The 8 Best Quotes from James Gladstone's Introductory Press Conference

New Jaguars GM will seek 'intangibly rich' players, enter every draft believing he'll bat 1.000

Jacksonville Jaguars General Manager James Gladstone explained what he was bringing to the table during a press conference Monday morning February 24, 2025 at the Miller Electric Center in Jacksonville, Fla. [Doug Engle/Florida Times-Union]2025 / Doug Engle/Florida Times-Union / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

With green eyes to match his sleek sports jacket, a tinge of hair on his upper lip and a tinge of Sean McVay in his mannerisms, James Gladstone met the NFL for the first time as Jacksonville’s new general manager on Monday.

And if Super Bowls were won at introductory press conferences, Gladstone would be raising the Lombardi Trophy on a bus at a Jacksonville parade. Instead, he won the Super Bowl of hope with a convincing, clear vision, a solid plan and authentic leadership as a key figure in Jacksonville’s new structure. Sitting next to Shad Khan, Tony Boselli, Tony Khan and Mark Lamping, Gladstone lit a fire.

The NFL’s youngest general manager at 34, Gladstone didn’t offer an awkward “Duval” over a 41-minute press conference but certainly won plenty of first impressions. Here are the eight best answers he gave before boarding an Indianapolis-bound plane heading to the scouting combine.

Intangibly rich

“I think it's pretty simple from my perspective. We will prioritize people and players that are intangibly rich and, by doing so, they will elevate our ecosystem, our team, by being nothing more than themselves. It's as simple as that.” 

Confident mindset in approaching each draft

“First off, I do think every team has their hits and misses. Nobody bats a thousand. But you absolutely go into a draft thinking that you will.”

Humility means more than age for Gladstone, Coen

“I don't know that we've actually talked about our age at all. The interesting thing, I do think we both start from a place of humility, and I think that that makes a lot of stuff easy and seamless, while at the same time there's this aura of confidence and understanding that we have a dynamic asset, and that is our ability to see what tools are available and apply and execute those within our spheres.

"I don't know that age has ever been something that my mind has ever gone to as a part of this process, and we certainly haven't even brought it up in any conversations.”

Not simply the NFL’s youngest GM but also its most unique

“I think that, yeah, I have a fresh perspective, I'd say; a deep understanding of really the modern tools and mechanisms that are revolutionizing the sport. That'll certainly be something that we leverage here, while at the same time we're walking into the combine this afternoon.

"The current mode of operation is in rhythm. The cadence is in place. My intent here through this initial spring is to really calibrate my own mode of operation to the current mode of operation, insert some specific efficiencies that will help me better understand our group's insights and perspectives, and then assess at the end of this spring what types of things we can roll out into the future. But we'll certainly put the pedal to the metal on a lot of advanced modes of operation.”

Onboarding in real time

“Our group has already been off to the races, so I'm onboarding in real time. We're meeting with the coaching staff and scouting staff here this week at the combine and we'll have a lot of deep discussions around how we'll approach pro free agency throughout this week. That's not honestly atypical. That's what a lot of people do. So, we're not behind in any way, shape or form.”

Draft capital

“The amount of draft capital that we have at our disposal over the next two seasons, it's really exciting about what we can do there, especially knowing that it’s the highest volume of draft capital that exists for any team in the NFL over the next two years. We're coming off two cycles with the Los Angeles Rams where that was the exact same case, 24 picks over the last two drafts. So, really this is a dynamic that I'm uniquely positioned to navigate and really looking forward to utilizing as a means of continuing to develop this roster.” 

Jaguars share commonalities with Rams

“I see a lot of parallels to really my time with the Los Angeles Rams and the current moment in time here with the Jacksonville Jaguars, in particular dating back to sort of the inflection point in 2017 when the Los Angeles Rams were coming off a four-win  season, hired a dynamic and resilient head coach, and  were able to follow that up with a successful season and successful seasons since. So, really going to tap into all those years of experience and the different sorts of modes of operation and models that we deployed.”

Game on

“To the Jaguars fan base, I turn to you. With Liam's vision, with a disciplined approach, we're going to bring you a product that you all can be proud of. And we are so appreciative of your support.  
With that, game on.

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