The Jacksonville Jaguars will head into the 2021 offseason with a great deal of optimism as their 1-15 record (including 15 straight losses to finish) on the season earned them the No. 1 overall pick in April’s NFL Draft and, presumably, that means Trevor Lawrence is on his way to Duval County.
Who Lawrence will be playing for is up in the air after the Jaguars fired coach Doug Marrone after five seasons at the helm in Jacksonville, announcing plans to hire a new coach as well as a new GM in a total overhaul of the leadership structure.
Statement from Owner Shad Khan. pic.twitter.com/cmLo7ss9gS
— #DUUUVAL (@Jaguars) January 4, 2021
There have been rumblings for some time that Urban Meyer is the top candidate to take over the Jaguars coaching job, and with owner Shad Khan insisting that personnel decisions will still need to be run through him, even as he denied having conversations with Meyer already, that would seem to indicate that whatever happens next will be at the whim of ownership.
Jaguars owner Shad Khan said he had roster control in 2020 and will make sure GM coming in knows he will keep that control for now, at least.
— Michael DiRocco (@ESPNdirocco) January 4, 2021
Shad Khan says no conversations have been had with Urban Meyer
“I have known Urban for years but we have not spoken to anyone about this job. We just made the decision (on Doug) this morning.”
— Ashlyn Sullivan (@ashlynrsullivan) January 4, 2021
That typically spells disaster for professional sports franchises, as rarely is it a good thing to have non-football people being the decision makers on all signings and roster moves (ask Cowboys fans). Still, so it goes and for Jaguars fans hoping to see a major change to how things run in Jacksonville, the fact that ownership will retain roster control is not a great sign for that sweeping change to come — it would also seem to preclude them from being able to land any of the best GM candidates, who surely wouldn’t take the job without being granted control.
In any case, Trevor Lawrence should help raise the floor of this team, but whether they can build a contender around him with whatever hires they make and ownership running the show on the football operations side is a much bigger question.