Jaguars' New Regime Brought Fireworks to First Draft

The Jacksonville Jaguars decided to go a new way this offseason. Owner Shad Khan wants his team to get better next season. The Jaguars did not have the season they wanted in 2024. So, for Khan, that meant he had to make changes around the franchise. And it started right away with the head coach and then moved on to the general manager.

Khan went out and hired Liam Coen to be the Jaguars' new head coach. Coen is one of the biggest offensive play-callers in the National Football League. And new general manager James Gladstone is also one of the best personnel people in his respective position.

Once they got hired, we did not know what moves the new regime was going to make or how important it was for them to get the right people around them and the right players they wanted to bring in, who best fit their team goals and needs.

This past week, we found out more about them. It was their first draft together in Jacksonville and they did not wait around and made a move right away that sent shock waves across the National Football League. The Jaguars traded up to take the best overall player in the draft in Travis Hunter.

Even the rest of the draft, the Jaguars were dealing like crazy and getting great value, still with the picks they had selected. Coen and Gladstone really have been a good pairing so far. And it showed in the 2025 NFL Draft and it will continue heading into the 2025 season.

"This was a great weekend, and I can’t say enough about James’ leadership, which was world-class,” Boselli told The Athletic. “But as he and I both know, the most important thing is what happens on that grass, and everything we do is designed to support that. What’s taking place here is an abrupt and dynamic change — a complete reset. It’s a new day, and we’re going to make that very obvious.”

"Gladstone, the second-youngest general manager in NFL history — behind only his Cleveland Browns counterpart, Andrew Berry, with whom he swung the massive trade for the No. 2 pick — hasn’t been shy about his intent, either," said Michael Silver of The Athletic.

"Running a draft room for the first time, and emerging with nine players he’d previously identified as possessing the “intangibly rich” attributes the new regime covets, gave him a chance to back up his proclamations.“I’ve been talking a lot — a lot — since I took this job,” Gladstone conceded Sunday. “But to actually do something, and stand on business, is a great feeling. People believe action much more than words. It was good to get some action.”