Column: Jaguars Need to Honor Tom Coughlin With a Win in Week 5

Tom Coughlin is going into the Jacksonville Jaguars' Ring of Honor this weekend, but an even bigger honor to their former coach would be to beat the Indianapolis Colts.

Dec 1, 2019; Jacksonville, FL, USA; Jacksonville Jaguars former running back Fred Taylor (left) and executive vice president of football operations Tom Coughlin (right) look on prior to the game between the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at TIAA Bank Field. Mandatory Credit: Douglas DeFelice-Imagn Images / Douglas DeFelice-Imagn Images

At halftime of today's game vs. the Indianapolis Colts, the Jacksonville Jaguars will induct the most important singular figure in franchise history into their Ring of Honor: Tom Coughlin.

The first-ever head coach for the Jaguars was more than a coach during the Jaguars' golden era. He defined the team. His toughness, tenacity, and discipline became hallmarks of the teams he coached and of the best era in franchise history.

And on Sunday, the Jaguars will make it clear to the fans of yesterday, today, and tomorrow what an impact Coughlin has had on the franchise. It was his finger prints all over the expansion franchise when ground first broke in Jacksonville for an NFL franchise.

And it is Coughlin today who all other Jaguars head coaches have been chasing ever since.

"I told Mr. Khan a few weeks ago that I have a vested interest in the historical presence and success of the Jacksonville Jaguars here in Jacksonville, Florida," Coughlin said at his introductory press conference when the Jaguars hired him in a front office role in 2017.

"I believe our great fans deserve a team that they can be proud of. Will this be easy? Of course not. If it was easy, anybody could do it."

That alone defines Coughlin. Even after winning two Super Bowl rings with the New York Giants, even after being ousted by the Jaguars in his first tenure, and even after nearly two decades, Coughlin still loved the Jaguars. Like he always has. Like he always will.

And there would be no better way for the Jaguars to honor the godfather of the franchise than with a win on Sunday.

Coughlin was last connected to the Jaguars in 2019, but there is no doubt the Jaguars have been close and dear to his heart ever since.

And the team Coughlin helped build from the ground up is not the one that the Jaguars are today, sitting at 0-4 as the NFL's only winless team and with the seaon circling the drain.

Coughlin made it clear in 2017 that winning is the only thing that matters. He spoke about wanting to "win lunch", and the Jaguars have lost their way since then. So what better way to honor the coach who wants to win every single rep, every single game, and every inch in every yard on the football field than to do just that: win.

The Jaguars will have the best head coach and best players in franchise history in and out of EverBank Stadium throughout the week. And if they truly want to honor Coughlin in a way that would mean even more to him than being recognized at halftime, they will do the one thing Coughlin always wanted the franchise to do.

Win.

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