5 Things We Learned From Jaguars' Owner Shad Khan's Pre-Draft Remarks

There isn't a more important span of time in the history of the Jacksonville Jaguars than what the next three days will bring the team. The upstart franchise has created countless memories for its base, but it has never before kicked off the draft by selecting a franchise quarterback at No. 1 overall like the team will on Thursday.

As a result, it isn't hyperbolic to say this is the defining moment of Jaguars owner Shad Khan's entire tenure. What happens to the Jaguars in the many years that follow Thursday's No. 1 overall pick will be what decides if Khan made the right decisions as an owner this offseason, but it is clear he is embracing the moment for what it is.

Khan spoke to reporters this week about the upcoming draft, holding the No. 1 pick, and new head coach Urban Meyer. When examining Khan's comments, what stood out to us, and what were new discoveries? We bring forth five here.

This is the 'great-to-be-alive kind of moment' of the Shad Khan-owned Jaguars

It isn't unfair to say there haven't been many bright spots on the field during Shad Khan's ownership; the Jaguars have one winning record in nine seasons and a 41-106 record (including postseason) since Khan officially became owner in 2012. 2017 was a ride of euphoria for the entire Jaguars' organization, and they do deserve credit for hitting all of the right buttons and breaks and winning the AFC South and two playoff games that season.

Otherwise, though, there weren't many times worth celebrating for the Jaguars. 2020 was the worst season in franchise history, with the Jaguars earning the No. 1 overall pick due to a 1-15 record and a franchise-worst 15-game losing streak. For Khan and the Jaguars' base, those days are potentially over starting at 8 p.m. on Thursday night. Once the team turns the card in for No. 1 overall pick (presumably to select Clemson's Trevor Lawrence), the team will finally be moving onto a new chapter.

"It’s been a great week. Frankly, it’s been a great month since, or really a great couple of months because, since the process started, you know, obviously with Urban and Trent, and then seeing how they’re approaching free agency, and how some of the other ones, how you build the team," Khan said.

"If this isn’t a moment to enjoy for me to enjoy and for all the Jags fans, you need more coffee. Or you need something else. This is a great-to-be-alive kind of moment, frankly.”

The Jaguars haven't had many of those moments in the last nine years, but Thursday should genuinely count as one.

Khan opened up to the root flaws of the last regime's failures

Khan has hinted in the past at some of the issues the last Jaguars' regime had. There were transparency and accountability issues (more on that later), and instances where decision-makers and other members of the organization simply weren't on the same page. This week, Khan once again opened up about the root flaws of the last regime and its failures to build a consistent winner.

"So I said what I’m going to do I’m hopefully not going to have to do this very often, I’m going to talk with an open mind with a lot of people. And I’ve seen enough of what works as a structure, what doesn’t work as a structure, so we were able to get those rules really clear," Khan said.

"You've got to have logic and hard work and transparency. A part of the problem we've had is all the work that was done, if it was done, hadn't been talked about. So, you still had surprises in the draft room. The work that's been done and the engagement really by all of the people has been quite amazing."

This isn't the first time Khan has brought up this issue and it is clear that he wanted to up his involvement in terms of being an active part of the conversation moving forward as a result. He has tried it the other way, and it resulted in plenty of losing football.

A detailed process is the trait Urban Meyer has brought that has stood out the most

"The process" is often a cliché term in sports, but there were legitimate times in the past few years where it seemed like the Jaguars didn't have a completely fleshed-out process of decision-making. As a result, it is far from a surprise that the thing that has stood out to Khan about Meyer has been the process he and his regime have conducted when they have set out to start the rebuild of the Jaguars. Meyer is experiencing most things for the first time on the NFL level, but he was hired because of his process of team-building. So far, that is what has stood out to Khan before the top pick.

"Devil's in the details," Khan said. "He has more than made up [for a lack of NFL experience] with attributes he's had, which is intelligence, sense of curiosity, desire to learn. These are all attributes I think that you want to have. When it comes to football, I think he's really zeroed in on all those.

"Football is not a democracy. So, let's be clear about that. But you get all the information out and you discuss it and there are times where not everybody has the same conclusions, and somebody's got to decide. That's why we have Urban. He needs to decide but then you have a process how you came to that decision. And hopefully that helps you the next time you're making something like that. That was something we didn't have. It got made, and then things didn't work out you quickly kind of moved away from it."

Whether Urban Meyer's process of decision-making actually leads to wins is one thing, but so far Khan is at least clearly encouraged by the shift the team has made when it comes to how they approach major roster-building decisions.

Khan has been on multiple Zoom calls during the draft process

The Jaguars' brass clearly isn't going to make a selection at No. 1 overall without Khan's approval. The Jaguars' pick of quarterback is going to be the defining moment of Khan's tenure as owner, so there is little question that he is going to want to be on the same page as his head coach and general manager throughout the information-gathering process. Khan noted he has "been on a few zoom calls", though he didn't specify for which prospects. Regardless, it isn't hard to figure out which ones.

“The usual suspects. We’ve been rounding up the usual suspects and those are the ones I’ve been on," Khan said. Certainly how the football’s changed, later on, last year, as I talked to some of the owners and some of the other people, they would say, ‘Look, the key learning, especially with the rules changes, the 52 other players in the NFL, with the talent pool, whatever, you can find. It’s that one player is the hardest thing to (find).' A number of the teams right now in the rumor mill you hear are looking at a change, and when we talked, they were stable.

"To your question, I would be focused on that one exact position that, from my viewpoint, I don’t want to screw this up, OK. That is the one. Much to Trent and Urban’s credit, and even after the coaching staff was hired, they weren’t locked into anyone. Because of Zoom, you’re able to talk to, I think, some of the players and you’re able to go through a lot of different scenarios. I think this is frankly a much more thorough process than the combine, where you have a player in those rooms for 15 minutes, 20 minutes, and you really don’t get to know each other. That’s where I kind of focused on.”

Essentially, Khan has done his homework on the quarterbacks. It has been obvious for some time which quarterback the Jaguars would ultimately pick at No. 1, but the Jaguars still had to conduct an entire evaluation process to determine Lawrence was actually the right pick. Khan has been a part of that process because, as he notes, he now understands the immense value of the quarterback.

How much Khan values accountability during the team's rebuild is clear

It is hard to point a finger at any one person for the Jaguars' failures on the field during Khan's regime; Gus Bradley was overmatched as a head coach, Dave Caldwell was a solid scout but up-and-down team-builder, Tom Coughlin was a strong-handed authoritarian, and Doug Marrone was an average coach who couldn't overcome the circumstances.

There were a lot of losses, a lot of bad personnel decisions and a lot of drama on top of everything else. During this time, it was hard to find real accountability for nine seasons of losing. Eventually all four of the aforementioned names were fired by Khan, but Caldwell remained for nearly a decade and Marrone and Bradley each got multiple losing seasons before being fired. Why the Jaguars failed was never really addressed, with the Jaguars instead placing band-aid after band-aid on the problem. Now, Khan is at least encouraged that direction has shifted.

“We have put a lot of emphasis on talent. His [Urban Meyer's] point is that talent is important, but the psyche of the player is probably more important. And then coaching is paramount," Khan said.

"I remember early on, really right after he had been hired, he sat with his staff and he was telling what he used to tell his coaches at Florida or Ohio State. Same thing here. He doesn’t want to hear a player is a bust, OK. A coach is a bust. The coaches have to have accountability if the players aren’t developing and we made a mistake picking the wrong the player to begin with. I think that sense of accountability is really kind of refreshing. You do that in normal walks of life. Emphasis on those three things. We’ve always said, ‘Well, everything is about talent.’ Well, if they don’t have the psyche to blend into the team, it’s not a good thing. And then if the coaches aren’t developing them, then we’re going to have what we’ve had have.”