Latest / Press Pass / Press Pass | GM James Gladstone: "...game on."

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Press Pass | GM James Gladstone: "...game on." · Press Pass

0:00
Speaker 1: So well, let us start to twenty twenty five. I
0:07
Speaker 1: hope everyone's as energized as I am, as we aim
0:13
Speaker 1: at the bright future on the field and continue to
0:18
Speaker 1: succeed as we have off the field. We've got outstanding
0:25
Speaker 1: leadership of the Jaguars assemble to my left James Gladstone, Liam,
0:32
Speaker 1: Tony Basselli, Tony Kahn, and Mark Lamping. So before I
0:38
Speaker 1: introduced our new general manager, James Gladstone, I do want
0:42
Speaker 1: to touch on a few developments since we last met. First,
0:48
Speaker 1: congratulations to Eric Armstead, who was named NFL Walter Payton
0:55
Speaker 1: Man of the Year for excellence on the field combined
1:00
Speaker 1: with his commitment to the community. Anyone anyone who's met
1:12
Speaker 1: Derek knows him, would understand why he's earned this honor
1:20
Speaker 1: and of wearing Walter Payton silhouette on the jersey. Eric's
1:25
Speaker 1: heart is big no matter what he does, and we're
1:29
Speaker 1: proud and fortunate to have him here in Jacksonville. So
1:33
Speaker 1: thank you, Eric. Several weeks ago, I shared the good
1:42
Speaker 1: news that Mark Lamping has agreed to continue as our
1:46
Speaker 1: team president through the twenty thirty season. Mark's positive impact
1:54
Speaker 1: on the team business has been remarkable and the leadership
2:00
Speaker 1: on the stadium project. Stadium of the Future is going
2:05
Speaker 1: to be essential in the years ahead, so I thank
2:09
Speaker 1: Mark for your commitment to the team and the community.
2:18
Speaker 1: It's also my honor to announce that Tony Masselli would
2:23
Speaker 1: serve his beloved Jaguars as Executive VP of Football Operations.
2:32
Speaker 1: Tony was born for this. His leadership during our GM
2:38
Speaker 1: search was extremely impressive, and his excellent collaboration with Liam
2:46
Speaker 1: helped lead us to where we are, which is to
2:50
Speaker 1: welcome James Gladstone as the GM of the Jacksonville Jaguars.
2:57
Speaker 1: There's a lot to know about James, a lot to
3:00
Speaker 1: like about James. All of it will become evident today
3:04
Speaker 1: and in the years to come. But one thing I
3:08
Speaker 1: do want to emphasize is James. James faced fierce competition
3:15
Speaker 1: during the interview process. Every candidate was outstanding, and I
3:20
Speaker 1: think that speaks to the promise the next generation of
3:26
Speaker 1: leadership in the NFL holes. But more importantly, it speaks
3:32
Speaker 1: to the high quality of James Gladstone. Today's NFL is
3:38
Speaker 1: constantly changing. It's important for us to find a GM
3:44
Speaker 1: who is unafraid of change, someone who can innovate collaborate, communicate,
3:50
Speaker 1: and evolve. All of that describes James. It's no wonder
3:58
Speaker 1: James has already produced a brilliant body of work sorely
4:03
Speaker 1: in his career, but what's best as his immense promise
4:08
Speaker 1: in the role of general manager. I'm thrilled we'll get
4:12
Speaker 1: to see James seize the opportunity here in Duval. James
4:19
Speaker 1: is joined today by his wife Julie and daughter Sabine,
4:26
Speaker 1: Mom Kim and dad Jean. So to the Gladstone family.
4:32
Speaker 1: I know you're as proud of James as we are,
4:35
Speaker 1: but I want to welcome you to Jacksonville and the
4:38
Speaker 1: Jaguars family.
4:46
Speaker 2: With that, it's.
4:47
Speaker 1: Time to meet the new GM off the Jacksonville Jaguars,
4:52
Speaker 1: James Gladstone.
5:16
Speaker 3: Good morning.
5:19
Speaker 4: You know it really is an honor to be with
5:23
Speaker 4: you all today as the general manager of the Jacksonville Jaguars.
5:29
Speaker 4: You know, I do have to start first and foremost
5:34
Speaker 4: by thanking Shad, Tony and the entire con family for
5:40
Speaker 4: believing in me, for entrusting me with such.
5:44
Speaker 3: An incredible opportunity.
5:46
Speaker 2: You know.
5:48
Speaker 4: Their passion for this city, this franchise, It's contagious and
5:55
Speaker 4: I look forward to building something special with them now
6:00
Speaker 4: as I look across this table, I also got to
6:02
Speaker 4: give a thanks to Tony Bisselli for his leadership throughout
6:06
Speaker 4: this entire process, our football operations staff who have made
6:11
Speaker 4: it a seamless transition for my family. I got to
6:14
Speaker 4: give a thanks to Mark Lamping for his invaluable insights,
6:19
Speaker 4: and to Liam Cohen. Liam, I can't wait to bring
6:23
Speaker 4: your vision for this football team to life, working with
6:26
Speaker 4: our coaching staff, our scouting staff, and our support staff
6:31
Speaker 4: to give the city of Jacksonville, its fans, and our
6:34
Speaker 4: partners around the world a team.
6:37
Speaker 3: That they're proud to support. To my wife.
6:41
Speaker 4: Julie, to my daughter Sabine, to my parents Kim and Jean,
6:55
Speaker 4: to my siblings Michelle and DeMarco, to my family, my friends,
7:04
Speaker 4: your presence, your support.
7:07
Speaker 3: I've never had to ride alone.
7:11
Speaker 4: You have elevated me to levels that I didn't know
7:14
Speaker 4: on my own I had the ability to reach.
7:19
Speaker 3: To the Los.
7:20
Speaker 4: Angeles Rams, To everyone I worked with over the last
7:24
Speaker 4: nine years, thank you. You know I genuinely believe that
7:33
Speaker 4: this moment me being seated on this stage is not
7:37
Speaker 4: a reflection of anything that I've done on my own,
7:41
Speaker 4: but rather a collective effort, and I won't lose sight
7:45
Speaker 4: of it to less and care sneed.
7:52
Speaker 3: You guys altered the trajectory of my life.
7:57
Speaker 4: Supporting you, learning from you. You know that was an
8:02
Speaker 4: honor of a lifetime. Now look to carry that experience
8:06
Speaker 4: forward every day in this role.
8:11
Speaker 3: To the Jaguar fan base. I turned to you with
8:15
Speaker 3: William's vision, with a disciplined approach.
8:23
Speaker 4: You know, we're gonna bring you a product that you
8:26
Speaker 4: all can be proud of, and we are so appreciative
8:30
Speaker 4: of your support with that game on.
8:42
Speaker 5: Thank you, James Well said, Now let's open the floor
8:45
Speaker 5: for some media questions, but with one caveat, if we
8:50
Speaker 5: could channel those questions for just maybe the next ten
8:53
Speaker 5: minutes or solely toward James, we could kind of get
8:57
Speaker 5: that target right there, and then some point I'll open
9:01
Speaker 5: up the entire day ask for questions shortly thereafter.
9:05
Speaker 2: So who wants to begin, Jeane James, First of all,
9:10
Speaker 2: gratulations microphone.
9:12
Speaker 3: Jane, when you were when you were.
9:17
Speaker 6: Reminiscing with weston Saturday morning, did you take some time
9:23
Speaker 6: to kind of I don't think back as to how
9:26
Speaker 6: this journey happened, because you know from the moment that
9:30
Speaker 6: you asked him about possibly coming aboard with the Rams
9:34
Speaker 6: at that Starbucks that.
9:35
Speaker 2: You guys are at back in June sixteen.
9:38
Speaker 7: I think it was you've done your research, so can
9:40
Speaker 7: you talk about how you got to this point because
9:45
Speaker 7: when you started, you didn't know apparently did not know
9:48
Speaker 7: whether you wanted to be a part of the NFL
9:50
Speaker 7: world for you know, the rest of your life or whatever.
9:54
Speaker 3: How much time do we have? We got a shot
9:56
Speaker 3: clock here.
9:57
Speaker 4: Yeah, no, that's a great question. I really appreciate you
10:01
Speaker 4: asking it that way.
10:02
Speaker 3: I think, first and.
10:05
Speaker 4: Foremost, Less is unapologetically himself. He offers that same luxury
10:14
Speaker 4: to anybody he comes in contact with, and that is
10:18
Speaker 4: something that I think is one of the best things
10:22
Speaker 4: on planet Earth, to simply be able to be yourself.
10:26
Speaker 4: And that's what drew me to him, even though I
10:29
Speaker 4: was pursuing a career as a high school teacher and
10:32
Speaker 4: football coach, one that I wanted to really embark on
10:35
Speaker 4: from a young age, and pivoted to a different path
10:39
Speaker 4: simply for the sake that I could find somebody that
10:42
Speaker 4: I wanted to learn from and support.
10:45
Speaker 3: And so it's been.
10:46
Speaker 4: A fantastic nine years being able to be alongside him
10:52
Speaker 4: for that journey and really building the La Rams into
10:55
Speaker 4: what they are today.
10:58
Speaker 3: As we transitioned then into.
11:00
Speaker 4: This conversation around, hey, is it now time for us
11:04
Speaker 4: to consider what comes next? It was never going to
11:08
Speaker 4: be something that I brought up. It was only until
11:11
Speaker 4: he rose his hand and said it's time. And so
11:14
Speaker 4: at that point when this became available, when he knew
11:19
Speaker 4: that it would be a match with Liam, with Tony
11:22
Speaker 4: and everybody else that you see up here, that's when
11:25
Speaker 4: we began to accelerate sort of the progress of transitioning
11:28
Speaker 4: into the next phase and becoming a general manager.
11:31
Speaker 6: As a follow up, how quickly did you know after
11:35
Speaker 6: you started working for the Rams that this is something
11:37
Speaker 6: that you really wanted to do, possibly for the rest
11:40
Speaker 6: of your life.
11:41
Speaker 3: I don't know that there was any one moment.
11:44
Speaker 4: I think it's fair to say that I rooted myself
11:48
Speaker 4: in whatever role that I had. I kept my mind
11:52
Speaker 4: there and I think by doing simply that you'll find
11:56
Speaker 4: good results. And that's any recommendation for anybody that asks,
12:00
Speaker 4: you know, how can I continue to ascend? The first
12:02
Speaker 4: thing I'd say is root yourself where you're at, and
12:05
Speaker 4: as long as you start there, try and remain rooted
12:09
Speaker 4: in that mindset.
12:10
Speaker 3: Good things are coming.
12:14
Speaker 2: Mike, do you stop right next door?
12:20
Speaker 3: James? Why did you want to work with Liam?
12:22
Speaker 8: When did you guys kind of realize that your visions
12:26
Speaker 8: are the way you see football sort of kind of meshed?
12:29
Speaker 8: And you know, did you realize when you guys first
12:32
Speaker 8: met that you guys were pretty closely aligned?
12:35
Speaker 3: Yeah?
12:35
Speaker 4: I can't say that when I think back to our
12:37
Speaker 4: time at the RAMS, there was ever this idea that, hey,
12:40
Speaker 4: we're going to end up being GM and head coach
12:42
Speaker 4: side by side, but by default because.
12:45
Speaker 3: Of where our roots both fall, we're aligned just in
12:49
Speaker 3: and of itself.
12:50
Speaker 4: And I think through this whole process some of the
12:52
Speaker 4: things that really were the most alluring and exciting about
12:56
Speaker 4: this opportunity is that the leadership structure well mirrors what
13:00
Speaker 4: I'm familiar with in Los Angeles, and I know that
13:04
Speaker 4: that's one that IA can have success in and is
13:07
Speaker 4: B something that can be successful in this line of work?
13:11
Speaker 9: Okay, going over here on the right, Rick, Rick Wu
13:14
Speaker 9: ten ten XL and not a two point five FM. James,
13:17
Speaker 9: welcome to you and your family here to Jacksonville.
13:19
Speaker 3: Thank you very much.
13:21
Speaker 2: Really unique for you in those.
13:22
Speaker 9: Nine years that you guys built this organization two different ways,
13:26
Speaker 9: gave up top picks for Jalen Ramsey and Matt Stafford. Then,
13:31
Speaker 9: as you know, promoted your career career or you were promoted,
13:36
Speaker 9: scouting became that much more important, including recent picks which
13:41
Speaker 9: went to the defensive Player of the Year this year.
13:44
Speaker 9: So how do you take everything that you learned two
13:46
Speaker 9: different ways to build an organization and now apply that
13:50
Speaker 9: to this team which has some parts in place but
13:54
Speaker 9: obviously room for improvement in other aspects.
13:58
Speaker 3: Yeah, that is a great question, really layered.
14:00
Speaker 4: I'll try to be as clear and concise for my
14:02
Speaker 4: response as possible, but touch on some big picture items.
14:05
Speaker 4: I think a the adaptability that that shows amongst the
14:09
Speaker 4: leadership group in Los Angeles, and one that we'll look
14:12
Speaker 4: to embody here knowing that this is an ever evolving
14:16
Speaker 4: landscape in the NFL, and the importance of changing and
14:20
Speaker 4: being ahead of the curve in terms of what success
14:23
Speaker 4: looks like. I think beyond that, I see a lot
14:25
Speaker 4: of parallels to really my time with the Los Angeles
14:28
Speaker 4: Rams and the current moment in time here with the
14:31
Speaker 4: Jacksonville Jaguars, in particular, dating back to sort of the
14:36
Speaker 4: inflection point in twenty seventeen when the Los Angeles Rams
14:40
Speaker 4: were coming off a four win season, hired a dynamic
14:43
Speaker 4: and resilient head coach, and we're able to follow that
14:46
Speaker 4: up with a successful season and successful season since. So
14:50
Speaker 4: really going to tap into all of those years of
14:53
Speaker 4: experience and the different modes of operation and models that
14:57
Speaker 4: we deployed while applying here.
15:01
Speaker 5: I'm going to go straight down and Jamal, please.
15:04
Speaker 10: Jamal Saints here with news for Jacks. Congratulations you when
15:08
Speaker 10: you look at this roster or this team, what gets
15:11
Speaker 10: you excited or fired up about it?
15:13
Speaker 4: Yeah, the short of it is, there's talent in a
15:15
Speaker 4: lot of key spots, and with the amount of draft
15:19
Speaker 4: capital that we have at our disposal over the next
15:21
Speaker 4: two seasons, it's really exciting about what we can do there,
15:25
Speaker 4: especially knowing that that's the highest volume of draft capital
15:30
Speaker 4: that exists for any team in the NFL over the
15:32
Speaker 4: next two years. And we're coming off two cycles with
15:36
Speaker 4: the Los Angeles Rams that was the exact same case,
15:39
Speaker 4: twenty four picks.
15:40
Speaker 3: Over the last two drafts.
15:42
Speaker 4: So really, this is a dynamic that I'm uniquely positioned
15:45
Speaker 4: to navigate and really looking forward to utilizing as a
15:48
Speaker 4: means of continuing to develop this roster.
15:50
Speaker 10: And what was the interview process? Kind of like on
15:53
Speaker 10: your end, when did you kind of know that you
15:55
Speaker 10: kind of felt comfortable and thought this was the perfect
15:57
Speaker 10: fit for you.
15:59
Speaker 3: Oh that was that was pretty quick. It didn't take long.
16:03
Speaker 4: It was a great interview process, very thorough interview process.
16:08
Speaker 3: The first wave was virtual and it included people.
16:12
Speaker 4: From every department to represent and really began engagement with
16:18
Speaker 4: whoever was going to end up being offered the position
16:21
Speaker 4: so that we could hit the ground rolling, have some familiarity, etc.
16:26
Speaker 4: And then when we got into the more intimate discussions
16:28
Speaker 4: last week here in person, we dove a bit deeper,
16:32
Speaker 4: you know, surfaced a lot of higher level lines of thinking.
16:36
Speaker 3: But it didn't take long for me to realize that
16:39
Speaker 3: this was a really good landing spot.
16:40
Speaker 4: And technically, you know, I don't think that Less like
16:44
Speaker 4: I mentioned earlier, would have ever raised his hand and
16:47
Speaker 4: said hey it's time unless he viewed it as a
16:50
Speaker 4: really strong opportunity to be successful.
16:53
Speaker 2: Okay, I'm going to go over here on our rate.
16:55
Speaker 11: So Brian, congrats. Brent aren't No from CBS forty seven
16:58
Speaker 11: and Fox thirty. Look at what you bring to the
17:01
Speaker 11: table as cutting edge or outside the box, and what
17:05
Speaker 11: does that look like in today's NFL or from a
17:09
Speaker 11: GM spot.
17:10
Speaker 3: Yeah, that's a fair question. I think that.
17:15
Speaker 4: Yeah, I have a fresh perspective, I'd say, deep understanding
17:20
Speaker 4: of really the modern tools and mechanisms that are revolutionizing
17:25
Speaker 4: the sport, and so you know, that'll certainly be something
17:29
Speaker 4: that we leverage here. While at the same time, I mean,
17:32
Speaker 4: we're walking into the combine this afternoon, right, and so
17:37
Speaker 4: the current mode of operation is in rhythm, the cadence
17:41
Speaker 4: is in place. So my intent here through this initial
17:45
Speaker 4: spring is to really calibrate my own mode of operation
17:48
Speaker 4: to the current mode of operation, insert some specific efficiencies
17:52
Speaker 4: that will help me better understand our groups insights and perspectives,
17:58
Speaker 4: and then assess at the end of this spring what
18:01
Speaker 4: types of.
18:01
Speaker 3: Things we can roll out into the future.
18:04
Speaker 4: But we'll certainly, you know, put the pedal to the
18:07
Speaker 4: metal on a lot of advanced sort of modes of operation.
18:12
Speaker 12: Again, straight down, cool pepper, James, Congratulations. I wanted to
18:16
Speaker 12: ask you about sort of your philosophy of player identification.
18:22
Speaker 12: I saw somebody Matt Miller, I think tweeted something about
18:25
Speaker 12: pro ready players versus traits players. Could you do a
18:28
Speaker 12: little give a little deep dive into what you look for,
18:31
Speaker 12: particularly with college players, and what you will do to
18:34
Speaker 12: try to bring those guys who can fit into liam
18:37
Speaker 12: Siste right away.
18:38
Speaker 3: Yeah, that's great question. I'm glad you asked. I think
18:40
Speaker 3: it's pretty simple. From my perspective.
18:43
Speaker 4: We will prioritize people and players that are intangibly rich,
18:48
Speaker 4: and by doing so, they will elevate our ecosystem, our
18:52
Speaker 4: team by being nothing more than themselves.
18:56
Speaker 3: So it's as simple as that.
18:58
Speaker 2: Thank you, Okay, straight back, Mark, thank.
19:01
Speaker 13: You, Hi, Marklong with the Associated Press, congrats. You talked
19:05
Speaker 13: about a lot of things about the ever changing landscape
19:08
Speaker 13: of the NFL, and then you took up with the
19:11
Speaker 13: mode of operations. But I assume you're hitting at analytics.
19:14
Speaker 3: Where can we go?
19:15
Speaker 13: I mean, obviously Tony is deep in that, but how
19:19
Speaker 13: much more is there to be found and had from
19:22
Speaker 13: in the role of analytics in terms of building rosters
19:25
Speaker 13: and even maybe even helping with the game management stuff.
19:28
Speaker 3: Tony will be leveraged for sure.
19:30
Speaker 4: His insight and understanding is top tier, so that in
19:36
Speaker 4: and of itself is an edge that we can utilize.
19:40
Speaker 4: Beyond that, the biggest item that I can articulate at
19:44
Speaker 4: this stage and will for our staff is not that
19:47
Speaker 4: analytics is ever doing anything other than supporting our current
19:52
Speaker 4: mode of operation and the traditional ways in which we
19:55
Speaker 4: approach evaluations.
19:57
Speaker 3: Now, the fusion between.
19:59
Speaker 4: The two is really what's important, Neither evaluations or data
20:04
Speaker 4: analytics outweighing either, but really supporting one another and being
20:09
Speaker 4: useful to one another in a way that you know,
20:11
Speaker 4: increases our efficiency just from an operational standpoint and helps
20:15
Speaker 4: us make more informed decisions.
20:17
Speaker 2: And then you mentioned the fresh perspective.
20:19
Speaker 3: Can you give us some examples on some of ourselves
20:21
Speaker 3: out getting away a trade?
20:24
Speaker 4: Uh?
20:25
Speaker 3: Probably not? Thanks?
20:30
Speaker 2: Cut off. Okay, let's go Gary then me Gary?
20:33
Speaker 14: Please, Hey James, Gary spends Florida Times Union. This may
20:37
Speaker 14: be premature, but what do you think the draft day
20:39
Speaker 14: dynamic is going to be between you, Liam and Tony
20:42
Speaker 14: in regards to making the decision round by round? You know,
20:47
Speaker 14: if if the third round of Liam comefus, is I
20:50
Speaker 14: really got to have a guard? You know what, how
20:52
Speaker 14: do you anticipate that kind of situation work panning out?
20:56
Speaker 3: Okay? If I give you a two word answer. Sure,
21:00
Speaker 3: your collaboration.
21:02
Speaker 14: Okay, And the draft process hasn't always been successful here.
21:11
Speaker 14: There's been some hits, there's been a few misses. Do
21:15
Speaker 14: you have you know, what is a figure of mind
21:18
Speaker 14: as far as the number of players that make an impact.
21:21
Speaker 14: I know you want all of them to make an impact,
21:23
Speaker 14: but is there a certain percentage that you're comfortable with
21:27
Speaker 14: that you really would hope would work out in this team.
21:32
Speaker 3: Yeah. First off, I do think every team has their
21:35
Speaker 3: hits and misses.
21:38
Speaker 4: Nobody bats a thousand, but you absolutely go into a
21:42
Speaker 4: draft thinking that you will. And one of the things
21:45
Speaker 4: that you know we talked about in the interview process.
21:48
Speaker 4: By default, Liam and I are aligned. Will continue to
21:50
Speaker 4: get deeper alignment as we continue to grow and evolve together.
21:56
Speaker 4: But there will be disagreements and we welcome that. And
22:01
Speaker 4: when there's ever a moment that we can't bridge the
22:04
Speaker 4: gap and find some version of common ground when it
22:07
Speaker 4: comes to evaluating a player, we will have players that
22:12
Speaker 4: we will align on and we'll focus our attention there
22:14
Speaker 4: and move those others off to the side, because what's
22:17
Speaker 4: important is not whether or not those go on to
22:20
Speaker 4: have success. In my mind, it's that the ones that
22:22
Speaker 4: we add to our ecosystem are built to thrive in
22:26
Speaker 4: what we've constructed. And so that's really the intent and
22:29
Speaker 4: really why I feel like we've had such success in
22:33
Speaker 4: Los Angeles over the most recent years is because the
22:36
Speaker 4: people that we do bring in are built for our
22:38
Speaker 4: environment and really elevate it and themselves by being amongst it.
22:43
Speaker 2: Shames's doing great. We're going to do two more just
22:46
Speaker 2: for James, and then we'll open up the disc So me.
22:49
Speaker 15: Please, Hi, James, nice to meet you, Open to Jacksonville.
22:52
Speaker 15: Curious in knowing that, like you said, right now, the
22:55
Speaker 15: goal is to bridge the gap of who is here
22:57
Speaker 15: the philosophies that you are bringing in. Do you anticipate
23:00
Speaker 15: bringing in any additional resources in terms of people to
23:04
Speaker 15: the scouting department or what have you between now and
23:07
Speaker 15: the NFL draft.
23:08
Speaker 4: You know what, we're working through those dynamics, but in
23:11
Speaker 4: all likelihood you won't see any shifts.
23:14
Speaker 3: It'll probably be something we address post draft.
23:17
Speaker 15: And then if you could just I don't want to
23:19
Speaker 15: have you give away secrets, but the intangibles tests that's
23:22
Speaker 15: kind of become renowned that you were a big part
23:24
Speaker 15: of creating in Los Angeles, if you can kind of
23:26
Speaker 15: give those who may be unfamiliar with it what goes
23:28
Speaker 15: into that process and how you came up with it.
23:31
Speaker 4: You know, I think if you were to start, even
23:34
Speaker 4: in your own mind, coming up with whatever whatever skill
23:40
Speaker 4: sets on the field, you would deem intangible.
23:43
Speaker 3: Those are the things that I'm certainly talking about.
23:46
Speaker 4: And then even as a person off the field, what
23:48
Speaker 4: anybody in our mind, we're probably are all going to point.
23:51
Speaker 3: To very similar descriptors. That's really what I'm leaning into.
23:56
Speaker 4: And one thing that you know, I think many people
23:59
Speaker 4: talk about the idea of.
24:00
Speaker 3: That being important to them.
24:01
Speaker 4: I really look forward to showing our staff, our players,
24:06
Speaker 4: and our fans that we're going to be disciplined in
24:09
Speaker 4: prioritizing it.
24:12
Speaker 16: Okay, Jordan, please, Jordan de Lugo, Generation Jaguar, Welcome to Jacksonville.
24:17
Speaker 3: Thank you.
24:18
Speaker 16: So when you look at free agency just a couple
24:20
Speaker 16: of weeks away, is it kind of a mad dash
24:22
Speaker 16: to try to get everybody on the same page and
24:25
Speaker 16: the collaborative effort to make sure you're putting together your
24:28
Speaker 16: best foot forward there?
24:29
Speaker 4: No, you know, our group has already been off to
24:31
Speaker 4: the races, So I'm onboarding in real time. We're meeting
24:35
Speaker 4: with the coaching staff and scouting staff here this week
24:37
Speaker 4: at the Combine, and we'll have a lot of deep
24:40
Speaker 4: discussions around how we'll approach pro free agency throughout this week.
24:45
Speaker 3: And that's not honestly atypical.
24:48
Speaker 4: That's what a lot of people do and so we're
24:50
Speaker 4: not behind in any way, shape or form.
24:54
Speaker 5: Okay, let's, as I said, open the task for anybody else,
24:59
Speaker 5: and if anybody needs circle back with James, that's fine too.
25:02
Speaker 2: Let's give them a minute to maybe get a glass
25:04
Speaker 2: of water.
25:06
Speaker 5: Anybody with questions for anybody else here up on stage,
25:10
Speaker 5: Let's start with Gene.
25:10
Speaker 2: Please a question for Shad.
25:14
Speaker 6: When you look at at what you have in your
25:16
Speaker 6: organization right now, a first time head coach, first time GM,
25:21
Speaker 6: combined with with with Tony being whatever you want, whatever
25:26
Speaker 6: you want to call him, a supporter, buffer, whatever, how
25:30
Speaker 6: do you how do you feel about that combination being
25:35
Speaker 6: a precursor for consistent success that you've been looking for
25:40
Speaker 6: ever since you owned the team.
25:43
Speaker 1: I look at it really positively. I think we have
25:48
Speaker 1: great people and a great team of people, even though
25:51
Speaker 1: they might be in the position for the first time.
25:54
Speaker 1: I think collectively they're going to have great success and
25:59
Speaker 1: you know, and I think one of the things, you know,
26:04
Speaker 1: I think we're all aware that you know, their new
26:09
Speaker 1: but huge amount of you know, the potential to really
26:13
Speaker 1: grow into it. So I mean you're referring to the
26:16
Speaker 1: Peter principle, right, and so that is you know, we've
26:22
Speaker 1: talked about it. You want to be aware of it.
26:24
Speaker 1: I asked everyone not only here but our coaching staff
26:28
Speaker 1: there are in that position for the first time, just
26:30
Speaker 1: to be aware of that concept. But and look it
26:36
Speaker 1: up on the phone. But it's but I couldn't be
26:40
Speaker 1: more excited. Frankly. I think the brain power, the brand
26:45
Speaker 1: with the different experience and really complementary. I mean, this
26:49
Speaker 1: is a team of football people, executives who are going
26:53
Speaker 1: to have success. No one is a perfect human being.
26:56
Speaker 2: And this isn't.
26:58
Speaker 1: About Hey, I got X years of experience and something
27:02
Speaker 1: A lot of times it turned out to be one
27:04
Speaker 1: of experience X times over. I mean this is I
27:09
Speaker 1: just think the brain matter here is gonna be great
27:12
Speaker 1: for the Jaguars.
27:14
Speaker 6: As a follow up for Tony BASSELLI could you sort
27:16
Speaker 6: of address the same thing you had a lot of
27:18
Speaker 6: conversations with Less about James. Now you're you're seeing something
27:23
Speaker 6: very different with the first time head coach, first time GM,
27:27
Speaker 6: and now you're part of the process. How excited are
27:29
Speaker 6: you about this combination which includes yourself.
27:33
Speaker 3: Well, I mean I'm extremely excited.
27:35
Speaker 17: I mean, I like the new title you gave me
27:36
Speaker 17: chief supporter or buffer. I'm gonna I'm gonna put that
27:39
Speaker 17: on my business card. So but listen, I'm excited. You know,
27:46
Speaker 17: started with Liam becoming our head coach, it was clear
27:51
Speaker 17: and as we sat with him and his vision for
27:53
Speaker 17: what how we wanted to play football, what the identity
27:56
Speaker 17: and the standard was going to be at this the
27:58
Speaker 17: Jacksonville Jaguars was exactly how I think about it. And
28:02
Speaker 17: you guys know through all the conversations I've had with
28:05
Speaker 17: you about you got to be tough, physically, mentally smart
28:09
Speaker 17: football team that's disciplined, and that's exactly how Liam looks
28:12
Speaker 17: at it. And then as we went through the GM
28:14
Speaker 17: process together, first and foremost, you know, it's two things
28:17
Speaker 17: you're looking for. One is it the right individual, the
28:20
Speaker 17: right makeup of the of the guy that will fit
28:24
Speaker 17: into what we're trying to build, the culture we're trying
28:25
Speaker 17: to set in this building and James knocked that out
28:28
Speaker 17: of the park.
28:29
Speaker 3: But that's not enough.
28:30
Speaker 17: Then you have to look at the ability and the
28:31
Speaker 17: acuity to you know, evaluate talent, have a process, you know,
28:36
Speaker 17: the draft, free agency, and again that's a place where
28:39
Speaker 17: James excelled and we will see it day after day
28:42
Speaker 17: and year after year. So the combination of Liam and
28:46
Speaker 17: h and James and what we're going to build here
28:49
Speaker 17: and the three of us together, we're aligned and it's
28:51
Speaker 17: gonna be a collaboration. One of the things that we
28:54
Speaker 17: talk about Liam and I've been talking about since day
28:56
Speaker 17: one and since James got here, is you know, it's
28:59
Speaker 17: not any anyone individual, no ego's agendas. It's about what
29:04
Speaker 17: happens on the grass. We're going to keep the main
29:06
Speaker 17: thing the main thing, and that's winning football games. And
29:08
Speaker 17: that's what we're here to do. At the end of
29:10
Speaker 17: the day, we're all going to be judged by wins
29:11
Speaker 17: and losses, and that's what we're going to focus on.
29:14
Speaker 15: Let's go over on the left, me and please shot,
29:17
Speaker 15: at what point in the process did James become the
29:21
Speaker 15: front runner and the clear choice for you as your
29:23
Speaker 15: next general manager?
29:24
Speaker 1: Well, I think you know the process is very extensive,
29:29
Speaker 1: and I think James was the last one. We had
29:34
Speaker 1: the four hour in person and I think you know
29:37
Speaker 1: we met right after. That was very evident to us.
29:40
Speaker 1: You know that James was absolutely what we were looking for.
29:43
Speaker 3: So we're very blessed to have him.
29:45
Speaker 15: And then just one quick one for Liam. I know
29:47
Speaker 15: James a little punted a little bit on it, but
29:49
Speaker 15: do you remember your first interaction with James when you
29:52
Speaker 15: arrived in Los Angeles if you could share that story.
29:54
Speaker 3: Just a little bit.
29:55
Speaker 18: There was a collaboration within the coaching staff and the
29:58
Speaker 18: scouting department when it came to the undrafted free agency
30:01
Speaker 18: process after the draft. That was something that James was
30:05
Speaker 18: spearheading at the time. This is going back to twenty
30:08
Speaker 18: eighteen when I first arrived there. He was spearheading that
30:12
Speaker 18: entire process, and I saw this guy completely dominate that position,
30:19
Speaker 18: and the ability to communicate with both scouting and the
30:23
Speaker 18: coaching coaches was just at such a different level than
30:27
Speaker 18: I was used to seeing somebody be able to do.
30:30
Speaker 18: That was when you really started to see his process,
30:34
Speaker 18: his ability. It was really pretty cool to watch his
30:38
Speaker 18: process growing up and then see him continuing to evolve
30:41
Speaker 18: it's been awesome to see.
30:43
Speaker 11: Okay, let's go Brenton then Mark, Right, I go one
30:46
Speaker 11: for Liam and Mark, Liam start with you. Staff's assembled now.
30:51
Speaker 11: It looks like a lot of common themes. At least
30:54
Speaker 11: they talked the similar language offensively as you do.
30:58
Speaker 3: How important was.
30:59
Speaker 11: That part of it that people understood what you were
31:03
Speaker 11: looking for, the language part of that, and why was
31:06
Speaker 11: that important?
31:08
Speaker 18: That's a great question. The balanced attack that we want
31:10
Speaker 18: to have out on the football field right is the
31:12
Speaker 18: same exact attack that we were looking for within the building,
31:16
Speaker 18: within the coaching staff, within the whole structure. Complimentary pieces
31:20
Speaker 18: that ultimately will lead us to the success we're looking for.
31:24
Speaker 18: When you go and get a guy like Grant Ydinsky
31:26
Speaker 18: from Minnesota, who obviously was pretty popular throughout the offensive
31:30
Speaker 18: coordinator search this year, well he's coming from a direct
31:34
Speaker 18: position with Minnesota Vikings that he was hand in hand
31:38
Speaker 18: with Kevin O'Connell and that staff throughout the last couple
31:42
Speaker 18: of years getting it to the point that it's at
31:44
Speaker 18: right now, and we speak the same language just so easily. Right,
31:49
Speaker 18: A lot of the things that we look for that
31:51
Speaker 18: Tony just mentioned, but also as you dive deeper, and
31:54
Speaker 18: deeper into the daily rhythms and how we communicate with
31:57
Speaker 18: each other. It's been such a great transition, and especially
32:00
Speaker 18: with him spearheading at the offensive side of.
32:02
Speaker 11: The ball Mark two Porter. If you don't mind, can
32:05
Speaker 11: you give us an update. I see a lot of
32:07
Speaker 11: cranes around obviously some early things happening, I think at
32:10
Speaker 11: the stadium.
32:12
Speaker 3: Could you give us a little bit of an update.
32:14
Speaker 19: I'd be happy to, but before I do that, my
32:16
Speaker 19: role here today is to bring up the average age
32:18
Speaker 19: at the table there, and also want to also want
32:25
Speaker 19: to thank the mayor and I see members of the
32:27
Speaker 19: City Council and City Council Pharmacity Council President Ron Salem,
32:32
Speaker 19: thank you for getting stadium deal done, which also led
32:35
Speaker 19: to me being here this afternoon. So I really appreciate that.
32:39
Speaker 19: If you if you look outside, you're going to see
32:41
Speaker 19: that there's there are some areas that are fenced off.
32:48
Speaker 19: There's some deep pile works that's.
32:50
Speaker 2: Going on there.
32:52
Speaker 19: You'll see a crane that's in the south end of
32:55
Speaker 19: the end zone.
32:56
Speaker 2: The work is going on.
32:57
Speaker 19: It commenced about forty five days ago and so far
33:02
Speaker 19: no surprises, but a long long way.
33:04
Speaker 11: To go and Secondly, do you have an update or
33:07
Speaker 11: how close are you to deciding Orlando or Gainesville? And
33:14
Speaker 11: when will everybody know.
33:16
Speaker 19: We're probably within thirty to forty five days from submitting
33:20
Speaker 19: a report to the National Football League, which will summarize
33:24
Speaker 19: our evaluation of all the alternatives, will also include a
33:28
Speaker 19: recommendation the league will receive that, they'll study that, We'll
33:33
Speaker 19: have a lot of back and forth, and if we
33:35
Speaker 19: can get to a consensus, which I'm sure we'll be
33:37
Speaker 19: able to do that, it will then go through the
33:39
Speaker 19: normal NFL approval process. It would go to committee meetings
33:44
Speaker 19: in advance of probably the May Owners meeting, and then
33:49
Speaker 19: if things advance through the committee process, I think maybe
33:52
Speaker 19: by the May Owners meeting.
33:54
Speaker 2: There may be something to consider.
33:56
Speaker 19: But keep in mind the approval process for a temporary
33:59
Speaker 19: stadium is the exact same as extending a lease, so
34:02
Speaker 19: we not only have to have the League Approval Committee's approval,
34:06
Speaker 19: but also seventy five percent of NFL owners agree.
34:11
Speaker 2: Mark Klong, please for Tony Boselli or Tony Kahan.
34:15
Speaker 13: Collaboration is a great buzzword, and I get it that
34:18
Speaker 13: that's an ideal being aligned. The last three coaching staffs
34:21
Speaker 13: here pointed fingers like like I've never seen in my
34:25
Speaker 13: life at each other, the staff and the GM.
34:29
Speaker 2: Why do you think this is going to be different.
34:33
Speaker 17: Well, first of all, we're not going to worry about
34:34
Speaker 17: what happened in the past. We can't do anything about that.
34:36
Speaker 17: So let's focus on where we're going. And at the
34:39
Speaker 17: end of the day, you're right, Mark, it's easy to
34:41
Speaker 17: say those words, and ultimately, no matter what I tell
34:44
Speaker 17: you right now, we got to go prove it. And
34:46
Speaker 17: the way you build the way you have a you
34:49
Speaker 17: have a collaboration. It starts with relationships that are built
34:52
Speaker 17: on trust. And that's what we're establishing and that's how
34:55
Speaker 17: we'll operate moving forward because at the end of the day,
34:58
Speaker 17: if we keep the focus on what we're trying to achieve,
35:01
Speaker 17: which is win football games, nothing else should matter, not
35:04
Speaker 17: our agendas, not our egos. Who gets credit. I mean,
35:07
Speaker 17: that's when you get in trouble, whether it's a as
35:10
Speaker 17: a when I was a player, whenever people start worrying
35:12
Speaker 17: about the wrong thing in the locker room, you're not
35:13
Speaker 17: gonna win games. It's no different now and so we
35:17
Speaker 17: have to go prove it. So we all believe that
35:21
Speaker 17: and we're going to work towards that, but it starts
35:22
Speaker 17: with building relationships built on trust and we'll be just fine.
35:25
Speaker 13: Does it feel different than what you've experienced before here
35:27
Speaker 13: as a player and even as a clot.
35:29
Speaker 17: Broadcast, Well, it's it's hard for me to say because
35:32
Speaker 17: as a player, there was only one person that was
35:34
Speaker 17: collaborating with himself that was Tom Coughlin. So there was
35:37
Speaker 17: always full alignment, full collaboration, there was no questions. So
35:43
Speaker 17: and I'm not gonna speak to because it's be unfair
35:45
Speaker 17: for me to speak to what happened in the past
35:47
Speaker 17: in the building because I wasn't in the building. I
35:49
Speaker 17: was sitting with you knuckles out there talking about about
35:52
Speaker 17: the team.
35:53
Speaker 3: Uh.
35:53
Speaker 17: And so I'm just worried about where we're going, and
35:56
Speaker 17: where we're going is in the right direction, with the
35:58
Speaker 17: right vision, with the right people. The three of us
36:01
Speaker 17: work together. But at the end of the day, James job,
36:04
Speaker 17: my job is to support Liam, our coaches and our players,
36:08
Speaker 17: to give them all the tools, resources and the ability
36:10
Speaker 17: to go onto the field every Sunday and do the
36:13
Speaker 17: best to try to win as many possible games as
36:15
Speaker 17: we can.
36:16
Speaker 20: Yeah, I totally agree with Tony, I think collaboration, like
36:19
Speaker 20: so many things in life, is also partially about chemistry,
36:22
Speaker 20: and I think we've all gotten to spend some time together.
36:25
Speaker 20: I think there is really good chemistry with the group,
36:27
Speaker 20: and I think, like Tony said, the three of these
36:29
Speaker 20: guys all bring so much expertise, and like one thing
36:32
Speaker 20: I think we all can totally agree on is all
36:34
Speaker 20: of us want the best for the Jaguars in the
36:36
Speaker 20: city and this group, and I think this is a
36:40
Speaker 20: really really exciting time for the organization. Everybody pulling in
36:43
Speaker 20: the same direction with really a lot of expertise here
36:46
Speaker 20: and a lot of brain power and also some really
36:48
Speaker 20: good people at the table.
36:49
Speaker 13: And not to look back too much, Tony, but Tony Kahan,
36:53
Speaker 13: but like, even though analytics have been part of this
36:56
Speaker 13: thing since you stepped in the door, there hasn't necessarily
36:59
Speaker 13: always been a hundre percent push one hundred percent from everybody. Right,
37:02
Speaker 13: Maybe the coaches say, you've got to convince people that
37:05
Speaker 13: this is the way to go.
37:05
Speaker 3: Do you feel like this is an easy.
37:08
Speaker 20: Not only yes, I think this is a great group,
37:10
Speaker 20: a really forward thinking group, and it's a great question
37:12
Speaker 20: mark because you know, this is our fourteenth season here,
37:15
Speaker 20: and we've seen the league change a lot, the Jaguars,
37:17
Speaker 20: but every team, all thirty two teams, everybody who watches
37:20
Speaker 20: football has seen elements of the game change and some
37:24
Speaker 20: of that has I think been driven by the analytics movement,
37:27
Speaker 20: and I think all thirty two teams have really pushed forward,
37:30
Speaker 20: you know, since we arrived here in twenty twelve. In
37:34
Speaker 20: addition to working at the Jaguars with True Media Networks,
37:36
Speaker 20: we're one of the leading engineering firms for sports analytics
37:40
Speaker 20: in the world. And I think, thank you and can
37:43
Speaker 20: provide great support for the Jaguars and continue doing that too.
37:47
Speaker 2: Let's go over on the right. Then we'll get to
37:50
Speaker 2: demark Rick please.
37:51
Speaker 9: Yeah, James, the former GM, his communication with us here
37:57
Speaker 9: was very minimal and when it gets current, it felt forced.
38:02
Speaker 9: What is your feeling on transparency with the media so
38:07
Speaker 9: we can get your message to Jaguars fans.
38:10
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think being open and honest and opening the.
38:14
Speaker 4: Door so that you all feel like you get what
38:17
Speaker 4: you need to do your job. And at the end
38:19
Speaker 4: of the day, this is the entertainment business, and you
38:22
Speaker 4: know we'll treat it as such without interfering with our
38:26
Speaker 4: ability to do well or have a competitive edge.
38:31
Speaker 15: You right?
38:32
Speaker 3: For James and Liam?
38:33
Speaker 8: I mean jokes aside. Does the age thing bother you guys?
38:37
Speaker 3: Annoy you?
38:38
Speaker 15: Do?
38:38
Speaker 8: You not think about it? Use it as motivation? You know,
38:41
Speaker 8: thirty nine and thirty four years old? First time? What
38:44
Speaker 8: is your thoughts on that? Do do you care? Or
38:47
Speaker 8: I'm just interested in how you guys address that.
38:50
Speaker 4: Technically, I don't know that we've actually talked about our
38:52
Speaker 4: age at all. The interesting thing, I do think we're
38:57
Speaker 4: both we both start from a place of humility, and
39:01
Speaker 4: I think that that makes a lot of a lot
39:03
Speaker 4: of stuff easy and seamless, while at the same time
39:08
Speaker 4: there's this aura of confidence and understanding that we have
39:13
Speaker 4: a dynamic asset, and that is our ability to see
39:18
Speaker 4: what tools are available and apply and execute those within
39:23
Speaker 4: our spheres. And so I don't know that age has
39:27
Speaker 4: ever been something that I've my mind's ever gone to
39:29
Speaker 4: as a part of this process. And we certainly haven't
39:32
Speaker 4: even brought up in any conversations.
39:36
Speaker 2: I got nothing to say.
39:38
Speaker 8: So does it sort of seems like it might bother
39:42
Speaker 8: you a little bit?
39:43
Speaker 3: Liam?
39:44
Speaker 18: No, it has not come up whatsoever.
39:46
Speaker 8: Well, I mean, I'm not between you two, but I mean,
39:48
Speaker 8: you hear it out there, is what I'm saying.
39:51
Speaker 17: Because I'm old. I mean, I wish I was thirty nine,
39:54
Speaker 17: and thirty four sounds a lot better than fifty two.
39:58
Speaker 2: No, it's it's it's great.
40:02
Speaker 18: This is a league where you have to be able
40:03
Speaker 18: to connect with people that are coming out of college.
40:07
Speaker 18: Right they're coming out of college, they're coming from an
40:09
Speaker 18: nil landscape from you know, the transfer portal landscape that
40:14
Speaker 18: this game is ever evolving and ever changing, as we've
40:16
Speaker 18: talked about, can we connect with the players that to
40:20
Speaker 18: me is all that really matters. Can this staff, the
40:23
Speaker 18: personnel department, Tony, can we all connect with these players
40:27
Speaker 18: to be able to get the best product on the field.
40:29
Speaker 18: That's really all that matters.