Former Jacksonville Jaguars head coach and executive Tom Coughlin will be added to the team’s Pride of the Jaguars ring of honor in 2024, the team announced Thursday.
Coughlin, 77, will be the first person added to the ring in eight years, joining former owners Wayne and Delores Weaver, and former players Tony Boselli, Fred Taylor, Mark Brunell, and Jimmy Smith. The last inductee was Smith in 2016.
“The story of the Jaguars’ cannot be told without Tom Coughlin and the influence he had on our expansion team and new fan base here in North Florida,” Boselli said in a statement. “He is our foundational figure and the initial architect. He built our football operation and set it up for sustained success.
“Beyond all the remarkable on-field achievements, he also showed everyone how an NFL team could win off the field by positively impacting the communities surrounding us. Speaking for the Pride and the entire Jaguars organization, we are collectively excited to celebrate Coach and thank him for positive impact his NFL legacy will forever have on the Jaguars and throughout Jacksonville.”
"It means everything to me."
The Pride of the Jaguars is growing in 2024. pic.twitter.com/eOU3o7Y2iY
— Jacksonville Jaguars (@Jaguars) November 9, 2023
Earned his spot.#DUUUVAL pic.twitter.com/ZJeBH6Vos2
— Jacksonville Jaguars (@Jaguars) November 9, 2023
Coughlin was hired by the Jaguars in 1994, a year before the franchise’s first season in the NFL. With no general manager in place, the team’s first head coach was essentially in charge of building the roster from scratch. It didn’t take long for the Jaguars to find success with Coughlin leading the team to the AFC Championship in 1996 and 1999.
Eventually, salary cap mismanagement led the Coughlin getting fired by the Jaguars following the 2002 season. He later spent 12 seasons as the head coach of the New York Giants, winning two Super Bowls during his tenure with the team.
Coughlin returned to the Jaguars in 2017 as an executive vice president and helped construct a roster that reached another AFC Championship.
On Wednesday, Coughlin was inducted into the Florida Sports Hall of Fame. The Jaguars haven’t announced what date in 2024 he’ll be added to the Pride.
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