JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Jacksonville officially became an NFL city on Nov. 30, 1993, when the league awarded the city the NFL’s 30th franchise.
A lot has changed over the last 30 years.
The Jaguars’ first owners, Wayne and Delores Weaver, were inducted into the Pride of the Jaguars just before selling the team to current owner Shad Khan in January 2012.
The Weavers told News4JAX they came close to giving up on getting an NFL team in Jacksonville -- an effort that was more than a decade in the making.
The Jaguars have had seven coaches over the last 30 years. Original coach Tom Coughlin was with the team from its first game in 1995 until 2002 and is the franchise’s winningest coach. He will join the Weavers and players Tony Boselli, Fred Taylor, Mark Brunell and Jimmy Smith in the Pride of the Jaguars.
Coach Jack Del Rio, the team’s second head coach, had the longest stent at the helm with nine seasons (2003-2011).
Since then, the team has had a bit of a revolving door for head coaches with current head coach Doug Pederson taking over in the 2022 season.
After some early success under Coughlin, the Jaguars struggled to consistently make the playoffs but under Pederson, they made a surprising run to the playoffs last season and are currently in control of the AFC South.
The stadium has also changed through the years, going from Jacksonville Municipal Stadium to Alltel Stadium to EverBank Field to TIAA Bank Field and now EverBank Stadium.
The stadium hosted Super Bowl XXXIX after a $63 million renovation and in 2014 the world’s largest in-stadium video boards were added.
Another $90 million renovation in 2016 included the addition of Daily’s Place, a 5,500-seat amphitheater.
And even more changes are in the works for the stadium.
Known as the Stadium of the Future, design highlights for the latest renovation include a wider concourse with social bars, a large shade canopy and a subtropical park at the entrance.
The team has been accepting bids from companies to make this come together. The bids for surveying and subsurface utility engineering were due on Monday.
Saturday marks the bid deadlines for architect management, preconstruction, project services and consulting.
The city already signed off on a plan to work with a consulting firm to handle the negotiations.
Jaguars president Mark Lamping hopes to get approval for stadium renovations by the spring so the team can make a formal presentation to the NFL in May.
