Jags owner offers bold comment about his team
Oct 17, 2021; London, England, United Kingdom; Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shad Khan (Shahid Khan) watches from the sidelines during an NFL International Series game against the Miami Dolphins at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Are the Jacksonville Jaguars ready to establish themselves as one of the NFL’s best? Team owner Shad Khan certainly thinks so.
With general manager Trent Baalke, head coach Doug Pederson and quarterback Trevor Lawrence all in tow, Khan believes the Jaguars are ready to turn the corner and build on their 2022 division-winning success. In fact, he thinks the organization has “cracked the code.”
“Well, the vibe I get is that, you know, I think we’ve cracked the code,” Khan said in an interview with the Jaguars’ website during the league’s annual meetings, via Sports Illustrated. “We’ve got a great head coach, we got a great general manager, and we have a great quarterback. And that’s the trifecta for success in the NFL.”
The Jaguars finished with a record of 9-8 a season ago but won six of their final seven regular-season games. Then, in the AFC playoffs, they rallied from a 27-0 deficit to knock off the Los Angeles Chargers 31-30 before being ousted by the eventual Super Bowl-champion Kansas City Chiefs.
That is a significant turnaround for a team that had four straight double-digit loss seasons and had won a total of just four games over the previous two seasons.
“I think it’s taken a while but I’m glad it’s happening,” Khan said. “I’m glad for me. I’m glad for all the fans.”
The structure appears to be in place for the Jaguars but now they’ll have to find some consistency. They haven’t had back-to-back seasons above .500 since 2004-2005 when Jack Del Rio was still their head coach.
