I have believed for a long time that for a franchise to achieve long term success as well as reach the pinnacle of the NFL, i.e. winning a super bowl, there needs to be synergy on three levels as well as intelligence/ quality at three levels. 

 

These are the 1. head coach, 2. GM 3. Owner

 

The first 2 are somewhat obvious, but the Owner is important too. You have to have an owner that understands what it takes to field a winner, and is willing to do the steps necessary to achieve that success - which usually involves spending/ investing ($$$) whatever it takes to get the model going. 

 

Gus Bradley: I was initially all over the place with. I liked early reports, but had reservations upon his hire as he was a defensive minded head coach and we are in the era of offense in the NFL. However, Bradley appears to be very good with people. Players seem to like playing for him, and so far anyway, there hasn't been much evidence of the "inmates running the asylum" which sometimes can be prevalent of the typical "players" coach. Its early so the jury is still out on him as far as an x's and o's head coach, but I can honestly say that he indeed comes off as competent in what he's doing and has command. I probably am more sold on him right now, than towards any head coach that we have had since Coughlin. 

 

Dave Caldwell: I was less skeptical of this hire because he comes from a solid background of success, learning under both Polian in Indy as well as Dimitroff in Atlanta. I'll admit he wasn't my first choice, however, as that was Marc Ross from the Giants. As time has gone on though, I don't think I could be more satisfied with our choice. He comes across very professional and intelligent. Even from the very first press conference introducing him, and listening to him speak, you could tell this hire was on a whole elevated level than the successor Gene Smith. Caldwell seems to have a succinct plan and sticks to it. 

 

Another important factor is as said prior - the synergy - Caldwell seems to be on the same page as Bradley, and vice versa. Both of them are in synergy with Khan's vision as well. 

 

Khan himself seems to be doing all he can as far as providing the resources necessary to not only get a winning product here, but also one that increases the franchises brand and popularity from a wider scale. His hiring of Mark Lamping as President was an important early hire to aid in some of this process, albeit Lamping is often more in the background.

 

Khan, much like Caldwell and Bradley seems to be a very likable sort, who you can tell is driven to accomplish the aforementioned goals. 

 

I really get the feeling that we do have something special building here. It took awhile for me to see it, as previous mistakes in hiring GM's/ coaches probably affected my prejudice of the current hires, - which I know wasn't fair, but sometimes when you face the kind of sustained ineptness that we had for awhile, you tend to just think the worst is going to happen.

 

Right now, the Jags appear on a road that I always hoped they'd one day be traveling on. I'd guess they are in limited company right now in regards to the important "winning triangle" that I earlier spoke of. Some teams in the NFL indeed do have something similar....but its less than you'd expect. In many cases, one or more of the ingredients are missing or lacking. 

 

We really seem to be poised for good things in the coming years, perhaps uncharted territory as far as success for this franchise..... and I couldn't be more excited as a fan of this team! 

 

 

Go Jaguars! and thank you Mr Khan!

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