News that left tackle Walker Little got a contract extension began to break just before the Jacksonville Jaguars took the field against the Houston Texans in Week 13. While fans may be mixed on whether the former Stanford Cardinal should be seen as Trevor Lawrence's blindside protector, one question was consistent among everyone: Does this mean general manager Trent Baalke is not getting fired?
The idea of Baalke returning to waste more money and sixth-round draft picks is off-putting enough for Jaguars fans, but the idea that Shad Khan will stay true to form and not fire his general manager after another crushingly disappointing season was enough to inspire an even bigger question.
Is Shad Khan truly a bad NFL owner?
The idiom, "Putting the cart before the horse" may spring to mind for certain readers who come across the headline for this column. After all, there isn't a consensus that Shad Khan even is a bad owner, at all. Sports Illustrated beat writer John Shipley doesn't think so, and he laid out a number of reasonable arguments in a recent column supporting his position.
"The NFL is filled with bad owners. Owners who do not care enough about the on-field product to consistently offer the on-field and off-field investments needed to compete. Owners who mettle in the football operations despite a lack of expertise.John Shipley, si.com
Khan isn't close to being one of those owners, and any insinuation that he is is built on falsehoods and is, simply put, not an accurate picture."
Many of Shipley's points are valid. Unlike owners such as the Browns in Cincinatti, Khan has shown an unwavering willingness to spend money on both players and coaches, not to mention his continuing investments in facilities and the city of Jacksonville at large. He doesn't meddle in football affairs the way horrendous owners like Dan Snyder or Jerry Jones do, and is widely considered to be well liked by his NFL peers.
And yet, the sentiment that Khan is a bad owner in spite of those traits persists. The article Shipley likely was responding to was written by one of Jacksonville's most plugged in fans, and is a scathing rebuke of Khan's ownership.
"Khan’s ownership, which began in 2011, has been an unmitigated disaster. With a 62-144 record, the Jaguars have the worst winning percentage in the league over his tenure. There’s no plan, no accountability, and no indication that Khan cares about changing the narrative. Jacksonville fans don’t even get the courtesy of mediocrity; this is systemic failure, a rot that starts at the very top."E_Dilla, Big Cat Country
In spite of getting one key date wrong (Shad Khan bought the Jags in January of 2012), E_Dilla laid out a compelling argument for why Shad Khan is a bad owner. While it is certainly fair to banter back and forth about what does or doesn't make an owner "bad," E_Dilla smartly cut right to the chase; his winning percentage as an owner.
Sports leagues keep score, and the ultimate bottom line is that Khan has overseen not only the worst franchise in the NFL since he took over, but one of the worst franchises in all of the major American sports leagues! And that includes two good seasons in 2017 and 2022! Imagine if those outliers had never happened!
Jaguars fans, if you feel like your suffering is beyond the pale, you are correct, and the stark reality of Khan's record is not an opinion. It's black and white, fact. While defenders may point to a variety of desirable traits, such as willingness to spend, lack of meddling, etc., those traits are quite obviously not making up for whatever else is wrong. Shad Khan is, objectively, a bad owner. Scoreboard.
So, the question becomes "why?" Because those traits he has demonstrated are generally considered to be fantastic traits to have as an owner. So, what is it?
Generation Jaguar's Jordan de Lugo thinks it is about accountability, as you can hear him talk about below:
Accountability is a recurring theme you'll hear from most of Khan's critics, and the idea of reinstating the Executive Vice President role once held briefly by Tom Coughlin is the prevailing "fix" to the question of accountability for many. But that argument seems to fall apart when one considers that the general manager is the one who is supposed to be holding everyone accountable.
If the answer to the problems in Jacksonville is that you need to hire an EVP, who will then hold the general manager accountable, who is also holding the coach accountable, then what happens if they still fail to win? Will a double-executive Vice President need to be brought in to hold the EVP accountable, as well?
Of course, that's absurd, and demonstrates the real issue: it's not that the Jaguars need another layer of accountability inserted between the owner and the general manager (although that wouldn't hurt, necessarily), it's that the guy at the top of the org chart needs to hold everyone beneath him accountable.
The only person at the top of the org chart is Shad Khan. It doesn't matter if he has an Executive Vice President, a general manager, or whatever other title you want to assign. If Khan, himself, isn't willing to hold THAT person accountable, then the structure doesn't matter.
"It seems bizarre also in part to me because I do not take Khan as being one of those bad owners who does not want to do well or does not seem concerned. Like from this distance at least it does seem like he cares. Like we have seen teams that have owners that do not care. This does not seem to be the case there, but he cannot get this right for anything."Bomani Jones
The Black & Teal discusses what makes Shad Khan a bad owner for the Jaguars
Overall, accountability does seem to be a problem, but why? Some voices at the Black and Teal tossed around the topic recently:
Joel Lefevre: He’s just not a man of action and that’s clear by the way he makes decisions, he’s a hang-back guy and will wait till it all blows over... he reminds me of a teacher who sits and does nothing while the whole class takes over and refuses to listen. I experienced that plenty going into schools where some teachers don’t step in and tell the kids anything they just hang me out to dry.
I think Shad is afraid to take action, that’s clear to me given how long a leash [Gus] Bradley and [Doug] Marrone had, and [Dave] Caldwell and [Trent]Baalke. Unless you’re a complete disaster like Meyer, it’s no big deal for him.
Carlos Sanchez: From my end, you would think that Khan’s business savvy in the auto industry would carry over. But it hasn't. Not. One. Bit.
Jeff Tice: Well, just because you're good at one thing doesn't mean you'll be good at another. I can grill a mean steak, but if you ask me to bake a cake, you're going to be disappointed, Carlos. If Khan's "fatal flaw" according to Joel is failure to take action, what would you define as his fatal flaw?
Carlos Sanchez: Khan is entrusting and empowering the wrong people to make decisions. Level 5 leaders delegate, tend to empower others, and let them take action. Normally, that approach would have a franchise going, but...
Jeff Tice: And therein lies the rub. The trait, or "fatal flaw" that Shad Khan has that counteracts all of his other great qualities, can be summed up as poor judgment. From trusting and empowering the wrong people to waiting way too long to fire people, or even trusting the good old boy network in Jacksonville to get Lot J built, Shad Khan has demonstrated poor judgment time and again.
Unfortunately, as fans of an NFL team, or really any pro sports team, you think you are rooting for a quarterback, or a shooting guard, or a pitcher, or whichever player you please. But, then you begin to consider that who you are really rooting for are the people in charge - the coaching staff, the general manager, etc. But, what you are REALLY rooting for is an organization, and in the NFL (with the exception of the Packers), that organization is ultimately headed by one individual.
From a big-picture perspective, Jacksonville Jaguars fans aren't actually rooting for Trevor Lawrence, Doug Pederson, or Trent Baalke to finally get right. They're rooting for Shad Khan, and until he finds a way to make better decisions, the Jags will continue to be one of the worst franchises in sports.