The Jaguars held a press conference with their new General Manager James Gladstone on Monday and Gladstone said that the current situation in Jacksonville reminds him of one he was in earlier in his career.
Gladstone began working for the Rams in 2016 and the team won four games during his first season. They hired Sean McVay as their head coach in 2017 and their fortunes changed immediately. The Rams went to the playoffs that year and they’ve been back six of the last eight seasons, including one Super Bowl win and another NFC title.
The Jags won four games last year and Gladstone said he thinks the arrival of head coach Liam Coen along with what he learned during his time in Los Angeles can result in a similar turnaround.
“I see a lot of parallels to my time with the Los Angeles Rams and the current moment in time here with the Jacksonville Jaguars,” Gladstone said. “In particular, dating back to sort of the inflection point in 2017 when the Los Angeles Rams were coming off a four-win season, hired a dynamic and resilient head coach and were able to follow that up with a successful season and successful seasons since. Really gonna tap into all of those years of experience and the different modes of operation and models we deployed while applying here.”
Gladstone’s boss in Los Angeles Les Snead helped build the champions by being aggressive with trades involving the team’s draft picks. It remains to be seen if that will be part of the model in Jacksonville or if the attempt to build a consistent winner will look different with Gladstone in the big chair.
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