The Most Concerning Part of Shad Khan's Decisions on Jaguars' Future

Does Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shad Khan know enough football people? It is a fair question to ask entering this year's coaching search.

Sep 25, 2022; Inglewood, California, USA; Jacksonville Jaguars general manager Trent Baalke (right) and owner Shad Khan aka Shahid Khan during the game against the Jacksonville Jaguars at SoFi Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

One of the biggest questions of Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shad Khan's 13-year tenure has been brought to the forefront every time Khan has looked for a new head coach. And now that Khan is looking for a replacement for former head coach Doug Pederson, it is fair to ask the question once again.

Who is Khan getting his football counsel from?

Khan has a multitude of strong qualities as an owner. In fact, one could argue that his overall pros and cons list as an owner has as many pros as any other owner in the NFL thanks to his patience, consistent support of his staff, and willingness to spend to help the Jaguars improve on and off the field.

But a consistent theme during Khan's time as owner has centered around who he leans on when it comes to football operations and what is best for the franchise moving forward. Khan typically uses his football employees as sounding boards, which is only natural.

Such employees, however, can have reason to tell Khan what he wants to hear or to paint themselves in positive light. When their jobs depend on it, they can give any counsel they want. And with Pederson now fired, Khan was asked directly on Monday who he looks to for advice on football moves outside of Baalke.

"Well, I think obviously Doug was. The coordinators were. So, a decision like Trevor [QB Trevor Lawrence] for example, I believe in him but everyone whether it was a position coach, offensive coordinator, everyone weighed in and it was very positive," Khan said.

"Then, outside the football building, I think Ethan [Assistant General Manager Ethan Waugh] is another one, really competent. You've got analytics that gives you a measurement. We were I think 20th last year on the defensive side, we're 32nd now. So, that right there kind of tells you that in trying to get better we got much worse and that's part of our problem. You don't need someone's advice or sounding board to tell you that. I think those metrics kind of speak out very loud. Then you end up with a network of not only other owners but some of the NFL infrastructure too, to really get a sense and viewpoint of where things are.”

In short, there aren't many outside of Baalke that Khan looks to when it comes to football advice. This has been a theme for some time now, and it has become even more evident following Pederson's firing.

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