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Jacksonville Jaguars' new regime believes cohesion leads to success | Ryan O'Halloran
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- Jacksonville Jaguars' new regime believes cohesion leads to success | Ryan O'Halloran
Once he signed his contract, received his access card and returned from his first scouting combine as the Jacksonville Jaguars ' general manager, James Gladstone kick-started the franchise's latest remodel with, you guessed it, a remodel.
Gladstone moved his office away from the coaching staff and closer to the personnel and analytics departments and replaced a set of cubicles to create an open floor plan with a conference table, chairs and giant video screen.
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Gladstone calls it "The Water Cooler," sans an actual water cooler. Those of a certain age will remember those from back in the day when people worked in an office and had face-to-face conversations.
Welcome to Jaguars Football 2025 , helmed by a new administration that hopes a collaborative, every-voice-is-heard approach leads to more wins starting Sept. 7 against the Carolina Panthers .
"There is wisdom in the collective," executive vice president of football operations Tony Boselli told me in mid-August .
OUT WITH THE OLD ... : Jaguars final cuts mean half the Trent Baalke draftees are gone
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The Jaguars' new administration has plenty of individual experience and knowledge. Boselli is a Pro Football Hall of Fame offensive tackle and Gladstone and coach Liam Coen had front-row seats to how the Los Angeles Rams were built into a Super Bowl champion.
However, they are all in their jobs for the first time, which often means initial pain in the NFL. Thus, the attitude and mantra of being in it together and sharing ideas before Gladstone ultimately makes the final call.
"This is a new day in how we operate," Boselli said. "We're a football organization and everything that happens in this building and everything that happens on the business side, we're all one organization. We are dependent on each other."
In order to create synergy with the business side, a near-total cleansing on the football side was required.
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Front office cohesion
Jaguars president Mark Lamping said the quiet part out-loud about the previous regime's atmosphere helmed by general manager Trent Baalke during an Aug. 1 appearance on Jacksonville's 1010XL.
Asked about the Boselli-Gladstone-Coen partnership, Lamping said: "It's awesome, the level of communication and the commitment, and just the idea that, it's not brain surgery. You don't have to treat every decision like it's a state secret. We can communicate a little bit."
And now the zinger …
"(It was), 'Hey, did you put mustard or mayonnaise on your ham sandwich?' 'I'm not telling you,'" Lamping said. "It has been refreshing that we can actually talk about stuff. That only happens if there is a high level of trust."
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What a shot at the Baalke-run front office, where there was apparently no cohesion.
Jacksonville Jaguars Head Coach Liam Coen, left, talks with Jaguars Executive Vice President of Football Operations Tony Boselli after the Jacksonville Jaguars’ 18th and final training camp practice at Miller Electric Center in Jacksonville, Fla. Wednesday August 20, 2025. [Doug Engle/Florida Times-Union]
Did the lack of synergy play a part in the Jaguars' collapse since the middle of the 2023 season? Who knows, but it probably didn't help the cause.
The Jaguars were 8-3 in November 2023, but finished 9-8 ; last year, they started 0-4 and finished 4-13.
Jaguars owner Shad Khan eventually understood the problem and that Boselli was the guy to lead the way. Hire the football people and let them make the football decisions.
Boselli and Gladstone, in turn, let Coen coach the team. During training camp practices, Boselli and Gladstone would watch from a second-floor balcony before walking downstairs toward the end of the workout. Position coaches didn't have to look over their shoulders during drills to see Big Brothers watching.
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Boselli was the Jaguars' first-ever draft pick in 1995, played all seven of his pro seasons for the club and was a member of the team's radio broadcast from 2013-24. He wasn't physically in the building every day, but he knew what was going on.
"I'll let you call the balls and strikes on that," Boselli said.
OK, that works. The from-afar opinion was that the Jaguars were a dysfunctional mess. A consistent series of missed swings on pitches in and out of the strike zone.
The Jaguars will be more functional this year, but it may not be immediately reflected in the win column.
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Getting back on success track
The task is enormous. Give a wayward organization direction. Get the most out of quarterback Trevor Lawrence . Make sure the trade for receiver/cornerback Travis Hunter is a success . Be entertaining. And win more games.
No NFL team has lost more games since 2012 than the Jaguars' 148 and their minus-1,172 point differential is second-worst.
Old habits die hard and Jaguars fans can't be blamed for being suspect of all the kind words and grandiose plans. If you expect the worst, you won't be overly disappointed.
But there are reasons to believe in this Jaguars team and their chances of going from bad to pretty good — the NFL is designed for quick turnarounds because of the salary cap, draft position based on record and schedule strength.
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The goal for the Jaguars should be to play competitive football every week and play meaningful football in December/January. Get to Thanksgiving and a final stretch that includes Tennessee and Indianapolis twice apiece and a game against the New York Jets to serve as a springboard to the playoffs.
To start a surge, a team needs to take the first step. Have a bit of success. Build on that. And most of all, don't let one setback become three setbacks.
"One of the first meetings, I said, 'We're going to make mistakes. That's OK. What's not OK is doing the same thing over and over again,'" Boselli said. "We want to learn from the past."
Learn from the past, but not repeat it. That will get the Jaguars on the success track.
O'Halloran can be reached at rohalloran@gannett.com
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jacksonville Jaguars' new regime banking cohesion leads to success
