5 Takeaways From Jaguars Owner Shad Khan's Statement on Tom Coughlin

When Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shad Khan released a statement to correspond with the firing of executive vice president of football operations Tom Coughlin, it was one of the bigger moments of his tenure as team owner.

Khan laid out why he decided to fire Coughlin with less than two weeks left in the season instead of firing him at the end of the season or even potentially letting him retire on his own terms, but he also gave fans a glimpse into how he sees the state of his football team.

Below is the statement in full:

"Within the past hour I informed Tom Coughlin that he was being relieved of his duties as Executive Vice President of Football Operations of the Jacksonville Jaguars, effective this evening. I determined earlier this fall that making this move at the conclusion of the 2019 season would be in everyone’s best interests but, in recent days, I reconsidered and decided to make this change immediately. I thank Tom for his efforts, not only over the past three years but for all he did from our very first season, 25 years ago, to put the Jacksonville Jaguars on the map. General Manager Dave Caldwell and Head Coach Doug Marrone will each report directly to me on an interim basis. My expectations, and those of our fans, for our final two games and the 2020 season are high. "

So when examining the statement further, what can we take away from Khan's message?

1. Tom Coughlin was never going to return in 2020.

Many wondered over the last several weeks if Coughlin was going to retain his position past 2020 and even potentially handpick the team's next head coach. But this was seemingly never in the cards, according to Khan's statement.

Khan said that he decided earlier this fall that firing Coughlin when the 2019 season ended would be in the best interest of everyone, which is both the team and Coughlin himself. This means that sometime in the past 14 weeks, at most, Khan had decided Coughlin wouldn't be in the team's long-term plans. This would be the timeline for Khan's decision likely around the time of the Jalen Ramsey trade.

2. Shad Khan's hand was forced by the recent NFLPA statement.

Why did Khan decide to fire Coughlin now instead of the end of the season as he originally planned? Khan didn't explicitly say why, but it isn't too hard to connect the dots.

Just two days before Coughlin was fired, the NFL Players Association hammered Jacksonville for how the team has circumvented certain player union rules. The NFLPA said that due to Jacksonville fining players for things they are not allowed to enforce, such as mandating players get injury treatment at team facilities in the offseason, it hard overstepped boundaries. The NFLPA said over 25% of grievances filed over the last two years have been filed against the Jaguars, and specifically warned players from signing with Jacksonville in the future.

Khan simply couldn't let Coughlin remain after this, even for another two weeks. It was a black eye on the organization and had the ability to cause serious long-term damage to the team's reputation.

3. The power structure in Jacksonville is a new one.

Now that Coughlin is no longer in the fold, general manager Dave Caldwell and head coach Doug Marrone are answering to Khan directly instead of reporting to the Super Bowl-winning coach.

“I have always had conversations with Coach [Tom Coughlin]. With Shad, we have talked obviously, but nothing out of the ordinary," Marrone said Thursday. "Everyone knows I reported to Tom."

This new power structure may only last two more games, but it is a fresh one for Marrone during his Jaguars tenure. Caldwell had reported to Khan from 2013-2016, but Marrone always answered to Coughlin.

4. The door may be open for Dave Caldwell and Doug Marrone to return.

When Khan said he has high expectations for the next two games and for 2020, it would make sense to infer that this means there is at least a slight chance for Caldwell and Marrone to return if they can perform over the next two weeks. Khan also didn't remove either of the two from their positions as he did with Coughlin, so it shows he at least perceives the team's current 5-9 record as more reflective on Coughlin than anyone.

It wouldn't make much sense for Khan to make a decision on his 2020 leadership based off of a two-game sample size, but the door is at least cracked open it would seem.

5. Despite the door being open, Khan gave no confirmation on job security past 2019.

Khan has put out statements before about keeping a leadership group together instead of firing them, such as last season when he provided a statement on retaining Coughlin, Caldwell, and Marrone. This time though, he provided no such guarantees on anyone keeping their jobs past 2019.

The door might be open for Caldwell and Marrone to return, but if Khan was sold on the idea already it would make sense for him to outright state there would be no changes. Instead, Khan said the two would report to him on an interim basis.