Tag: shad khan

Report: Shad Khan asked a candidate if they would work with Trent Baalke while he was in the room

According to Mike Garofolo, at least one candidate didn’t feel comfortable answering questions about Baalke directly and honestly.

Jacksonville’s coaching search continues to take wild turn after wild turn. In an interview with 1010XL, NFL insider Mike Garofolo shed some light on the situation, but based on what he’s heard, it doesn’t make the Jaguars — and owner Shad Khan, in particular, look very good.

There’s been a lot of discussion this cycle about candidates being unwilling to work with general manager Trent Baalke. That was rumored to be a major hangup with Byron Leftwich, and now as Doug Pederson returns for a second interview, the team has also interviewed former Vikings general manager Rick Spielman for a high-level front-office position.

Garofolo addressed these rumors, and he stated that he’s heard from some Jags’ sources that the reticence to work with Baalke hasn’t been directly stated in interviews. However, the next bomb Garofolo dropped was truly stunning.

Apparently, according to at least one candidate, Khan is asking interviewees if they would work with Baalke while the embattled general manager is in the room.

“I know I’ve gotten this from one candidate,” Garofolo said. “I know I’ve gotten it. The question about Baalke and his role and all that stuff, that candidate did not answer directly and honestly because Baalke was in the interview room. It’s up to Shad Khan now to either conduct that communication separately or just open up his ears to the rest of the league and the rest of the fanbase and see that there’s uncomfortability there.

“At some point, if that’s really the case — and I have reason to believe it is for at least a couple of guys — why are you dying on this hill? This is not a guy that’s been with your organization for 10-15 years that you feel strongly about, it’s a guy that you were recently introduced to.”

You can see the full interview here.

If this report is true, it’s more damning information about the way the Jaguars have conducted this process. It’s one thing to stick with Baalke in spite of uproar from the fanbase and around the league, but to base that off interview answers that may have been given under duress is just another level of incompetence.

This process has been a disaster so far, and while the Jags could still end up with a great coach out of this whole ordeal, the way Khan has gone about the search continues to embarrass the franchise at each turn.

Former Jags OL Uche Nwaneri slams coaching search

Uche Nwaneri didn’t pull punches when discussing the disastrous Jaguars head coaching search.

Even if Jacksonville comes away from this coaching carousel with the right guy, it will be hard to avoid criticizing the way the team has gone about the process. Uncertainty with the situation surrounding Trent Baalke (who has retained his spot as general manager, at least for now) seems to have hamstrung the search and has limited what was once a wide candidate pool.

The Jags still don’t have a hire and don’t seem to be particularly close to making one. Rumors broke on Sunday that the team wanted to interview Rams offensive coordinator Kevin O’Connell, but with Los Angeles bound for the Super Bowl, the team would have to wait two weeks to talk to him after neglecting to interview him before the divisional round.

The franchise — and owner Shad Khan, specifically — has been a frequent target of criticism for the way it has undertaken the search, including from former players. Uche Nwaneri, who spent the bulk of his playing career with the Jaguars from 2007-13, had harsh words for Khan and the front office.

He certainly raises a valid point. It’s nothing against O’Connell, in particular, as the 36-year-old seems to have a very positive reputation around the league. But if he is such a good candidate, he should have been part of the search from the get-go. It’s too late in the process for surprise candidates to arise, and by not interviewing him before the deadline, the team now finds itself in limbo.

At one point, it seemed like an announcement regarding Byron Leftwich was imminent, but there haven’t been any updates in that regard. There are rumors that Leftwich doesn’t want to work with Baalke, and Nwaneri has his own theory about the situation.

The substance of these rumors is yet to be confirmed or refuted, but it would certainly make sense given Baalke’s reputation around the league if his presence was a sticking point in taking the job. Regardless, this has been a mess for the Jags, and it only gets worse as each day passes without a new head coach being introduced.

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.

Jaguars interim HC Darrell Bevell to interview for permanent coaching job

Bevell was just 1-3 as the interim coach this season, but he said that he will be one of the names that owner Shad Khan interviews for the opening.

With the 2021 season now officially in the books, the Jaguars turn their attention to the offseason. First on the docket is the search to replace Urban Meyer as head coach, which has been underway for several weeks now as a result of the new NFL rule allowing teams to begin interviewing candidates up to two weeks before the end of the regular season.

The list of reported interviewees is long and contains both experienced head coaches and up-and-coming coordinators, but one name that will reportedly be added to that list is the man currently running the show, interim head coach Darrell Bevell.

Bevell was put in a tough spot after the Jags fired Meyer, and he won just one game guiding the team through the final four weeks of the season. But that win was certainly a big one, as Jacksonville upset the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday to help knock them out of the playoff race despite being massive underdogs.

Though that win won’t do much for the franchise in the long run, it seems it was enough to secure an interview for Bevell, who told the media on Monday that he will have the chance to plead his case for the full-time job.

Before Jags fans get too concerned, this is likely mostly a formality. Interim coaches getting a chance to interview for the permanent position is fairly common, and it makes sense that Bevell, an experienced NFL coordinator who has been an interim before, would get that opportunity.

However, the Jags have cast a very wide net for this search, and it seems unlikely that they will choose to go with someone who was a member of a dysfunctional staff in 2021 and whose offense seemed to regress down the stretch of the season.

The Jaguars will probably try to get this hire done soon to make sure they get the most out of the decision to fire Meyer mid-season, as they will now be competing with several other openings. Those openings include vacancies in Minnesota, Denver, Chicago, and Miami, all of which made coaching changes following Week 18.

Jags sponsor sues team, wants to have name removed from ‘KhlownOut’ game

The #KhlownOut movement could have an impact on the Jags in more ways than reaching major media outlets.

The Jacksonville Jaguars #KlownOut movement has made national headlines since its startup, and now it’s starting to show the potential to affect Shad Khan’s pocket.

According to the Florida Times-Union, RoofClaim.com is suing the team to have its name removed from the Jags’ upcoming season finale against the Indianapolis Colts partly due to the #KlownOut movement that will be a big part of the game’s storyline. RoofClaim.com, who came to terms on a $600,000-per year sponsorship deal with the Jags back in August, is arguing that the team breached the terms of the agreement.

The deal involved making RoofClaims.com a highly visible, featured sponsor for a game this season (this week’s match-up). However, the company today expressed a desire to avoid “being emphasized as the primary sponsor of a clown game,” according to a complaint received by Jacksonville’s Circuit Court. 

A legal representative of RoofClaim.com (attorney Jeremy Paul) stated that the company feels as though the Jags have “utterly failed to provide the sponsorship benefits outlined in the agreement.” Additionally, the lawsuit’s documentation states that the team broke the deal “by exposing RoofClaim.com’s brand to a toxic marketing environment that will cause irreparable harm.”

Former Jags coach Urban Meyer was a key player in making the deal, and the company had plans to tie the deal to his tenure with the team, but he was fired last month on Dec. 16. That was the day that RoofClaim.com informed the Jags that they wanted to end the partnership, but the Jags insisted that it continue, according to the suit. 

The Florida Times-Union reportedly received an email from a Jags spokesperson stating the organization’s intentions to “protect our interests”:

“We are in receipt of the complaint filed by RoofClaim.  It is baseless and without merit, and contradictory to the very terms RoofClaim negotiated in its sponsorship agreement earlier this year.  We will exhaustively protect our interests in this matter at every turn.”    

The #KhlownOut movement was created in light of a report broken by Ian Rapoport that the Jags would be retaining general manager Trent Baalke, who has established a questionable reputation that could hinder the Jags’ coaching search. As a culmination of the movement, with one home game remaining, the fanbase has decided to show up in Sunday’s game dressed as clowns to hold a mirror to the franchise’s struggles under Khan. They’ve also flooded the team’s official social media pages with clown memes to voice their displeasure.

Darrell Bevell ‘understands’ frustration of fans leading the KhlownOut movement

Interim coach Darrell Bevell says he understands where the fans are coming from when it comes to being frustrated with the Jags.

This year has been arguably the most disappointing in Jacksonville Jaguars’ history, and it’s clear that drastic change is needed heading forward. After a 2021 offseason where the team made some intriguing moves, the results haven’t been drastically different than last season’s, and the team is now just one win ahead of where it previously was.

Despite their struggles, though, just a few weeks ago it was announced that the Jags would be retaining a key part of what’s been a terrible season in general manager Trent Baalke. This brought fans together to express their frustrations towards the job that owner Shad Khan has done, and as a result, the #KhlownOut movement was made.

Now, with just one home game remaining, some of the fanbase is planning to show up in clown attire to get the point across about their disappointment. And while Khan has yet to address the fanbase, interim head coach Darrell Bevell was asked about the movement and said he shared the same frustrations though he wasn’t quite aware of the concept of it.

“I do understand the frustration they have,” Bevell said Wednesday. “There’s a level of frustration here in the building. I mean, the players are frustrated and we’re frustrated with what’s going on and we want it to be better as well”

In all fairness, some of the issues the Jags are having go beyond Bevell as Baalke didn’t do all that great of a job acquiring talent around Trevor Lawrence this offseason despite having plenty of resources (draft picks and cap space). While Bevell has made questionable play calls himself, the Jags haven’t had a lot to work with, either.

Simply put, there is enough blame to go around for the whole organization, but at least someone from the organization has come out to say they understand the fans. Hopefully, sweeping changes will be the result of how things have gone, and those within the KhlownOut movement could see a scenario where the right people are put in place to turn the franchise around this offseason.

Jaguars fans are planning a ‘clown out’ for the season finale to protest owner Shad Khan

They want GM Trent Baalke gone.

Sunday’s Week 18 game against the Indianapolis Colts will finally bring an end to the dismal 2021 season for the Jacksonville Jaguars, and anyone who watches that game may notice a trend amongst the crowd at TIAA Bank Field.

There should be quite a few clowns in the stands.

Between the disastrous hiring (and subsequent firing) of Urban Meyer and the horrible play on the field, almost nothing has gone right for Jacksonville this season. And after NFL Network reported that owner Shad Khan decided to retain general manager Trent Baalke for next season, a vocal faction of the Jaguars fanbase had seen enough.

They changed their social media avatars to a clown emoji with Khan’s mustache — a movement that has seemed to catch on with Jags Twitter.

And for Sunday’s game, fans are trying to put on a “clown out” to catch Khan’s attention during the season finale. They want Baalke, who is in his first season as the full-time GM, fired. They don’t want to wait for it to happen either.

Khan is the kind of owner who would put security on alert to confiscate clown attire, so we’ll have to see how much clown gear makes it to the stands. But good on those Jaguars fans for at least trying something — it’s way more admirable than simply accepting mediocrity.

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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:

Jags fans, football community sound off on team’s decision to retain GM Trent Baalke on Twitter

With the news being broke that the #Jaguars would be retaining Trent Baalke, many took to Twitter to discuss it and almost none of the reactions were positive.

Starting today, the Jacksonville Jaguars can start their search for a new coach thanks to a new rule that allows head coaching interviews to be conducted two weeks before the regular season ends.

However, when it comes to a new general manager, the team will be retaining Trent Baalke, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport. That means the Jags won’t be fully resetting the top of their football operations as Baalke would be a holdover from the past two regimes.

The move is puzzling for many reasons, starting with the fact that Baalke’s team building résumé hasn’t been that impressive as a general manager (his postseason 49ers team consisted of several holdovers). The Jags witnessed this first-hand as the roster has only been able to add one more win over the last season (largely due to the front office not putting much around rookie quarterback Trevor Lawrence this offseason).

Additionally, the Jags’ decision to keep Baalke is likely to affect the head coaching search. Most top candidates aren’t going to want to be forced to work with Baalke and would prefer to have a say in the general manager candidate. The reason for that is because the general manager and head coaches relationship is one of the most important in football operations, and if the two don’t see eye-to-eye, it leads to dysfunction.

Needless to say, the news of Baalke being retained came with a lot of reactions from the football community, and almost none of them were good. Here are some of those reactions from both fans and reporters who are familiar with the Jags:

Jaguars claim decision to fire Urban Meyer came right after Titans game

The Jaguars claim the decision to fire Urban Meyer came right after the Jaguars’ 20-0 Week 14 loss to the Titans, and before it was announced on Thursday.

The news of the Jacksonville Jaguars firing Urban Meyer as head coach was made official by the team on Thursday, but the team claims the decision was made following the 20-0 loss to the Tennessee Titans.

According to ESPN and the Associated Press, a conversation between owner Shad Khan and Meyer following the loss to the Titans was the final straw.

A spokesman for Khan told The Associated Press on Friday night that the decision to move on from Meyer was made after Jacksonville’s 20-0 loss at Tennessee on Sunday. A conversation Khan and Meyer had in the locker room after that shutout — Meyer had few answers for the team’s woes or how he planned to fix them — sealed a decision Khan had been mulling for weeks.

It was originally thought that the news of Meyer kicking his former kicker, Josh Lambo, was what finally led to the inevitable, but apparently that was not the case.

“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,” spokesman Jim Woodcock said. “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.'”

While Meyer was certainly the cause of his own issues and ultimate firing, Jaguars fans can thank the Titans for putting the final nail in that coffin.

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