Sam’s Commentary

Jacksonville Sports News, Sam Kouvaris - SamSportsline.com

Mularkey and Tebow: What Is and Isn’t

Who’d have thought that Mike Mularkey’s first test would have come before one football was snapped with him as the Head Coach of the Jaguars? Mularkey, along with the rest of the coaching staff and the personnel department had their feet held to the fire for a couple of days this week as Tim Tebow […]

Jacksonville Sports News, Sam Kouvaris - SamSportsline.com

Here’s How the Jaguars Can Make Tebow Work

If Shad Khan has told his football “people,” namely Gene Smith, to get quarterback Tim Tebow, (and there are rumors that he has), how do they make that work? To begin with, that puts Smith in a spot where he’ll have to eventually make a tough decision: swallow hard, stay with the Jaguars and go […]

Jacksonville Sports News, Sam Kouvaris - SamSportsline.com

Tebow to Jaguars: Not happening

Here’s the only way Tim Tebow ends up on the Jaguars: Shad Khan says make it happen. Khan hasn’t stood over Gene Smith’s shoulder when it comes to any of the football decisions he’s made. He let Smith cull through the coaching prospects before he brought Mike Mularkey to the table. And Khan hasn’t been […]

Jacksonville Sports News, Sam Kouvaris - SamSportsline.com

Ali Turns 70, I Remember When: Sam’s Brush With The Champ

It was early. Especially for somebody who’d been a bartender and was working on the first job of his career that also required working the “second shift.” In the summer of 1979 I was living and working in Charleston, S.C. Just after 7am my phone rang, jolting me out of bed as only a ringing […]

Jacksonville Sports News, Sam Kouvaris - SamSportsline.com

Mike Mularkey & Co. Winners? TBD

In the Jaguars locker room today, I talked with Mel Tucker and Mike Mularkey about the whole hiring process and how Mularkey convinced Tucker to stay. “Actually it wasn’t,” Mike said when I asked him if it was a tough sell to keep Tucker as his Defensive Coordinator. “Mel and I are a lot alike. […]

Jacksonville Sports News, Sam Kouvaris - SamSportsline.com

In the Near Future: Jacksonville Jaguars, Super Bowl Champions

The Jaguars will win the Super Bowl. That’s right, they’re going to win it. I don’t know when and I don’t know if it’ll be under the new head coach, but they’re going to win the Super Bowl. Shad Khan won’t accept anything less. Getting to the playoffs will be the first step. Winning in […]

Jacksonville Sports News, Sam Kouvaris - SamSportsline.com

Shad Khan, Right Man for the Job

When Shad Khan arrived in Texas Wednesday morning, he was the star attraction. His every move at the NFL owners meeting was documented and then some. There were nearly a dozen photographers catching glimpses of Khan as he moved through the halls of the Four Seasons hotel. The celebrity of being an NFL owner is […]

Jacksonville Sports News, Sam Kouvaris - SamSportsline.com

Thanks Wayne!

We’ve had some good luck as a city to have people in critical decision-making positions at critical times who turned out to be the right people at the right time. Mayor Jake Godbold served as “best Friend of the city” at a time that luring an NFL franchise was a complete pipe dream: to everybody […]

Jacksonville Sports News, Sam Kouvaris - SamSportsline.com

Jaguars Decision-Making

On a team with Vince Lombardi and Tom Landry as the coordinators, you might think the head coach would operate in relative obscurity. But Jim Lee Howell was well respected as the Head Coach of the New York Giants, getting them into the NFL Championship game three times in his seven years as head coach. […]

Jacksonville Sports News, Sam Kouvaris - SamSportsline.com

What Kind of Fan Are You?

There are many cliche’s involving sports and life. “Sports doesn’t build character, it reveals it.” “Sports imitates life.” But perhaps the truth is how sports gives us a chance to gain perspective on what might be going on around you. As the tragedy at Penn State continues to unfold, it’s much more a story about […]

Jacksonville Sports News, Sam Kouvaris - SamSportsline.com

Coaching Shelf-Life

A friend of mine was sitting in a sports bar during a recent Jaguars road game with some “real” Jaguars fans. Not just casual observers but guys who have been supporters of the franchise since the beginning. When the opposition took the lead, my friend was at first appalled and then amazed when these fans […]

Jacksonville Sports News, Sam Kouvaris - SamSportsline.com

Jaguars “D” a Throwback

There’s lots of chatter about the Jaguars win over the Colts in Indianapolis Sunday afternoon, most of it somehow discounting it as a victory, because Indy is winless this year. Tell that to the Chiefs last week who got spanked by a previously winless Miami Dolphin team. A win in the NFL counts no matter […]

Jacksonville Sports News, Sam Kouvaris - SamSportsline.com

Put Gabbert In

After 6 weeks of camp and exhibition games, practices and meetings it was pretty clear that Luke McCown had played his way into the mix as the best quarterback on the Jaguars roster. McCown had produced when he was on the field in games, he was sharp in practices and the guys on the team […]

Jacksonville Sports News, Sam Kouvaris - SamSportsline.com

WHEN YOU’RE DONE, YOU’RE DONE

I’m sure you know what Tony Boselli, Fred Taylor, David Garrard, Kyle Brady, Mike Peterson and even Byron Leftwich have in common. All were either unceremoniously cut or dumped from the Jaguars when they seemed to have some productive years left in their NFL careers. Stars at one point while playing in Jacksonville, they all […]

Jacksonville Sports News, Sam Kouvaris - SamSportsline.com

It’s The Quarterback

It’s about the quarterback. Always will be. It’s the most important position in sports. The only other one in the discussion is starting pitcher and they only get the ball every four or five days. The QB touches the ball on every offensive play, is the leader and the manager and has to be among […]

Jacksonville Sports News, Sam Kouvaris - SamSportsline.com

It’s Football Season? Already?

For years, my friend Keith has said, “When July 4th comes around, summer is over.” I always laughed at that, because when we were kids, the 4th of July marked the beginning of summer! But alas, now he’s right, as seasons have expanded, once the holiday is finished, it seems all eyes turn to football. […]

Jacksonville Sports News, Sam Kouvaris - SamSportsline.com

Our “Hometown”

This summer will mark my 30th year of working and living in Jacksonville. Having also worked in Charleston, S.C., going to school in Washington, D.C. and growing up in Baltimore, I’ve had a taste of all different city sizes and lifestyles. Baltimore is a city that’s really a big town. In fact, Jacksonville is similar […]

Jacksonville Sports News, Sam Kouvaris - SamSportsline.com

Wanna Play!

Nobody lives in North Florida or South Georgia because they have to. Nobody has to stay here because they owe money to the company store. So why is it that our civic leaders, elected and otherwise, can’t figure out that’s the frame of reference they should be using for every decision? Is it right that […]

Jacksonville Sports News, Sam Kouvaris - SamSportsline.com

Lots of Golf Here

There aren’t too many better places to play golf in the world than here in North Florida and South Georgia. We can play year-‘round and some of the most desirable golf courses in the country are in our backyard. No matter where you look, north to Sea Island or Amelia, any one of the courses […]

Jacksonville Sports News, Sam Kouvaris - SamSportsline.com

Its a Big Deal

What’s a big deal anymore? Jacksonville has grown from a town of 200,00 in 1980 to a sprawling city of nearly 1.4 million in the last 30 years. Yet, it’s hard to pin down just what is a big deal to the people who live here. Is it because we’re so diverse? Westsiders almost never […]