JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Ten years ago today was a big moment in Jaguars franchise history.
Then-Jacksonville owner Wayne Weaver, the man who helped bring a franchise to town, stepped to a podium at the stadium at noon and announced the firing of coach Jack Del Rio. Defensive coordinator Mel Tucker was named the interim coach.
The other big news that day — Weaver was selling the franchise that he brought here in 1995 to Shad Khan. The price tag — $770 million. According to Forbes, the Jaguars are now worth $2.5 billion. The sale to Khan was unanimously approved on Dec. 14, 2011 and the sale was finalized Jan. 4, 2012.
Del Rio was the second head coach in the team’s 17-year history, replacing Tom Coughlin in 2003. He finished his Jacksonville career with a 68-71 record. He was 1-2 in the NFL playoffs. Del Rio went on to serve as the head coach for the Raiders for three seasons, going 28-23.
Del Rio is currently the defensive coordinator for the Washington Football Team.
Tucker went 2-3 as the Jaguars’ interim head coach. He’s now in the college ranks, recently signing a 10-year, $95 million contract extension with Michigan State.
Khan’s time as owner has been marked with far more downs than Weavers. Khan’s Jaguars teams have gone 41-114 in the regular season and 2-1 in the playoffs. With another loss, the Jaguars will have reached double-digit losses in nine of his 10 seasons as owner.
Weaver had a 138-134 regular season record when he owned the team, and the Jaguars were 5-6 in the playoffs.