New Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shahid Khan and his coaching staff let fans know at the “Ready to Rise” rally Tuesday at EverBank Field what to expect from the organization.
“I’m absolutely, with every fiber of my body, committed to putting a winner and a Super Bowl right here in Jacksonville. Every person I run into in Jacksonville, I’ve told them don’t you ever forget it and hold me accountable every time you see me,” Khan said.
Since taking ownership of the team Jan. 4, Khan has met with staff, media, businesses and ticket sales personnel, but Tuesday was his first time to interact with the general public.
“Only in America. Jacksonville I’m all in,” said Khan, as fans chanted “Yes we Khan.”
“We’re going to have a lot of fun together and we are going to win together right here,” he said.
Khan said he also will hold himself accountable for improving the fan experience at EverBank Field, which he addressed during the rally.
“We want to have the best in-field experience in the NFL. It’s going to start with simple things like wireless antennas, so anybody that wants to use a phone for social media or checking on fantasy teams won’t have a slow signal,” he said.
“Sound system I think is really, really important. More screens in the stadium, and, really, no ads running on the screen. We respect our sponsors and really want to make sure we give them their money’s worth, but do it in a way where it doesn’t really take away from the in-game experience,” he said.
Khan said he understands that he is competing with home television screens and comfortable couches when trying to attract fans to the game, but he plans on making the stadium “the” place to be on Sundays.
“We know you have a choice. You could be at home watching it on an HDTV with six of your best friends. We want you here with 67,000 of your best friends,” said Khan.
The estimated 6,800 people attending reacted when former Jaguars wide receiver Keenan McCardell, now an NFL coach, was mentioned as a potential candidate for the Jaguars receivers coach opening. McCardell has been a wide receivers coach with the Washington Redskins.
Mularkey was asked if McCardell was granted a “courtesy” interview because of his history with the Jaguars.
“There are no courtesy interviews here. If we bring someone in, it’s about finding the best person that can coach that position, be with people they can teach and is really a good person,” said Mularkey.
“Keenan, obviously, a great player in this league, a great player here, is an ascending coach in this league and is certainly going to be around a while. He did a good job as well (during the interview),” he said.
Fans also were curious about how the team would handle the job of free agency and if the team would be as aggressive in pursuing free agents on offense this season as it was with defense last season.
“We will be very aggressive once we target the players, just like we were with the defensive side. We’ll try to upgrade the weapons on offense,” said Gene Smith, Jaguars general manager.
That statement was followed by a request from Khan.
“Gene, Mike, please do that,” Khan said, drawing cheers from the crowd.
Khan is expected to attend the JAX Chamber annual meeting Thursday night at The Florida Theatre. The chamber reports that more than 1,000 group members plan to be there.
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