars are facing now. It appears he knows the magnitude of these decisions -- now he just has to make the right ones.
Don't expect a quick hire at head coach
The position that has attracted the most attention has undoubtedly been Jacksonville's head coach vacancy, which is ironic considering the job just opened up at the start of Monday. The biggest reason the national attention around the Jaguars' coaching job has heated up has been the rumored links to former Florida Gators and Ohio State Buckeyes head coach Urban Meyer.
But despite this, it sure didn't sound like the Jaguars are going to have a quick interview and hiring process. Khan unsurprisingly shot down the Meyer rumor, but the impression on Monday was that Khan wants to cast a wide net in his search. As we mentioned in the previous point, this is a major decision that will impact the Jaguars for a decade-plus. The newest No. 1 overall pick will have the early portion of his career partially defined by this hire. As a result, it doesn't feel like the Jaguars are going to sprint into a head coaching decision.
"Well first of all, on timing, I think this is something that we’re not doing that often, so we’re going to take our time to make sure we"’ve looked far and wide and really at a whole variety of candidates," Khan said. So I really can’t give you the timing, unless when it’s right, obviously, we’ll be sharing it with you. Now, on the general manager search, I mean, we’ve interviewed people who were available. But there are a number of them who are unavailable due to the league rules, and today we’ll be turning in our request to be able to interview some of those. So really, this process is going to be running in parallel and certainly, we’ll keep you [updated] whenever we have something worthwhile.”
Lock in a quarterback at No. 1 overall
There was never any doubt about this, but it was still remarkable in a way to listen to Khan talk about the quarterback position on Monday. He approached each answer as if the Jaguars already have their future franchise quarterback in the building, even though this is clearly far from the case. This is in large part because Khan has seen what the lack of a franchise quarterback has done to the Jaguars during his tenure. This makes it no surprise that Khan would hammer home the importance of a quarterback in a year in which he has the No. 1 overall pick.
"One of the things or concerns I had [was that] we’ve had six starting quarterbacks over the last three years. It’s very clear that obviously that’s been something sorely missing, how we would develop them, and what is the criteria on that," Khan said.
Who that quarterback will be is likely a better question than "will they draft a quarterback," but it is still a question with a simple answer. Khan talked on Monday as if the Jaguars already have their eyes set on their newest face of the franchise, and it would be a shock if that isn't Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence.
