No team gets to the National Championship game without being a pretty good squad. Actually better than that. So when Auburn and FSU were matched up in Pasadena for the final BCS Championship game, nobody should have expected anything but a close game. It’s never a mismatch unless the pollsters fall in love with one […]
There are only a couple of questions about tonight’s outcome of the National Championship game between FSU and Auburn. If you just look at how the two teams got here, it’s easy to pick FSU to win going away. The Seminoles won every game by double digits and scored more than 40 points almost every […]
When they walked into the ballroom for their “Media Day” interviews, I was struck by how much the 2013 FSU football team reminded me of the 1993 team that played for, and won the National Championship. Big and athletic, there aren’t any “fat” guys on this team. Even the biggest of the offensive and defensive […]
Different events have a different feel. The Super Bowl is big, corporate, sponsor-driven and engulfs the city it’s in; bringing the national focus on everything that surrounds it. The National Championship is a mini version of that, but with a much more homey feel. There’s some national media, but not much. Whichever network is televising […]
I was talking to my friend Dennis the other day, dissecting the Jaguars under Dave Caldwell and Gus Bradley and what their plan has been and will be for the future. A season ticket holder, Dennis cut me off saying, “Yeah, whatever, it’s been miserable for the fans.” You can talk all you want about […]
Most teams out of playoff contention use the final four games of the year to assess their situation going forward. What do we need? How can we get better? While the Jaguars have needs all over the field, the game against Indianapolis exposed the glaring weaknesses they have if they have any thought of getting […]
Never one to say much, Jaguars Center Brad Meester said a lot on Sunday in his final home game for the Jaguars. “I’ve talked more this week than I have in my entire career,” Meester joked after the Jaguars fell 20-16 to Tennessee. While this week was mainly focused on the Titans, Meester was a […]
You never know what to expect from two teams not going to the playoffs facing each other at the end of the season. The Jaguars are going to play hard; you know that from what they’ve done all year. Tennessee also played hard, kind of surprising since they weren’t going anywhere and their backup quarterback […]
Toward the end of any NFL season, teams are going in all kinds of different directions. Some are already looking ahead to the playoffs. Others are fighting for a spot in the postseason and still others are looking ahead to next year, checking their current roster to see who might be able to help them […]
When a coach and general manager start looking to build on the offensive and defensive lines, you often hear the phrase, “He can be a cornerstone there for the next decade,” a lot. That rarely happens between injury, free agency and the vagaries of the NFL Having more than 10 years in the league as […]
Coaches talk all the time about “overcoming adversity.” When it comes to a young team like the Jaguars, sometimes the adversity is self-imposed. For the first eight games of the season, they made mistakes and failed to capitalize on the mistakes of their opponents enroute to an 0-8 record. For that adversity, Head Coach Gus […]
“Learning how to win” sounds like such a trite phrase but when it comes to a pretty equal competition, it’s the team that knows how to win, or figures it out that comes out on top. My friend and ten-time Grand Slam champion Tony Trabert attributes winning to “knowing how to play the big points” […]
It’s a pretty simple story at the Florida/FSU game this year: Are the Gators as bad as they seem? Is FSU worthy of a shot at the National Championship? As usual, the answers fall somewhere between yes and no on both counts. In front of a big home crowd, (90,454) Florida played a spirited first […]
It’s not hard to like the improvement the Jaguars have made from the first of the year. They look like a NFL football team, albeit one that has a lot of holes in it, but they’re competitive even if they’re outmanned. At home on Sunday, they held their own, even getting a variety of bad […]
In any gathering of “elites” there’s always a sorting out process. Whether it’s in an NFL locker room, a fighter pilot’s ready room or a fraternity initiation. Because these people reached the top of their profession doesn’t mean the competition ends. Ribbing, teasing and hazing has been a part of that sorting out process since […]
I’ve gotten so used to seeing the Jaguars lose over the last two years I fought against the constant thought when the Titans had the ball, every play was about to go for a touchdown. That didn’t happen in the first half as the Jaguars took a 13-7 lead into the locker room. While Maurice […]
It’s been a varied response to Justin Blackmon’s suspension to say the least. Fans are outraged that he could be so selfish and violate the NFL’s substance abuse policy for a third time. The Jaguars brass is exasperated but says they’ll help him and not “cut him loose” according the GM Dave Caldwell. And many […]
I was at the game and I’m still trying to figure out how Florida was even in it at the end. Georgia did everything right while the sun was shining, getting Todd Gurley back and having Aaron Murray play well, leading them to a 17-0 and 23-3 lead at halftime. Then a strange sequence of […]
At the fan forum today, NFL Commissioner answered a wide range of questions from selected fans at the Landmark Hotel’s Grand Ballroom. Goodell did a double take when he entered the room as 90% of the 150 or so invited fans in attendance were in some NFL team jersey. “People would be surprised by the […]
With a smile and a handshake, Jaguars Owner Shad Khan greeted me at Craven Cottage saying, “You know, you’re on Anne Boleyn’s hunting ground here.” Craven Cottage is the home stadium or “grounds” of Khan’s English Premier League soccer team, Fulham. He was, in good spirits and outlined most of the history of the club […]
If it was supposed to be some kind of secret, it’s out there now: the Jaguars don’t have to win this year. It’s a luxury that GM Dave Caldwell and Head Coach Gus Bradley have for 2013. But for only one year. And maybe a little of 2014. There are a few ways to run […]
With an announced 59, 695 tickets distributed for the Jaguars/Colts game today it’s a shame that so much of the Jaguars performance was sub-standard. While the offense didn’t produce the defense had so many lapses on long yardage situations that it made it easy for Indianapolis. Blaine Gabbert appeared early in the game to be […]
Walking to Wembley Stadium to attend the Jaguars/Niners game was much like walking to a Super Bowl venue. “Next to the Super Bowl, this is the biggest production we have,” one NFL insider told me. From the badging around the stadium featuring the Jacksonville skyline and Jaguars players to the pregame show by recording star […]
I liked the effort. Outside of that, there were too many deficiencies in the Jaguars lineup to overcome a very talented Seattle Seahawks team. Early on you could tell the Jaguars were a bit overwhelmed by just about everything Seattle came up with on offense and defense. A mobile quarterback like Russell Wilson creates difficulty […]
Leaning on the perspective of history you learn that it’s never as bad as it seems or as good as it looks when it comes to the NFL. That’s why watching Jaguars Head Coach Gus Bradley after the 19-9 loss to Oakland was a study in how “team building” is part of his philosophy as […]
Full of hope and enthusiasm, the Jaguars opened the 2013 season how they wanted to early against the Chiefs. Decent stops on defense and then a great special teams play leading to a blocked punt and a safety and a 2-0 lead. From there, the team looked like it slipped into their 2012 persona with […]
When Shad Khan decided to make a change at the top of his football operation last year, it wasn’t because the team went 2-14. It was because the advice he received about how the Jaguars were going to win games didn’t pan out. So he put Dave Caldwell and Gus Bradley in charge and changed […]
We saw what looked to be about as close to regular season game speed in the Jaguars Eagles game Saturday night. Bodies were flying around and the hits were real. The starters played into the 3rd quarter and looked respectable, leaving the game leading 24-16. Two guys, Jordan Todman and Allen Reisner continue to look […]
It’s a luxury Gus Bradley and Dave Caldwell enjoy in 2013 the virtually no other coach and GM tandem has in the NFL: They don’t have to win. When Shad Khan bought the team in 2012, then General Manager Gene Smith thought the Jaguars were just a few pieces away from being competitive. When he […]
One of our producers was commenting on one of their colleagues the other day with the assessment, “We’ll, they’re not doing terrible.” We all laughed, but it might be a pretty good assessment of the Jaguars progress so far in 2013. Improved and better and they’re “not doing terrible.” For the Jaguars first exhibition game […]
In the first 5 days of camp I’ve seen Gus Bradley just light up one of his players. I’ve seen a quarterback go down like a ton of bricks. I’ve seen Denard Robinson look clueless and like a Pro Bowler – all within 5 minutes. And I’ve seen Cecil Shorts have the best camp of […]
It’s been a few years but the Jaguars have all 90 players under contract in camp on time in the first year under new head coach Gus Bradley. “It’s about trust,” Bradley said this week. “We can immediately trust them from a coach’s perspective as players to do the things necessary to win. The other […]
When it comes to business acumen, Shad Khan’s is well documented. So it initially seemed strange when it was revealed that he was interested in buying a Premier League team. Earlier this year and in 2012, Khan said he “didn’t like the business model” in the EPL. “They don’t have a salary cap.” But clearly […]
I’m always amused when people I meet find out I’m from Florida and the first thing they say is, “How can you stand it? It’s so hot there in the summer!” They’re right; it is hot here in the summer. So what do we do? We stay inside. That’s how Florida got be so popular […]
With the announcement that the NFL draft will move to early May in 2014, the league continue to take steps toward year-’round awareness. Citing a “scheduling conflict” with Radio City Music Hall, next year’s draft will be May 8-10 (yes, the Thursday, Friday, Saturday of The Players.) It’s not that they want to play games […]
As always happens this time of year, the debate gets stirred up as to where The Players stands among golf tournaments. Is it just another tournament? Is it a Major? The answer to both of those questions right now is no. It’s far from just another tournament. With all due respect to the volunteer forces […]
“Its about the angles and that makes it tough.” And with that, Tiger Woods explained why the TPC Stadium course is so difficult for the best players in the world. Pete Dye intended that way, and Tiger acknowledged that in his annual pre-tournament press conference. “It’s pretty typical Pete. There aren’t many holes where you […]
What a difference a year makes when it comes to the Jaguars draft. Obviously the people inside the draft room are different but the whole situation has changed when it comes to acquiring players. Last year in Shad Khan’s first draft as an NFL owner, the Jaguars were trying to fill some holes to be […]
While most of the country is waiting for the “golf season” to start, we’re in the height of it here in North Florida. I know we generally never go out of the golf season, but there’s not a better time to play here than spring through early summer. The days are longer, the weather is […]
People ask me all the time how I got into sports journalism. “Did you always want to be a sportscaster?” is a regular question. “No, I always wanted to play third base for the Baltimore Orioles. This seemed like the next best thing. Since quarterbacking the Colts was being occupied by John Unitas.” I guess […]
