Jacksonville Jaguars: 2013 Preseason Guide

GM

With free agent players and their skyrocketing salaries gravitating towards the larger markets such as New York and Dallas, those familiar with Moneyball know that the General Manager can be the great equalizer for smaller market teams like Jacksonville. In this respect, Khan struck gold when he landed GM David Caldwell. As opposed to an incessantly meddling owner like Jerry Jones, Khan seems to be doing what most successful modern day NFL owners do, which is hire a shrewd General Manager and then get the hell out of the way. The Jaguars front office should be in capable hands for years to come with Caldwell, who was an Area Scout during the Indianapolis Colts’ successful decade plus run and was the Director of College Scouting for the successfully-drafted current Atlanta Falcons team. Caldwell’s skills were in full effect in the 2013 draft, a draft that many sports publications consider one of the Jaguars’ best in the last decade. Caldwell seemed to be a thoughtful, well-researched hire.

For many fans, however, Caldwell’s defining moment in Jacksonville will always be when, in his opening press conference, he stated that the Jaguars would not sign Tim Tebow, “even if he’s released”—a phrase that would later adorn the t-shirts and bumper stickers of the fierce anti-Tebow crowd. There was even a website created based on this message (www.evenifhesreleased.com) where fans can go and click to add to an “endorsement from real Jaguars fans who don’t need Tim Tebow.” There are now over a halfmillion “endorsements.” The website briefly made ESPN headlines and was created by a local group of fans that calls themselves the Bold City Brigade, which has the following mission statement: “to engage and unite Jaguars followers from all walks of life.” Unless you’re a fan of Tebow, I guess.