Jacksonville fires VP Coughlin
Move happens after arbitrator undoes millions of his fines
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The Jacksonville Jaguars fired top executive Tom Coughlin on Wednesday, parting ways with the twotime Super Bowl-winning coach a little more than a day after the NFL Players Union took a sledgehammer to his reputation.
Coughlin served as executive vice president of football operations since 2017. It was his second stint with Jacksonville, the expansion franchise he helped build from the ground up in the mid-1990s.
The unbending taskmaster had been in trouble for weeks because of the team’s sagging record and several questionable roster moves. The NFLPA seemingly forced Khan’s hand after an arbitrator’s decision to undo millions in fines imposed by Coughlin himself.
The NFLPA said Monday that more than 25% of player grievances filed in the last two years have been against the Jaguars. The union’s take: “You as players may want to consider this when you have a chance to select your next club.”
“I determined earlier this fall that making this move at the conclusion of the 2019 season would be in everyone’s best interests,” Khan said in a statement. “But, in recent days, I reconsidered and decided to make this change immediately.”
Khan said general manager Dave Caldwell and head coach Doug Marrone will each report directly to him on an interim basis.
The NFLPA grievances are a product of Coughlin’s peccadillos, many of which come from an old-school coach who always believed that football was more than just a business.
But the rules that once seemed trifling — no sunglasses, all meetings start 5 minutes early — took a more sinister tone since Coughlin’s return. He was still basking in the glow of two Super Bowl titles during his in-between stay as coach of the New York Giants that painted him as a man who had truly changed his ways.
He fined defensive end Dante Fowler more than $700,000 in 2018 for missing “mandatory” appointments at the facility during the offseason. Problem was, the appointments weren’t really mandatory — a reality cooked into the rule book after some hardfought wins by the union in collective bargaining about how much time players were obliged to spend at team headquarters in the offseason.
Coughlin and the Jaguars have been on the wrong end of other high-profile battles against players — involving running back Leonard Fournette, cornerback Jalen Ramsey and nowretired defensive end Jared Odrick. All involved fines or criticism of players who didn’t act the way Coughlin liked, or failed to show up to voluntary sessions that the old coach always believed weren’t really voluntary.
BRONCOS: Kareem Jackson’s stellar first season in Denver ended prematurely when the NFL suspended the star safety Tuesday for the final two games for violating the league’s substance-abuse policy.
Jackson was pulled over around midnight on Sept. 19 and ticketed for speeding and driving under the influence. He pleaded guilty on Monday in a court in Denver to a reduced charge of driving while ability impaired.
In addition to legal fees and court fines ($912), Jackson, who declined to appeal his suspension, will lose two game checks totaling $352,941.
Coach Brian Flores has reiterated to exhaustion that Josh Rosen, a second-year QB, does not give his team the best chance to win compared to 15-year veteran Ryan Fitzpatrick. Flores repeated that Fitzpatrick will start when the Dolphins (3-11) play their final home game of the season Sunday against Cincinnati (1-13) — a game in which a victory could put Miami outside of a top-three pick in the 2020 NFL draft.
“I think anytime, you always want to try to win and give yourself the best opportunity to win,” Flores said.
Rookie quarterback Will Grier will play Sunday against the Indianapolis Colts, but interim coach Perry Fewell stopped short of naming him the starter. Fewell said he’ll make a decision on who’ll start after Thursday’s practice.
Cornerback Janoris Jenkins asserted that he was in fact sorry about his use of an offensive term in an exchange with a fan on social media. He also made it clear he was not upset about his exile from the New York Giants, particularly after it landed him with playoff-bound New Orleans.
Giants coach Pat Shurmer said last week that Jenkins’ “refusal to acknowledge the inappropriate and offensive language” when he used the word “retard” in a social media exchange influenced the club’s decision to waive the cornerback. But Jenkins said Wednesday that the Giants “twisted” his position on the matter.
“I’m sorry to whoever I offended. You know, the way I was raised, we got different cultures and different terms that you use.”