Jaguars' Shad Khan on the Future and Urban Meyer: ‘I Want To Do the Right Thing for the Team’
Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shad Khan is not one to make impulsive decisions — especially not in the 10 years he has owned one of the NFL's 32 franchises and has navigated multiple coaching and front office changes. And when it comes to embattled head coach Urban Meyer, Khan's strategy doesn't appear likely to change.
"To me, I want to do the right thing for the team. I want to do the right thing for the city. That, to me, is way more important than just acting helter-skelter on emotion," Khan told local Jacksonville media on Monday evening.
"So, I think, we have a history of looking at the facts and doing the right thing. Gus Bradley was here four years. Doug Marrone was here four years. So, you know, wins and losses and, you know, this is a little bit different. I’m going to reflect on all of that and do what’s the right thing for the team and the right thing for the city.”
To state that this year is "a little bit different" would be an accurate account from Khan, who hired Meyer as head coach in January and effectively gave Meyer the power to mold the Jaguars in his image.
After a series of reports about Meyer having run-ins with staff members and players alike and a 2-11 start, which included a 20-0 shutout loss against the team's most bitter rival in the Tennessee Titans in Week 14, the Jaguars have come under the full microscope both nationally and locally.
Meyer, who was a controversial hire after a long run of success and problematic behavior at the college level, was lauded as a career-winner who would rebuild the Jaguars' organization from the ground up after a decade of losing. Instead, there have only been losses (two different five-game losing streaks) and controversies, ranging from the Chris Doyle hire to the recent reports of Meyer butting heads with veteran players such as Marvin Jones, which Meyer denies.
“What concerns me is obviously wins and losses. But hey, we’re sitting here, we haven’t had a lot of wins, OK. What’s different about this thing is you have losses and you have drama," Khan said on Monday. "In the past, it was like, you were, quote, it’s like the lowly Jaguars and everyone left you alone. Now, the scrutiny we have is really something different. So how much of that is we’re bringing it upon ourselves, or how much of that is deserved, or how much of that is.
Still, Khan has always been known to be one of the more patient owners in the NFL, something many in league circles pointed to as a reason the Jaguars' job was attractive in the offseason. He fired Mike Mularkey after one season on the urging of newly-hired general manager Dave Caldwell, but both Gus Bradley and Doug Marrone were given four seasons apiece on the job despite just one winning season between them.
Khan also has kept long leashes on front office regimes, giving Caldwell eight years in the general manager role and keeping former front office czar Tom Coughlin one year longer in the front office than many thought he should have gotten. Khan's approach to the team has changed since the Coughlin days, with Khan now having more roster control in the sense that he is in communication about who is coming and going.
"You know, in this case, Urban, he won wherever he was. This is something he’s never dealt with. And when you win in football, you create enemies. The only way you can really deal with that is you got to win again," Khan said.
"So, there is, I wish there was a panacea. But whether you’re micromanaging or, you know, it’s like one thing I’ve dealt with. Where is abdication and where is delegation? Where’s that line? After what I think was reported with free agents and Tom Coughlin, it was like, OK, maybe I need to be more engaged."
When it comes to discontent among the Jaguars' locker room, that is nothing new for Khan, either. He has seen a locker room essentially spend a day celebrating following the firing of Coughlin, a respected but firm disciplinarian who overstepped some authoritative boundaries.
Now Khan will have to determine how the locker room and the rest of the pieces fit together moving forward, though he won't do so by reading any reports from sources. Instead, Khan said he will do his own due diligence and communicate with players on his own accord.
"I have an open line with the players. I’m at the team meetings the night before the games. I talk to the players then. I’m in the locker room. So, I’m not living in a vacuum. I talk to the other coaches," Khan said.
"That aspect of what is real, what’s impacting. There’ve been reports in the past that Doug as fired and that was a big scoop, what-have-you. So it was nothing like that. I’m not impulsive. I learned that a long time ago with anything that’s this important. You don’t want to be impulsive. You want to look at exactly what I know first-hand, what people are telling me, and then collect that and do the right thing."
Whether Khan retains Meyer for a second season will soon be the most impactful decision Khan has made in his decade as an owner. The former Florida and Ohio State head coach hasn't formed many allies at the NFL level and the wins have been few and far between, with the Jaguars now slotted to pick No. 2 in the NFL Draft just a year after going 1-15, the worst record in franchise history.
Khan's decision over the next month -- which based on his past actions as owner, would likely happen after the season -- is one that will be made with wins and losses in mind. Meyer was hired to be a winner instantly and change the Jaguars' culture. Instead, the Jaguars' losing has continued and the negative headlines are at an all-time high. What that means for his future and the future of the Jaguars remains to be seen, but it will be Khan who has to decide that.
“No, I mean, to me, and that was a very, very important to me when we hired this year, when somebody comes in and says I have this plan, four-year plan or something like that, uh, no. Heh-heh. The plan is you need to start winning now, okay, and tell me what you need and that’s what we’re going to do. Because that is absolutely a trap I don’t believe falling in," Khan said.
"This year it was, we were blessed with No. 1 pick and generational talent, I believe that, so we wanted to choose wisely. I think we did. And then, okay, look at all the picks we had. Five in the first 65. You’ve got to have players who are starter quality or definitely going to make a difference. We signed free agents, et cetera, et cetera. I feel we have a roster that is far better than winning two games.”
