From Trevor Lawrence to Jalen Ramsey: Shad Khan Reflects on 10 Years as Owner
10 years.
It has been that long since the Jaguars began the Shad Khan era, ushering out the early ownership of Wayne Weaver and bringing in the era of Khan.
As such, Khan spoke to local media on Monday night to go over a range of topics dating back to his pivotal decision to purchase the Jaguars. From his franchise quarterback to Jalen Ramsey and everything in between, here is what Khan had to say about the last 10 years and where the Jaguars hope to go from here.
On Trevor Lawrence
The most important member of the Jacksonville Jaguars organization besides Shad Khan himself? Trevor Lawrence, the team's first-ever No. 1 overall pick and a talent Khan and the Jaguars hope will help change the football fortunes in Jacksonville. The Jaguars have made other investments in quarterbacks during Khan's tenure as owner, but Lawrence is by far the most high-profile of all of them. Lawrence has long been tabbed as a generational and once-in-a-decade prospect, and it clear he is seen as a key piece to the Jaguars' future in Khan's eyes.
“I think he’s vital. And obviously, I met him on Zoom before we drafted him and so on. All I can tell you, I mean football is football, he is even better than advertised," Khan said on Monday.
"Look at how he’s handled the last week, and I think it’s exemplary. I have nothing but the utmost respect. And I’ve got to tell you one thing. He told me the very first time I met him, there was a lot of stuff hanging around that looked – if you pick me, I’m going to retire as a Jaguars. Which was – I hate to say it, nobody’s ever said that to me, okay.”
Lawrence hasn't had the rookie season many imagined, throwing nine touchdowns and 14 interceptions in 13 starts. Still, Lawrence has exhibited traits both on and off the field that have convinced Khan that his most recent and significant quarterback investment is simply a different breed from his past signal-callers and attempts at finding a franchise quarterback
"I mean, no question about that. I think and I mean, that's conventional wisdom. So, but I think this is a part of conventional wisdom that's accurate," Khan said on Monday.
On future college games in Jacksonville
Developing Downtown Jacksonville has been a key part of Khan's 10 years with the Jaguars. From projects such as last year's Lot J proposal to the current projects at the shipyards, Khan and president Mark Lamping have been heavily involved in dealings downtown.
While Khan said on Monday that what needs to be down downtown is still "a long, long laundry list", it is clear the Jaguars have significant goals and aspirations for Downtown Jacksonville. One of those aspirations? To be considered as a future site for College Football Playoff games. With the playoff expanding in the nearby future, the Jaguars want Jacksonville to get in on the action.
"Well, I think what Mark [Lamping]'s talking about, I let him really add to that, but to me, we got to have a stadium that not only keeps Florida-Georgia, but we've got to think about really to get more use in Jacksonville, the college playoff is gonna be expanding, we got to have a stadium that qualifies for that," Khan said. "There's no reason we can't have Jacksonville get into the mix of it. So all of those events, how do we make it more? And it's not the stadium usage, but it's also getting more people to this town."
On past coaching searches
Khan and his team have undergone a number of sweeping changes since his first day as owner. Khan has had four coaches, three general managers, and one executive vice president of football operations during his decade-long tenure as Jaguars' owner. Khan went through a number of those changes on Monday night, detailing why some coaches were kept longer than others (Gus Bradley got four seasons and Mike Mularkey got just one).
For example -- the Mularkey hire was pushed for by former general manager Gene Smith. Khan had only just become the owner, and he put his trust in his general manager to get the coaching hire right.
"Gene Smith was the general manager. So really, I mean, I supported him," Khan said. "Ilet Gene [take] the lead, because he'd been a GM and for somebody new coming in, I defer to him. But, obviously, I was the owner, I signed off on that. So, that was different. With Gus it was more involved. And then, certainly with Doug, and this year we had, pretty much, it was more intensive."
Why did the Mularkey hire run its course so quickly when Meyer's other coaches and key decision-makers have gotten so much more time? As Khan explained, it largely had to do with general manager Dave Caldwell and how he envisioned building the Jaguars -- a vision that didn't include Mularkey.
"Well, first of all, I think we had to have a GM change. That was Dave Caldwell. And so Dave obviously was [of] his opinion that it was not gonna work. And it was his recommendation that we need to make a change," Khan said.
On the future performance center and facility improvements
There are few developments in Jacksonville that are more important than the performance center that Meyer has fought hard for since his hiring. The new practice facilities would badly upgrade a Jaguars facility that lags behind most teams in the NFL and would give the Jaguars a truly top-notch art facility.
The new 125,000 square-foot practice facility housed in the football performance center will be adjacent to the public promenade. It will include two outdoor fields and an indoor facility, as well as shaded spectator seating. The proposed plan sees this being completed ideally ahead of the 2023 season.
"I think something we're doing better at is the injury [category]. That the approach to wellness for the players that you provide everything for them, where it's unnecessary for them to go someplace else. So you keep them in the building. I think that is better now than it had been in the past," Khan said.
"This Performance Center, I mean, it's a boatload of money, I think, for the city and for us. But [the] city is getting a great building that can be repurposed if we move it or whatever. But it's got a lot of new technology. I mean, we didn't have anybody pushing for it. But now, when the this thing started, it was like, you know, I mean, we are probably in the bottom third when it came to some of these facilities. But, so I mean, there's a lot of good stuff that's gone on."
And as Khan noted, things like the new practice facility are done in the best interest of the players in the locker room. To not only support and cater to current players, but to show to potential players who will hit the free agency market. And this is something Khan and the Jaguars view as far-extending past the performance center.
"The performance center, I think Mark maybe you could give a whole presentation we gave the players today. It’s state of the art," Khan said. "We’re doing it now. It’s like when we did the locker room the first year or two I was here. It’s got to be cutting edge. We have to have the best. But forget about the performance center, I think this year look at everything we added on the fly where the elevator used to be. The walkway now we’ve got to go around because we have better use for the cocoon and the cryo chamber and all the other stuff that was added just this year. It was a significant investment and some of that was stuff Trevor had at Clemson so we wanted to make sure that was there. What we’re doing now is really the benchmark."
"So I mean the whole idea is really to attract, but more importantly develop the players you have."
On Jalen Ramsey
Outside of Meyer, there has never been a story during Khan's tenure that has engulfed national headlines quite like the Jalen Ramsey divorce. After being selected with the No. 5 overall pick in 2016 and being seen as a core piece -- if not the most important piece -- of the Jaguars' run to the AFC Championship Game in 2017, Ramsey had a falling out with the Jaguars' front office following a Week 2 loss to the Houston Texans in 2019.
Ramsey played one more game for the Jaguars before turning to a back "injury" to keep him off the active roster for the rest of his tenure until the Jaguars traded him to the Los Angele Rams for two first-round picks. Since then, the Rams and Ramsey have experienced nothing but winning, while the Jaguars have slid and their two first-round selections (K'Lavon Chaisson and Travis Etienne) have been a mixed bag at best.
With that in mind, Khan did mention his relationship with Ramsey on Monday night, pointing out they spoke when the Jaguars were in Los Angeles to play the Rams in Week 13.
“I have no beef at all [with Jalen]. I mean, I have nothing but the utmost respect for him. I like him. I know why he wanted to leave," Khan said on Monday. "What we got for him and draft capital – what we do with it is our issue – but he was a key part of making sure that we got what we valued him on.”
On roster control
One of the more noteworthy things Khan said last season before he hired Urban Meyer and Trent Baalke as head coach and general manager revolved around two buzzwords: roster control. Khan said then that he would take on more roster control, which strangely led to many thinking Khan was going to be a Jerry Jones-type of owner and take an active hand in making football decisions.
This, of course, isn't the reality. Instead, Khan noted that where he has changed as an owner over the last 10 years isn't his level of involvement in making draft picks, signing free agents, etc., but instead is the fact that he is simply plugged in to which players are now coming and going.
"After what I think was reported with free agents and Tom Coughlin, it was like, OK, maybe I need to be more engaged. I still, it was controversial. I haven’t given up the roster control, just so you know. I’m not picking players," Khan said on Monday. "Just so you know who’s coming, who’s going, who’s getting paid what, who are the stars? We want to make sure they getting paid and they get treated well. So it’s more involvement from them."
Khan elaborated on this even more so on Monday, stating he still has that very same roster control, but noting that is mostly ceremonial.
“Technically, yeah, I do. It’s more ceremonial, let’s face it. But when I didn’t have it, you would find out about it. And frankly, it was controversial earlier this year when I told people, ‘Hey, whoever the head coach is and whoever the GM is, I’m keeping it for a while until they’ve earned that,'" Khan said.
On ending relocation rumors
One of the most significant developments during Khan's tenure as owner has been the decrease in relocation rumors. After the rumors consumed the team's present and future a decade ago, the Jaguars are rarely brought up in those types of talks nationally. And in the cases they are, it is rarely to the same level and intensity as 10 years ago.
While Khan didn't dive into this issue much on Monday, noting that he was never the one to start any of those talks, Lamping did point out that Khan and the Jaguars have never operated like a franchise that has its sights in moving, and that the poor win/loss record isn't a reflection of those prospects, either.
"Just look at the facts. San Diego moved. Oakland moved. The Rams moved. All have been the Super Bowls, and two of three have won Super Bowls, okay. Their issues all had to do with stadiums," Lamping said.
"So yes, winning is the most important thing. But it's not the only thing. And it's the accumulation of all those things that Shad has done since he's been here, that leads to the national narrative, which is we don't talk about the Jaguars moving anymore because Shad is not behaving like an owner who's going to move a team. We know how they behave, because we see that in other markets. Shad doesn't behave that way."
