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Typically I try to leave these kinds of things to just me ranting on Twitter to avoid giving the person the page views they don't deserve, but this piece by Lindy's writer Simon Milham was just too special to avoid. It's one of the most ill-thought out, misinformation filled, and general surface level lazy analysis pieces I've seen to date on anything Jaguars, let alone Shad Khan.
Simon begins with the typical "this is a sign the Jaguars could move to London," fear mongering, and then follows it up with quite a big piece of misinformation.
Sacrificing a home game for four straight years to play at London's Wembley Stadium is not only a clear competitive disadvantage, it is being rumored that the Jaguars will possibly play two games per year in the UK beginning in 2014 (per Roger Goodell).
No, it is not being rumored they possibly will and that is not "per Roger Goodell." What Goodell said was, they were looking into adding more games, which could lead to them asking a team like the Jaguars to playing two, which the Jaguars promptly and publicly stated they would not do. There is no "will possibly" from Goodell's quotes at all.
Then we move on to the new scoreboard projects that the Jaguars and the city have agreed to, where Mr. Milham once again shows how poorly researched his piece for Lindy's was:
There are some who are fired up about the renovations, as the Jags are going to have a bigger TV screen than the JerryWorld movie theatre in Dallas. But here's the rub: The city is footing most of the bill. The few million Khan himself spent on the renovations will likely be made back over the next few years. Or so he hopes.
Well see, here's the actual rub: Yes, the city is paying the majority of the bill, but Khan is spending quite a bit more than a "few million". In fact, in just under two years of owning the franchise he's committed $30 million (plus) of his own money towards stadium improvements and renovation. I'm sure Khan will have no trouble making that money back, but that's neither here nor there really. It's not atypical for a city to fund improvements to a civically owned stadium, either.
Yet fans at Craven Cottage should take note: The Jacksonville Jaguars enter this season as the only team in the NFL with a first-time general manager, first-time head coach, and an offensive coordinator who has never called plays in the NFL. There is no other team that can make such a claim.
I guess the Arizona Cardinals and San Diego Chargers don't exist. Oh, also the Indianapolis Colts last year. I'm speaking specifically on the new head coach/GM portion, because the "offensive coordinator who's never called plays" is pretty irrelevant since Jedd Fisch has NFL experience as a positional coach, game planning. Adding in the offensive coordinator part is a way for Milham to stretch his misguided point into a nice batch of hyperbole.
Fact of the matter is; Hiring a first time head coach and general manager isn't uncommon in the modern NFL. It's becoming the norm, because teams are getting tired of re-treads and constantly trying to find the "hot new young guy" on the block.
But, the kicker is how Milham uses this to try to make his misguided and ill-thought out point:
It's fine that the beer-guzzling rube in the north end zone talks long and loudly about how Khan "throws the money around." If you mean he's renovated the locker room and has planned to help renovate the stadium, you're correct. If you suggest he's spent money on winning football games, you're incorrect.
Every single coaching/personnel/management move he's made since becoming owner has been on the cheap.
Yeah, but.
First time owners and general managers typically don't make a ton of money, this is true. What's also true is that Shad Khan fired general manager Gene Smith and Mike Mularkey while they still have at least two years remaining on their guaranteed contracts, which means Khan is paying for two general managers and two head coaches until after the 2014 season. Not only that, but Mularkey was fired after a single season, which is rare in the NFL because it costs teams money, since coaching contracts are guaranteed.
Khan also gave the general manager the go ahead to gut the roster, leaving him paying nearly $25 million in dead salary. Again, "cheap" NFL owners don't do that. They put the player on the field or keep them on the roster to at least get something out of it.
It's clear from the article that Simon Milham has a poor understanding of how the NFL, in general, operates. Expecting Khan to have turned the Jaguars around in one fell swoop in a single year is completely unrealistic, and if Milham knew how the NFL operated... well, he'd get that. But, he doesn't.
It's fine that the beer-guzzling rube in the north end zone talks long and loudly about how Khan "throws the money around."
Ah, well... now we're going here huh? I'll be a beer-guzzling rube. You be a lazy, ignorant writer who doesn't even do the basic research before pushing an article.
I know which I'd rather be, Simon.