JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A deeper dive into Shad Khan’s comments with reporters on Monday may show a different perspective from what first appeared.
The Jaguars’ owner met with a small group of reporters, including News4JAX’s Jamal St. Cyr, on his yacht Kismet on Monday to discuss the 10-year anniversary of his purchase of the Jaguars. The deal was approved on Dec. 14, 2011.
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One of the comments that stood out initially was Khan’s insistence that he would not rush into an emotional decision on Urban Meyer’s future as the teams’ head coach.
Later in the conversation, Khan admitted that while the losses were nothing new, the losses combined with the drama around Meyer were a new situation.
But it’s also worth pointing out that Khan acknowledged his want to win now, not to simply build on a long-term plan.
“That was very, very important to me when we hired this year,” Khan said. “When somebody comes in and says, ‘I have this plan, (a) four-year plan’ or something like that. No, the plan is you need to start winning now, OK? 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. So this year, we were blessed with (the) number one pick and (a) generational talent, I believe that. So, you know, we wanted to choose wisely. I think we did. And then, OK, look at all the picks we had. Five in the first 65. You gotta have players who are starter quality (who) are definitely going to make a difference. We signed free agents, etc, etc. So I mean, I feel we have a roster that is far better than winning two games.”
That is a straightforward critique of the product on the field. And not an inaccurate one. This boils down to the key question facing Khan. Does he believe Urban Meyer can turn the team around by next season? If the answer is yes, you stay with him. If the answer is no, it’s time to move on, even after only one year.
It may also go beyond whether Khan believes Meyer can turn it around. Part of the equation is also about whether players—specifically free agents around the league, believe Meyer and the Jaguars can turn things around. Khan said he believes that the struggles in 2021 will not adversely impact the Jaguars’ ability to sign top free agents in the offseason.
“We have everything going for us here. The weather, the great environment, no state income tax, it’s all about the money,” Khan said. “I have never had a free agent who came here or didn’t come here because they got more money. That is the absolute truism about free agents. I mean, that’s something I’ve learned.
“The other thing I’ve learned is the real good players, no team lets get away. They really want to leave because of some other circumstances. Julius Thomas didn’t come here because he was the best tight end the Broncos had. OK. That’s why where you spend the money (and) how you do it, you’ve got to be smart about (it).”
Thomas, you might recall, was a Jaguars’ free agent bust who signed in 2015 after back-to-back Pro Bowl seasons in Denver.
But perhaps the most surprising comment made by Khan was his answer to a question about his most proud accomplishment in his 10 years of Jaguars ownership. It was nothing on the field or something involving his real estate investments. Instead, he chose a victory that came in the political sphere: being a part of the move to get the Human Rights Ordinance passed in Jacksonville in 2018.
“That’s No. 1. If we had even won the Super Bowl,” Khan said. “I told the players that would still be (the) number two thing for me. Why? Because what the team and what the players did put us in a position to get enough votes to get HRO passed. We had tried before that and failed, OK. And those players, who they affected are people you’re not gonna know.”
“Now the players who are in the room, I mean, they’re rich, maybe they’re not going to get impacted, but the people we don’t know, people of color, whether it’s brown, black, whatever, the gender preference, religious and so on. They don’t have protection, by the law. So they moved the needle by that season--gave us the credibility with the City Council to get it.”