Category: Shad Khan

Shad Khan: Lawrence, Allen extensions mark ‘a sea change’ for Jaguars

Shad Khan: Lawrence, Allen extensions mark ‘a sea change’ for Jaguars

The Jaguars made quarterback Trevor Lawrence one of the highest-paid players in NFL history earlier this month. If he were eligible to have signed a contract extension any sooner than this offseason, Jags owner Shad Khan would have green-lit the move well beforehand.

“I was comfortable committing [to Lawrence] a long time ago,” Khan said Wednesday, “and I told him that.”

Khan recalled his first pre-draft meeting with Lawrence before Jacksonville made him the No. 1 overall selection in 2021, a Zoom call during the COVID-19 era of NFL scouting.

Lawrence said something during this exchange that resonates with Khan to this day, an objective he came five years closer to realizing when he agreed to his new deal on June 13.

“He told me then, the very first time, he only had one goal in life, that whoever drafts him, he’d like to finish his career there,” Khan recalled. “It’s pretty cool.”

Lawrence is now locked in with Jacksonville through the 2030 season, which will be his 10th year in the pros, after inking the $275 million contract.

The Jaguars are banking on Lawrence’s healthy performances over his last two seasons with the team as evidence of victorious years to come, wiping clean the failed Urban Meyer experiment that was his 3-14 rookie campaign.

Under Pederson, Lawrence has completed 65.9% of his passes for 8,129 yards with 46 touchdowns and 22 interceptions, and led Jacksonville to consecutive winning seasons for the first time since 2004-05, peaking with the Jaguars’ AFC Divisional Round appearance last January.

Before a string of injuries in Weeks 13-16 of 2023, the Jaguars were 18-12 (including the postseason) with Lawrence behind center and Pederson calling the shots.

Khan, whose Jaguars are 60-135 since he officially bought the team in 2012, signed off on Lawrence’s check of course: the NFL requires teams to place future fully guaranteed payments in escrow. Lawrence’s deal includes $142 million fully guaranteed.

But Khan emphasized that he did not impose Lawrence’s extension on the Jaguars’ front office or coaching staff, claiming he kept his preference quiet until Jacksonville’s general manager Trent Baalke, head coach Doug Pederson, quarterbacks coach Mike McCoy and other involved staffers reaffirmed his stance.

“I want the coaches to believe that. I want the GM, the personnel people to believe that and really be vested in it. So I think, I’m sharing that with you today because it’s a done deal, but I didn’t tip my hand to any of these people until they told me why they were sold on Trevor,” said Khan.

“I listened to all that stuff, that kind of reinforced some of it.”

Khan believes Lawrence and star Jaguars edge rusher Josh Allen’s five-year extensions, the first two $100+ million contracts in team history, mark a clear turning point for the franchise.

No longer does the team intend to rely on spending heavily in free agency to lure talent, as Jacksonville has done throughout most of Khan’s proprietorship.

The Jaguars believe they can contend with their homegrown talent and must continue to develop it as they pay their franchise players big bucks.

“[Lawrence], Josh Allen, some of these players, I mean their DNA is kind of woven into this city and that’s what you want,” Khan said. “I mean, now they got to win, okay? But the rest of this stuff, it’s really important.

“I think there’s a sea change for us,” he added. “And this is for our coaching, that they got to develop young players. Our solution isn’t, ‘We’re going to be signing free agents every year.’

“[The] bottom line is that young talent has to be developed. And the coaching staff, I mean, their priorities have to change, their mindset has to change. That’s where we’re going to get our future players and we cannot have this addiction to free agents.”

To Khan, it’s comforting that the Jaguars’ transformation includes the quarterback he’d been searching for since his arrival in Jacksonville over a decade ago.

Plenty of other teams are still looking for theirs, he noted.

“Absolutely. I think it’s very comforting, and I think a lot of other teams are kind of envious of it. Because if you look at it, there are not too many teams that can say, ‘Okay,’ Khan remarked with a laugh.

City of Jacksonville reviewing civil engineering plans for Downtown Shipyards Project

The board is expected to vote on May 12 on the final designs for Khan’s $321 million project.

Iguana Investments Florida LLC submitted civil engineering plans to the city of Jacksonville for the Shipyards Hotel & Residences and the office building it plans to construct near TIAA Bank Field. Iguana is the development affiliate of the Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shad Khan.

This news comes after PLC Construction was named the construction management group earlier this week. When PLC was announced as the construction management group, it was also revealed that the groundbreaking for the project was set for later this year.

In the plan, Iguana proposes a 174-room, 12-story hotel expected to be a Four Seasons with a parking garage below it along with a 25-unit, 12-story residential building, and a six-story office building.

The hotel and residences are planned on 5.1 acres and the office building is on the adjacent 2.97 acres. Both are addressed at 1406 Gator Bowl Boulevard.

The board is expected to vote on May 12 on the final designs for Khan’s $321 million project.

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Jaguars owner Shad Khan opens up on why he fired Urban Meyer

Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shad Khan said his decision to fire Urban Meyer didn’t come down to wins and losses.

Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shad Khan has been quite conservative when it comes to firing head coaches. He relieved Gus Bradley during his fourth season after he amassed a 14-48 overall record and then Doug Marrone who finished his Jaguars tenure with a 25-44 record after four seasons.

However, he didn’t have much patience for former head coach Urban Meyer who was canned after 13 games. Khan spoke with USA Today about why he decided to part ways so quickly with Meyer. The main reason for it stemmed from a lack of trust in him.

“When you lose the respect, the trust and an issue of truthfulness, how can you work with someone like that?” Khan said. “It’s not possible.”

Meyer made several missteps off the field as the Jags’ coach. The most notable was when he elected not to fly home with his team after losing to Cincinnati and then was caught dancing with another woman that wasn’t his wife at a bar. Khan dumped Meyer shortly after former Jaguars kicker Josh Lambo alleged that he kicked him as he stretched during pregame warmups.

“It was not about wins and losses,” Khan said. “I think when you know someone is not truthful, how can you be around someone, OK? We had Doug Marrone here four years. We had Gus Bradley here four years. I have nothing but the utmost respect and friendship with them. That’s why they got the time, because it wasn’t a matter about respect or truth. It was a matter of wins and losses over four years. This is much bigger than that.”

Jarrett Bell also reported that the Jaguars and Meyer still haven’t reached a settlement agreement after he was fired for cause. The report said Meyer’s contract with the Jags was a five-year deal worth $10-12 million per year.

Jaguars’ Shad Khan takes a slight fall on Forbes wealthiest NFL owners list

Jaguars owner Shad Khan tumbled from fourth to sixth in Forbes list of wealthiest NFL owners.

This year has been tough for most Americans across the country, even for Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shad Khan. He is no longer one of the top four wealthiest owners in the NFL, according to Forbes. Khan now sits sixth and isn’t the wealthiest AFC owner anymore.

His net worth, compiled by Forbes, has dipped for the first time since he purchased the franchise in 2012. Khan’s automobile parts and sports empire, which also includes the Fulham Football Club in England and All Elite Wrestling has been estimated by Forbes at $7.6 billion. That’s down from the $8 billion estimated in 2021 and lower than his 2020 net worth of $7.86 million.

Khan ultimately fell to sixth place on that list and now trails David Tepper of the Carolina Panthers ($17.4 billion), Stan Kroenke of the Los Angeles Rams ($10.7 billion), and Jerry Jones of the Dallas Cowboys ($10.6 billion) in the NFC. Then in the AFC, he trails Robert Kraft of the New England Patriots ($8.3 billion) and Stephen Ross of the Miami Dolphins ($8.2 billion).

Khan bought the Jaguars from former owner and businessman Wayne Weaver for $770 million when his net worth was $2.5 billion. Since that moment, the Jags’ team value has increased and they are now worth $2.8 billion, according to Forbes’ last estimation.

Jags put search for an EVP on hold, but will continue search for front office help

The search for an EVP for the Jags organization has been pretty quiet, and we now know why.

The biggest question on the minds of Jacksonville Jaguars fans this offseason has been finding out what the team would do about an executive vice president. Of course, this curiosity came when team owner Shad Khan said the organization filed to make the position potentially available within the organization during Doug Pederson’s first press conference.

However, since then, they’ve been mostly quiet (aside from interviewing Rick Spielman before Pederson’s addition) on the search, but with the 2022 NFL Scouting Combine starting today, we now have an update. That update came through NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, who says the search for an EVP has been put on hold due to Doug Pederson’s impressive presence. 

As previously stated, the combine is now here, which means free agency is coming up soon, and the draft will follow in April. Simply put, that means it’s a little late in the process to add an EVP, and if it was going to get done, it should’ve been done with Pederson’s hiring or a few days afterward at the least.

Mark Long of the Associated Press added that he was told that Khan had been present at the Jags’ facility often as of late and has been impressed with the professionalism, culture, and chemistry that he’s witnessed with Pederson and Baalke working together. Long also said the Jags would continue to look for pieces under Baalke, which was also mentioned in Pederson’s first presser. 

When considering what the Jags moved on from last year in Urban Meyer, it isn’t a shocker that the culture is headed in a different direction early in the process as Pederson is an experienced and accomplished NFL head coach. However, Pederson and Baalke have yet to make any free agent signings or draft selections together, which is when coach-to-general manager relationships get tested. They also have yet to go through a regular season together, which sometimes leads to finger-pointing in the end, too.

With Khan being a busy man, there will be times when he isn’t going to be able to monitor things in the building in person. That said, when he has to spend weeks or even months away, it will be worth monitoring how well things are going.

As for the EVP search and whether it will continue, only time will provide that answer. A hiring there could happen after the draft, but at this point, it wouldn’t be shocking if Khan held off the search for the rest of the year to see how well the duo of Baalke and Pederson mesh.

City of Jacksonville approves 3 permits for sports performance center

The Jaguars’ new facility is one step closer to construction.

Shad Khan’s downtown sports performance complex is one step closer to reality.

Last year, the city agreed to split the cost of the new facility in Jacksonville, and on Wednesday, it issued three permits for the project. The news was first reported by Mike Mendenhall of the Jacksonville Daily Record.

Two of the permits have to do with building the foundations for the facility, while the third has to do with the demolition of underground drainage, light poles, bleacher pads and a small building on the site.

The total cost for the job is expected to be $50,000.

The entire project is estimated to cost a total of $120 million, and when complete, the facility will include indoor, and outdoor practice fields as well as a weight room, medical center, offices, and other team facilities.

There are two permits associated with the project that are still awaiting approval: one for the construction of vertical bleachers with shops below, and the second for the construction of the indoor practice facility.

Though the sports performance center is still a ways away, the red-tape continues to be pulled back on Khan’s facilities upgrade.

Shad Khan cracks Forbes’ ‘Most Valuable Sports Empires’ list

Khan’s empire is valued at $4.80 billion and includes ownership stakes in Fulham FC and All Elite Wrestling, in addition to the Jaguars.

Jacksonville Jaguars fans may not have the highest opinion of Shad Khan’s tenure as the owner of the team. Since Khan bought the franchise from the Weaver Family in 2012, the Jags have gone just 42-119 with only one winning season in the mix. Some feel that Khan is more interested in his downtown real estate investments and development projects than he is in building a competitive team, and while that may be fair, there’s no denying his success in the sports business.

On Forbes’ list of the most valuable sports empires, Khan ranks No. 12 with his ownership stake in England’s Fulham FC and All Elite Wrestling in addition to the Jaguars. Khan’s properties are collectively valued at $4.80 billion, just behind Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, which owns the Toronto Raptors, Toronto Maple Leafs, Toronto FC, Toronto Argonauts and Toronto Marlies. It’s also just ahead of the Benson family, who owns the New Orleans Saints and Pelicans.

At the top of the list is Liberty Media, which has ownership in the Atlanta Braves, Formula 1, Drone Racing League, Kroenke Arena Company, and Meyer Shank Racing.

Considering Khan paid just $770 million to purchase the Jags, he has made the franchise more valuable. He just needs the on-field success to follow.

Jags fans flood social media with ‘KhlownOut’ movement

The #Jaguars decision to reportedly retain GM Trent Baalke has caused an uproar.

Jacksonville Jaguars fans active on Twitter may have noticed strange activity within the Jags community today. In fact, some may feel like the app has turned into a bit of a “circus.”

That’s because the Jags fanbase has rallied to voice their displeasure with the decision to keep general manager Trent Baalke with a “KhlownOut”     movement. Several fans have changed their profile avatars to a clown emoji and have shared tweets with the hashtags #FireBaalke or #KhlownOut. Some have also flooded the comment sections of the Jags’ social media account with clown emojis.

The call to action is one aimed at Jags owner Shad Khan (hence the unique spelling of the hashtag), but the tenth-year owner, who fans called out just a year ago for hitting 100 losses at the second-fastest rate of any owner, has yet to respond.

Clearly, Jags fans wanted a proper reset and are concerned that keeping Baalke will affect the head coaching search in a negative way. Most coaches prefer to have a say in who they will be working with as a general manager and would rather be paired with them on the same timeline. That’s                                                                                                    understandable when considering the importance the head coach’s relationship with the general manager is. Starting off on on the wrong foot could result in a dysfunctional work place, and the Jags have already had their fill of dysfunction.

Baalke’s past with the San Francisco 49ers also has fans concerned, as the team had three head coaches under his tenure. While it isn’t clear why there was so much turnover under him, it’s yet another red flag in a series of worrying signs.

Lastly, Baalke’s inability to surround Trevor Lawrence with talent this              offseason has left fans disenchanted. While the team did draft running back  Travis Etienne (who went on injured reserve before the regular season), the other draft and free agent acquisitions haven’t provided the support around Lawrence that fans were hoping for and it’s showing as the Jags are 2-13.

Here are some tweets that visualize how viral the “KhlownOut” movement has gotten:

7 candidates the Jags should consider to replace Urban Meyer

Finally, we have our list of head coaching candidates rounded up (including one defensive-minded name), who could be good fits for the #Jaguars.

The Jacksonville Jaguars decided to move on from Urban Meyer this week after making one of the worst head coaching hires in recent history. However, that puts them in a situation where they will have to go through the process of a head coaching search for the second straight year, but that’s just fine in the eyes of many after watching the various missteps of Meyer.

This time around, the Jags will have the luxury of starting their interview process earlier than in the past as a rule was passed in the NFL’s meetings in Dallas to allow teams to start interviews two weeks before the season ends. That means the Jags could get a move on their process of looking for a new coach on the Tuesday after Week 16’s game against the New York Jets.

After how things went under Meyer, one would think owner Shad Khan would want to bring in someone with NFL experience, and poaching a head coach from college would be a no-go. Additionally, with Trevor Lawrence being the focal point of the team’s future, the probability is high for them to end up with an offensive mind, though some defensive coaches would help the franchise tremendously, too.

That said, here are seven names we rounded up that feel like they could be a good fit for the Jags’ organization:

Shad Khan’s spokesman says Urban Meyer was fired after Titans game, Jags delayed announcement

Per Shad Khan’s spokesman, Jim Woodcock, Urban Meyer was fired after the Titans game instead of when it was reported days later.

On Thursday, ESPN’s Adam Schefter broke the news that coach Urban Meyer had been fired by the Jacksonville Jaguars, which is a move many had been anticipating. However, Shad Khan’s spokesperson, Jim Woodcock, alleges that the firing had already taken place days later and that Khan fired Meyer on Sunday following the game against Tennessee.

According to the Associated Press, Khan spoke with Meyer in the locker room following the 20-0 loss in Nashville. In that conversation, Meyer allegedly had few answers for the 2-11 Jags’ struggles and how to fix them. According to Woodcock, that conversation sealed the decision which Khan had been contemplating for weeks.

“It was determined to wait until the conclusion of previously scheduled appointments that week to make the announcement,” Woodcock said. “Those appointments included an employee staff luncheon and meeting with Jacksonville media, both to recognize the 10th anniversary of Shad’s purchase of the Jaguars, on Monday as well as NFL meetings in Dallas on December 14 and 15.”

In the aforementioned anniversary celebration on Monday, Khan told the media that he wouldn’t make an abrupt decision on Meyer’s future. However, Schefter broke the news of Meyer’s firing days later on Thursday at 12:35 a.m. EST.

The announcement by Schefter came after a report from the Tampa Bay Times was released late Wednesday afternoon where former Jags kicker Josh Lambo alleged that Meyer kicked him in warmups in the Jags’ third preseason game on Aug. 29. But with this release from Khan’s camp coming out, the Jags are claiming that Lambo’s story coincidentally came out after the time Woodcock says Meyer was fired instead of before.

“The announcement was made at 12:35 a.m. Eastern on Thursday, December 16, to provide coaches and staff alike a fresh start upon reporting to the stadium that morning,” Woodcock added. “Contrary to incorrect assumptions and widespread egregious reporting, the dismissal was not triggered by a single newspaper report late Wednesday afternoon related to a claim made by a former player.

“To repeat from Shad’s official statement, the decision was reached ‘after deliberation over many weeks and a thorough analysis of the entirety of Urban’s tenure with our team.'”

Regardless of when it happened, fans are simply relieved that the franchise can move on from Meyer and build a proper unit around quarterback Trevor Lawrence. And with Meyer gone, they can begin their head coaching search two days after their game against the New York Jets next Sunday.