The Jaguars Are the Blueprint to a Rebuild
The Jacksonville Jaguars had four wins in 2024, landing them in last place in the AFC South. Owner Shahid Khan and the fans of Duval County could feel the overwhelming need for change, and not to waste the primes of their young core on the roster. In turn, the Jaguars cleaned house, firing head coach Doug Peterson and general manager Trent Baalke. Led by Khan and the new executive vice president of football operations in Tony Boselli, the Jaguars entered a new era aimed at making a difference. The team would hire Liam Coen, the former Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive coordinator, as the new head coach. They would also hire James Gladstone, a member of the Los Angeles Rams front office since 2016, as the new general manager. With a first-year head coach and the youngest general manager in all of football, the outlook for the Jaguars was filled with hope entering the 2025 season.
Indeed, 2025 ended up being special for Jacksonville. If Coen’s postgame celebrations in the locker room show anything, it shows that the Jaguars are playing as a team that cares about each other more than anybody, as if they’re family. That’s the mentality Boselli and Coen wanted to bring to Jacksonville, to play for each other and play as a team. This became apparent when the Jaguars had trouble with running back Tank Bigsby at the beginning of the season, as he complained about a lack of playing time with a loaded unit led by Travis Etienne Jr. As a response, the team traded him to the Philadelphia Eagles. If a player isn’t in on the team mentality, then they get released or traded; it has become that simple for the Jaguars to get rid of players not on board with the new culture.
The Jaguars went 13-4 under this new leadership and mentality, with Coen being a top head coach in the NFL. They have earned themselves a division title and the third overall seed in the AFC for the NFL Playoffs. They will host the Buffalo Bills in the Wild Card Round, and they know that they are considered the underdogs. Broncos head coach Sean Payton’s comments earlier in the season fueled this team to reach for the stars, after making a backhanded compliment at the team’s success in a small market. A success so good that it is nearly unheard of for a team to go from their amount of losses the year before to their amount of wins the next season. That is how good the Jaguars’ short rebuild went, and it should be the blueprint for success for any team in the NFL and professional sports in general. A good culture and front office leadership can change anything into winners, and that is exactly what the Jaguars have done and will look to continue to do, as there is still a Super Bowl in reach for this unit.
