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Speaker 1: The following presentation of the Jaguars podcast Network is presented

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Speaker 1: by by Star Credite. Jaguars General manager Dave Caldwell is

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Speaker 1: writing the Jaguar story right now, nearly seven years into

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Speaker 1: his tenure at the top of the Jaguars personnel department.

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Speaker 1: The thoughtful, soft spoken Caldwell is laser focused on getting

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Speaker 1: his roster right for a run in twenty There is

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Speaker 1: a quiet confidence in the analytical personnel boss. He knows

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Speaker 1: the Jaguars have a good plan, and he thinks he's

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Speaker 1: put together a roster capable of executing it in the

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Speaker 1: twenty fifth season. This is perspectives, the story of the

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Speaker 1: Jaguars first twenty five seasons, pulled by the people who

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Speaker 1: built the franchise from the ground up. This is Dave Caldwell.

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Speaker 1: He was young, but he was experienced when Shod Khan

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Speaker 1: made the call in January. He'd worked with Hall of

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Speaker 1: Famer Bill Totally getting Carolina and Indianapolis, and he helped

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Speaker 1: build a winner with Thomas de Bedrop. He didn't land.

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Speaker 1: Caldwell knew he wanted a shot at his own team,

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Speaker 1: but he wasn't entirely ready when the coal came and

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Speaker 1: I remember my boss, Thomas to Metrop come in and say, hey,

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Speaker 1: you know, I just got permission from the Jacksonville Jaguars

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Speaker 1: and they'd like the interview as a GM candidate. And

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Speaker 1: I said, Okay, when's it going to be at the

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Speaker 1: end of the season or when the season's over And

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Speaker 1: he said, no, Shot Cotton's gonna be here at three o'clock.

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Speaker 1: And I was like today, and he said, yep, he'll

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Speaker 1: be here today. So I kind of went in a

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Speaker 1: scramble mode and called my wife and made sure I

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Speaker 1: had the proper clothes and so I could present myself

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Speaker 1: like a GM I guess and m Jod showed up

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Speaker 1: at three and we had a great visit and UM

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Speaker 1: really kind of kicked off the starter of our relationship. UM,

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Speaker 1: you know. And then through the process there was other

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Speaker 1: interviews that I took and I just kept being drawn

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Speaker 1: to Shod And then I got to meet Tony and

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Speaker 1: really hit it off with Tony Kahn. UM a lot

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Speaker 1: of similar visions and and how we want the organization

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Speaker 1: to be run, how you treat people. The process span

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Speaker 1: for about two weeks. I did multiple interviews there, I

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Speaker 1: did multiple interviews here. Uh, there was another team that

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Speaker 1: UM that I was going to interview with, but then

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Speaker 1: just decided that we followed my my heart and UM

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Speaker 1: kind of this really kind of wanted to side myself

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Speaker 1: with the con family and M I really kind of

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Speaker 1: tuned a lot of people out, and there was a

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Speaker 1: select number of people that I confided in. UM. A

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Speaker 1: lot of people thought that it could never work in Jacksonville,

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Speaker 1: and UM, don't forget you know, there was always rumors

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Speaker 1: of the team moving and is it going to go

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Speaker 1: to l A Is it going to go to London?

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Speaker 1: And there was always those rumors, and and when I

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Speaker 1: interviewed a shot, he assured me that they were committed

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Speaker 1: to Jacksonville. UM did informed me that we may play

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Speaker 1: a game in London, and UM felt like that would

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Speaker 1: be a competitive advantage for us. And I'm sure enough

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Speaker 1: he was right. Caldwell showed up in Jacksonville prepared, but

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Speaker 1: was he ready for a job that wasn't considered a

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Speaker 1: good one. Everybody who knew the Jaguars situation knew he

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Speaker 1: had his work cut out for it. The franchise had

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Speaker 1: endured four losing seasons in its previous five years and

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Speaker 1: won just two games in twelve the arrow was pointing

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Speaker 1: down the day he arrived, but he was ready to

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Speaker 1: roll up his sleeves and get to work. The vision

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Speaker 1: was that we were going to try to build this

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Speaker 1: thing from the ground up. UM. It wasn't a tear down,

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Speaker 1: which I think a lot of people thought it was.

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Speaker 1: It was pretty much there. We had to fill some

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Speaker 1: roster spots too for immediate starters. UM. Our first draft class,

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Speaker 1: I think UH, we drafted four guys and they all

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Speaker 1: started in the secondary at some point in time, and

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Speaker 1: offensive line. The salary cap wasn't um where we wanted

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Speaker 1: it to be. UM. They had some contracts that were

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Speaker 1: at the time a little bit over inflated and which

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Speaker 1: happens to every team and and through free agency. UM,

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Speaker 1: but we really wanted to take a year to two

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Speaker 1: years to really generate it some cap space so that

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Speaker 1: we could build it. And then when we felt like

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Speaker 1: we were going to be a competitive team, that we

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Speaker 1: can go out and we can get the marquee guys

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Speaker 1: like a Malik Jackson and Clays Campbell, UM, guys that

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Speaker 1: turned out to be Pro Bowlers for US. UM and

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Speaker 1: felt like that that that was a good UM. A J.

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Speaker 1: Bouyer was another one all pro and kind of bring

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Speaker 1: those guys along. Obviously that we made some mistakes along

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Speaker 1: the way that didn't work out, but um, I think

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Speaker 1: for the most part, you know, Shod wanted to be

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Speaker 1: in the playoffs uh within five years, and um I

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Speaker 1: said that we'll try to get a playoff team together

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Speaker 1: in five years, and sure enough we did well. Really,

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Speaker 1: the most important thing was to get this talent level

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Speaker 1: to a competitive uh state through all facets. Obviously, you

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Speaker 1: want to do it through the draft. UH. It's hard

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Speaker 1: to do a year and year out through the draft.

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Speaker 1: So you have to supplement through whether it's pro free agency,

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Speaker 1: college free agency, whether you can get a player from

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Speaker 1: another league Canadian Football, all league. However, you had to

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Speaker 1: do it. We had to get this to where we

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Speaker 1: felt like we had fifty three players that can compete

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Speaker 1: on a weekend, week out. Basis the philosophy of drafting players.

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Speaker 1: I gotta give credit to Bill Polian and the late

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Speaker 1: Domineely who really taught me, you know, the the scouting

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Speaker 1: one on one uh what we'd like to call it,

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Speaker 1: and just um you know, being around them, listening to them,

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Speaker 1: how they make decisions, why they make decisions, was very important.

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Speaker 1: And then uh, as as my career went on, I

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Speaker 1: tried to learn there's there's other people like John Becker

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Speaker 1: who about built the St. Louis Rams when they won

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Speaker 1: the Super Bowl, and he was Dick ru Meal's right

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Speaker 1: hand man. Learned a lot from him when he came

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Speaker 1: to Indianapolis to work with us, and then um throughout

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Speaker 1: throughout the time and then became um the director of

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Speaker 1: college scouting under Thomas the metroph in Atlanta and really

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Speaker 1: kind of started honing in on the big butcher and

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Speaker 1: he involved me in a lot of meetings with coaches,

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Speaker 1: with with with really everybody in the organization, Arthur Blank,

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Speaker 1: who was a tremendous owner, and really how organizations should

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Speaker 1: operate and work. Every situation is different, and um, you know,

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Speaker 1: every situation has its pros and cons and and you know,

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Speaker 1: Jacksonville was a small market team. It wasn't a destination

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Speaker 1: spot at the time. UM, we had a challenge, you know,

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Speaker 1: getting free agents to come for visits for for whatever

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Speaker 1: the various reasons were. We weren't competitive at the time. Uh,

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Speaker 1: they didn't know enough about the city. So we really

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Speaker 1: spent a good year to two years kind of talking

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Speaker 1: up the city to agents, building relationship with agents, building

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Speaker 1: relationship with players, and and uh kind of trying to

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Speaker 1: make this a spot where players wanted to go. And um,

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Speaker 1: we had to sign some big deals to to prove

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Speaker 1: that we could get some players. And we did that

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Speaker 1: and then um, as people started to have good experiences

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Speaker 1: here and players came here and said they how much

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Speaker 1: I loved the city, and we realized what what a

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Speaker 1: great city this is. UM, we finally got the perception

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Speaker 1: of Jacksonville turned around in our opinion. And to do

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Speaker 1: that was was a major hurdle. And now you know,

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Speaker 1: instead of us soliciting players to come and beg him

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Speaker 1: to come for visits, we know agents and players everything

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Speaker 1: out to us, UM being proactive with that. More perspectives

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Speaker 1: following this from Vice Star Credit Union Advice Star. We

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Speaker 1: believe in better and that means treating people bet are

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Speaker 1: with friendly personal service that's kept our members happy since

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Speaker 1: a smile and personal greeting when you enter the branch,

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Speaker 1: an online or phone chat for those quick questions, and

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Speaker 1: the call center that's open every day. If you believe

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Speaker 1: that great services, better, join vi Star. We never forget

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Speaker 1: that it's your money. All loan subject to approval insured

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Speaker 1: by n c U A. Dave knew he needed the

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Speaker 1: right personality for his first coach. The Jaguars wouldn't ever

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Speaker 1: say it, but they knew it was going to take time,

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Speaker 1: a few years perhaps to build a team that could win.

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Speaker 1: They hope they'd be able to line up and compete

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Speaker 1: at a high level in year one and year two,

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Speaker 1: which met, they needed a coach players wanted to play for.

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Speaker 1: Gus Bradley one called well and con over with his

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Speaker 1: blend of energy, intensity, positivity and results. I think we

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Speaker 1: interviewed five candidates that year, and uh he was the

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Speaker 1: last one we interviewed. And by the time we made

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Speaker 1: it to dinner, I think uh um Shod was ready

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Speaker 1: to offer the head coaching job. He became a narrator. Um,

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Speaker 1: so I took the job. Week later, I flew back

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Speaker 1: for an Atlanta Falcons playoff game, and um, they ironically

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Speaker 1: enough played the Sattle Seahawks and just got to feel

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Speaker 1: for their defense and how they you know, they were playing.

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Speaker 1: And I was looking at their defense, and I was

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Speaker 1: looking at fourth fifth rounders who became all pros, who

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Speaker 1: late round draft picks. So they developed college free agents,

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Speaker 1: and and I really was enamored by their defense and

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Speaker 1: how they played. UM took me back to kind of

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Speaker 1: how our defensive is built in Indianapolis too, with some

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Speaker 1: late round draft picks that that end up being developed

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Speaker 1: and ended up being coming all pro type of players. UM.

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Speaker 1: So I figured that the best way to build this

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Speaker 1: first was, UM, get a defensive minded head coach, a

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Speaker 1: guy with a lot of energy, UH, bring some positive

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Speaker 1: passion to the organization and and really kind of get

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Speaker 1: people excited to play here. And sure enough he did,

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Speaker 1: And that was the major thing. That got a lot

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Speaker 1: of background information from people he worked with and I

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Speaker 1: knew very well, and I just felt like he'd be

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Speaker 1: a good fit. You have to believe in the same things.

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Speaker 1: And and I think uh through that Thomas de metrof,

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Speaker 1: Mike Smith, Thomas and and Dan Quinn is current coach,

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Speaker 1: And I think there it helps the whole organization when

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Speaker 1: the head coaching gm are on the same page. And UM,

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Speaker 1: if you have that, you're fighting chance. A general manager

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Speaker 1: is generally judged by two decisions. And man, he hires

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Speaker 1: two coaches, team and the player he signs to be

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Speaker 1: it's quarterback. He had Bradley, and we had to wait

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Speaker 1: until to drop. Like portals, the process was very involved

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Speaker 1: and it really involved everybody, even though the decision was

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Speaker 1: only came down to a few people. But at the

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Speaker 1: end of the day we had a uh have everybody

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Speaker 1: unsolicited give their reports on the player and where there

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Speaker 1: was a scouting staff, coaching staff, and and sure enough,

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Speaker 1: he throughout that draft class and really out those those

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Speaker 1: first couple of years, he was the highest graded quarterback

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Speaker 1: that we've come across UM and through that he UM

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Speaker 1: he met all the criteria, big, athletic, productive, winner, anything

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Speaker 1: that you would want to have quarterback, he met those

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Speaker 1: and UM, so we needed somebody to play quarterback and

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Speaker 1: and we just didn't have one at the time. And

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Speaker 1: at the time Lane was traded with Chad Henny was

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Speaker 1: our backup, and we needed somebody, a young person to

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Speaker 1: grow to be a starter. And sure enough, you know,

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Speaker 1: we knew he was gonna need some development, and unfortunately

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Speaker 1: for us, he came into first training camp and exceeded

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Speaker 1: everybody's expectations and so that kind of sped up his

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Speaker 1: development process and he probably got thrown in with a

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Speaker 1: team that probably wasn't ready to compete or protect him,

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Speaker 1: and through that he fought, he battled and UM. But

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Speaker 1: you know, he was a consensus guy from the coaches

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Speaker 1: and the and the scouting department of up the guy

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Speaker 1: that we felt I could lead this team and we

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Speaker 1: felt like that we'd be able to develop him. For

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Speaker 1: all the criticism that that he's taken over the last

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Speaker 1: five years, all I know is that if we would

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Speaker 1: have said on draft day he was going to break

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Speaker 1: virtually every franchise record for passing and be two and

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Speaker 1: one in the playoffs and have you within three minutes

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Speaker 1: of the playoffs closer to the super Bowl than any

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Speaker 1: team in Jacksonville, jack where history has come, I think

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Speaker 1: we probably all would have felt like that was would

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Speaker 1: have been a successful pick. And I think as time

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Speaker 1: goes by, people will realize, you know, what he did

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Speaker 1: and how he did it, and it wasn't in a

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Speaker 1: conventional way. It wasn't throwing it, it wasn't But Blake

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Speaker 1: was a good football player. He may not have been

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Speaker 1: the best pass or he may not have been, but

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Speaker 1: he was a good football player that gave this team

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Speaker 1: a chance to win. UM. Obviously it didn't work out

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Speaker 1: for a long term, but we got five years out

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Speaker 1: of him, and um, he he changed the narrative of

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Speaker 1: Jacksonville and putting us in in the n FC Championship game.

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Speaker 1: In the middle of piecing together a roster, managing the

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Speaker 1: salary cap, and having input and responsibility for everything football,

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Speaker 1: Caldwell was told his team would play in London annually,

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Speaker 1: something no other NFL GM had ever done. On the

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Speaker 1: interview and two shots credit and the Mark Lamping's credit,

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Speaker 1: I asked him about it and they said, yeah, we'll

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Speaker 1: play a game and it might be a commitment for

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Speaker 1: for many years that will play a game over there.

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Speaker 1: And they felt like that we could turn us into

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Speaker 1: a home field advantage. Um that we could take one

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Speaker 1: home game played in London and and learn to do

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Speaker 1: it better than any other team who does it once

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Speaker 1: every three or four or five years. And sure enough,

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Speaker 1: I think they're right. We've tried it every way possible.

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Speaker 1: We tried it leaving from the road on a Sunday

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Speaker 1: night after a road game. We've tried leaving Monday from

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Speaker 1: a home game, and now we leave on Thursday night

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Speaker 1: and on a short week, and it seems like we've

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Speaker 1: kind of really made it very efficient and where our

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Speaker 1: players don't really feel the effects of traveling over and

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Speaker 1: then when we come back and then that they can

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Speaker 1: hit the ground running woe and come back. We've played

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Speaker 1: good football over there, um outside the first two years

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Speaker 1: where we probably weren't ready to compete regardless of where

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Speaker 1: we played. So we're three and three over there, and um,

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Speaker 1: you know, we won three in a row and then

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Speaker 1: we lost a last minute game to Philadelphia this past year,

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Speaker 1: and uh, I feel like we've played good football over there,

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Speaker 1: and I think players enjoy it. I think the atmosphere

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Speaker 1: is a great atmosphere. Um, we don't like taking a

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Speaker 1: home game away from our our home fans, but um,

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Speaker 1: we feel like we got more pressure to perform in

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Speaker 1: those seven games here because we got one less. So

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Speaker 1: I think the the idea that were the the home

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Speaker 1: team of London UM for one game a year is

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Speaker 1: kind of resonate with both a lot of our staff here.

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Speaker 1: You have to be grateful for having great support people

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Speaker 1: Jimmy Luck and our equipment staff, Scott Truelock and our

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Speaker 1: athletic training staff, Hams and his logistics and and and

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Speaker 1: travel staff. Than they do a tremendous job where I

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Speaker 1: don't think people realize the amount of work and preparation

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Speaker 1: that goes into it, and it just goes very seamless.

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Speaker 1: The Jaguars are in their first win in London in

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Speaker 1: with a combination of precision passing from Portals to Allen

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Speaker 1: Robinson and Alan Hearns, and a defense offerative glimpse of

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Speaker 1: what was to come. Portals finished his second season with

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Speaker 1: the most passing yards passing touchdowns by a quarterback in

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Speaker 1: Jaguars history. There was plenty of reason to believe the

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Speaker 1: arrow was finally pointing up, not the least of which

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Speaker 1: was a draft. It stocked the Jaguars defense with a cornerback,

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Speaker 1: a linebacker, and a pass rusher upon whom the future

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Speaker 1: would build, and a scenario played out that no one

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Speaker 1: could have predicted. I did think it was possible, but

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Speaker 1: not likely. Uh at least for the first two um

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Speaker 1: We went through it and felt like Jalen was the

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Speaker 1: best player for us. He was the cleanest pick, he

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Speaker 1: was healthy, he had no issues, played in all his

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Speaker 1: games at Florida State, kind of once in a generation

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Speaker 1: type of you know defender, and uh so when he

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Speaker 1: fell the five, it was no brainer. We had some

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Speaker 1: offers and maybe trade back a little bit, but we

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Speaker 1: knew that we weren't going to get the same caliber player,

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Speaker 1: so we we didn't The one time we had a

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Speaker 1: chance of trade back, we didn't do it, and we

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Speaker 1: decided to take Jalen. So as the draft went on,

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Speaker 1: and as Miles started to fall, and and everybody knew

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Speaker 1: the reasons why he started to fall, some questions about

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Speaker 1: his health and and um, he just kept going and

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Speaker 1: going and going. And then as he got into the

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Speaker 1: twenties twenty five, I'm like, you know, I think it's

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Speaker 1: about time we take a chance on this guy. We

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Speaker 1: we had him rated as one of the top two

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Speaker 1: players in the draft too, and um, you know, our

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Speaker 1: defensive staff just talked about how much versatility could have

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Speaker 1: with a player like that. And he's a great kid

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Speaker 1: and and he's so when you started going, I'm like, well,

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Speaker 1: let's maybe try to trade up and see if we

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Speaker 1: could do it. Couldn't trade up into the first round,

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Speaker 1: and I'm like, is he really going to fall out

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Speaker 1: of the first round. It was amazing to me because

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Speaker 1: there are some teams where he really fit their style

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Speaker 1: of defense. Picking later in that first round, and I

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Speaker 1: thought man, this is a no brainer. And then we

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Speaker 1: he he fell all the way out and we had

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Speaker 1: a meeting with UM our team doctor, and uh, he

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Speaker 1: felt like that that his situation was manageable, and so

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Speaker 1: we said, you know what, we're sitting there in a

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Speaker 1: second round. It's hard enough to find a player that

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Speaker 1: you know can play, UM, but we know this kid

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Speaker 1: can play, and we know the versatility and his athleticism

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Speaker 1: is is uncanny. So we just said, you know what,

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Speaker 1: let's start trying to trade up. So he kept trying

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Speaker 1: to trade up, and then eventually I got to Baltimore

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Speaker 1: and uh, I called Baltimore before the second day started

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Speaker 1: and I said, listen, I got a fifth round pick.

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Speaker 1: It's about even. UM. You know, I got to come

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Speaker 1: back a couple of picks. If you want to do it,

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Speaker 1: we'll do it. And sure enough, at the time, Erica

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Speaker 1: Costo was her assistant John manager, and said, hey, you

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Speaker 1: know what, if if you guys there, we'll do it.

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Speaker 1: So I called them, and soon do they call them.

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Speaker 1: After the fact, he told me two or three other

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Speaker 1: teams we're calling the trade up to. But uh, he

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Speaker 1: did give his word that he would make the trade,

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Speaker 1: and he did and we we selected him. That pick

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Speaker 1: would have been Nick if it wasn't Miles. And so

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Speaker 1: as the draft went on, and it kept going and going,

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Speaker 1: and then Johnick fell the third it was that was

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Speaker 1: a really no brainer for us because we were playing

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Speaker 1: on picking him and the spit the second pick. There

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Speaker 1: was momentum in Jacksonville for the first time in a decade.

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Speaker 1: Expectations real, We're not we're heavy for a team that

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Speaker 1: had made the playoffs since two thousand seven, they were

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Speaker 1: not met. And as the Jaguars were seating a second

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Speaker 1: half lead in Houston in Week fifteen, en route to

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Speaker 1: a ninth consecutive loss, called what was preparing for a

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Speaker 1: postgame conversation he knew he couldn't devoid. Well, I think

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Speaker 1: it goes back to the relationship we had and I

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Speaker 1: promised I would never lie to him and um, and

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Speaker 1: that I would never catch him off car with anything.

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Speaker 1: So after the game, obviously it was emotional, and and

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Speaker 1: the question was asked, and I just said, yeah, it's

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Speaker 1: gonna happen, and UM he asked when, And I said,

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Speaker 1: you know, I almost left it up to him. Do

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Speaker 1: you want to talk about an hour? Do you want

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Speaker 1: to wait to the morrow, and I just felt like

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Speaker 1: that it would have got out from a media standpoint. Um,

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Speaker 1: but I didn't want him to not know what was

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Speaker 1: going to happen and and and surprise him. It was

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Speaker 1: very hard everybody involved. Tony shot Um. It was a

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Speaker 1: decision that wasn't taken lightly, and we spent a lot

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Speaker 1: of time ruminating over it and really trying to make

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Speaker 1: sure that it was the right decision, and um, I

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Speaker 1: felt like it was at the time, and I felt

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00:19:09,680 --> 00:19:13,919
Speaker 1: like that was the time to do it. More perspectives

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00:19:14,000 --> 00:19:20,640
Speaker 1: following this from Vistar Credit Union Advice Star. We believe

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Speaker 1: in better, especially in helping build a better financial future

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Speaker 1: for our members, so we reviewed our offerings from the

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Speaker 1: ground up. We've lowered or eliminated over half our fees

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Speaker 1: and enhanced our already competitive rates, saving members more than

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Speaker 1: a million dollars this year, in addition to the millions

374
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Speaker 1: we saved them every year. If you believe that saving

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Speaker 1: money is better, join vi Star. We never forget that

376
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Speaker 1: it's your money, all loan subject to approval, insured by

377
00:19:47,560 --> 00:19:52,960
Speaker 1: n c u A. So that gust bus rolled away

378
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Speaker 1: from Jacksonville and with it when a coach who was

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Speaker 1: almost universally loved in the locker room and the front office.

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Speaker 1: But Tom trained though would sooner rot returning a man

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Speaker 1: to a franchise he wants put together piece by piece,

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Speaker 1: and leaving Coldwell to take a hard look and rearrange

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Speaker 1: his plan. A lot of this went on through discussion

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Speaker 1: went on through the hiring of coach Moron and and

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Speaker 1: the potentially bringing somebody else on, whether it was coach

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Speaker 1: Coughin or somebody else. And uh, I've always been for

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Speaker 1: whatever makes the team better, and whether that's diminishing my role,

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Speaker 1: whether it's a greater role, or bringing people in under

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Speaker 1: me or over me, whatever we could do to get

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Speaker 1: this team to the point where it needs to be

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Speaker 1: to win championships, I'm all for it. So Bill Polin

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Speaker 1: used to always say, when you win, everybody will get

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Speaker 1: enough credit, and and that's that's true. And when you lose,

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Speaker 1: everybody feels the burden of that. So when and good

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Speaker 1: things happen. And I just felt like Tom could bring

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Speaker 1: He's a hall of fame coach, he's a hall of

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Speaker 1: fame person, and I I felt like he could help me.

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Speaker 1: There's I've never learned from him, And I think it

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00:21:03,200 --> 00:21:04,639
Speaker 1: was a great move for the organization, but it was

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Speaker 1: even better move for me, not only professionally but personally. Obviously.

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Speaker 1: If I can't learn from a guy like that and

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Speaker 1: and implement some of his leadership traits and qualities that

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00:21:13,680 --> 00:21:17,240
Speaker 1: he has, well, then shame on me. And so I'm

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Speaker 1: trying to take as much from him as long as

405
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Speaker 1: he's here um to learn from and to um to

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00:21:23,560 --> 00:21:26,520
Speaker 1: pick his brain, because it's it's more knowledge than than

407
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Speaker 1: I'll ever have, believe it or not. He and I

408
00:21:29,600 --> 00:21:31,280
Speaker 1: we have a lot of things in common and and

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Speaker 1: really things outside of football, whether it's our faith, uh,

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Speaker 1: family and just how you treat people and uh and

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Speaker 1: he's an incredible person and I guess people don't realize

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Speaker 1: that he's got an incredible sense of humor too, and

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Speaker 1: uh So working with him on a daily basis has

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Speaker 1: truly been a joy and and it has really made

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Speaker 1: a lot of aspects made my job a lot easier.

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Speaker 1: We all had this common vision and common goal and

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Speaker 1: that was really to win. And you know, I was

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Speaker 1: enjoyed with the decision um for that to happen. And

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Speaker 1: I think to have time and Doug and and there's

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Speaker 1: a lot of aspects of having a former coach like

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Speaker 1: coach Coughlin in that role for me to bounce things

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Speaker 1: off of him, to bounce things off a Doug and

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Speaker 1: vice versa. So um, Doug and I have always had

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Speaker 1: a good relationship too, So I felt like, well, you know,

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Speaker 1: my personality is a lot different than both others, trust me,

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Speaker 1: and you probably know that. But but um, I don't

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Speaker 1: think probably having three people with the similar personalities would

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Speaker 1: have worked. But um, I think the fact that my

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Speaker 1: personality is a little bit different than than those two

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Speaker 1: kind of hopefully help helps bring it together. It worked,

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Speaker 1: and Caldwell wasn't surprised the Coughlin and Marone turned the

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Speaker 1: Jags on field fortunes quickly. Well, I felt like in

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Speaker 1: two thousand sixteen, we had a team that compete. I

434
00:22:52,160 --> 00:22:54,880
Speaker 1: think we lost ten games by less than a touchdown. Um,

435
00:22:55,000 --> 00:22:59,879
Speaker 1: it was a large number, by a little points. So

436
00:23:00,000 --> 00:23:01,880
Speaker 1: when you looked at the point differential, we just felt

437
00:23:01,920 --> 00:23:05,080
Speaker 1: like that we could still we if a couple of

438
00:23:05,080 --> 00:23:08,400
Speaker 1: things went differently earlier in the season, that this team

439
00:23:08,400 --> 00:23:10,600
Speaker 1: could have been a five hundred team. And then we

440
00:23:10,680 --> 00:23:12,600
Speaker 1: took a lot of that team over and felt like

441
00:23:12,640 --> 00:23:14,480
Speaker 1: the defense was closed and if we added a couple

442
00:23:14,480 --> 00:23:20,320
Speaker 1: of pieces defensively and then um, we played passable offense,

443
00:23:20,840 --> 00:23:23,480
Speaker 1: that you know what, we have a chance to maybe

444
00:23:23,480 --> 00:23:26,320
Speaker 1: win this division. And I didn't say it out loud

445
00:23:26,320 --> 00:23:30,080
Speaker 1: to anybody, but I just quietly felt like this could

446
00:23:30,080 --> 00:23:32,119
Speaker 1: be a year where we could do some good things.

447
00:23:32,119 --> 00:23:35,359
Speaker 1: And and sure enough, um, and people don't realize about

448
00:23:35,400 --> 00:23:38,919
Speaker 1: that season was we had top five defense, but we

449
00:23:38,960 --> 00:23:44,480
Speaker 1: also had a top six offense. And to have both those, um,

450
00:23:44,720 --> 00:23:47,159
Speaker 1: offensive defense in the top ten, that's hard to do.

451
00:23:47,440 --> 00:23:49,920
Speaker 1: And um, sure enough that got us to the playoffs.

452
00:23:51,119 --> 00:23:53,760
Speaker 1: Jalen Ramsey sealed the jack Wards first playoff we need

453
00:23:53,760 --> 00:23:56,320
Speaker 1: ten years in front of a sold out crowd in Jacksonville.

454
00:23:56,760 --> 00:23:59,480
Speaker 1: Then Boardles Miles, Jack, Kelvin Smith, and Leonard for Nett.

455
00:23:59,760 --> 00:24:03,119
Speaker 1: How a second winned Pittsburgh in the divisional round, scoring

456
00:24:03,200 --> 00:24:06,080
Speaker 1: forty five points and doing what they did all season

457
00:24:06,119 --> 00:24:09,840
Speaker 1: on defense. They outplayed the Patriots for three quarters and

458
00:24:09,880 --> 00:24:12,159
Speaker 1: a quick whistle took away what would have been a

459
00:24:12,960 --> 00:24:16,439
Speaker 1: ten lead made way through the fourth quarter. Caldwell, like

460
00:24:16,520 --> 00:24:19,960
Speaker 1: nearly everyone in Jacksonville, still shakes his head at dead moment,

461
00:24:20,280 --> 00:24:23,080
Speaker 1: which would have defined his tenure with the Jaguars and

462
00:24:23,119 --> 00:24:27,480
Speaker 1: in a way still sort of does no. To be

463
00:24:27,560 --> 00:24:30,080
Speaker 1: honest with you, I was sitting on the couch, um,

464
00:24:30,280 --> 00:24:32,800
Speaker 1: my wife was making uh dinner and sauce, and we

465
00:24:32,880 --> 00:24:37,080
Speaker 1: had some friends over and on NFL Network, which I

466
00:24:37,080 --> 00:24:40,960
Speaker 1: always go to, Jacksonville Jaguars or first New England Patriots

467
00:24:41,040 --> 00:24:43,880
Speaker 1: was on TV, and uh, that's the first time I've

468
00:24:43,920 --> 00:24:47,159
Speaker 1: watched it, and uh, and I watched it right up

469
00:24:47,200 --> 00:24:51,159
Speaker 1: until the Miles Jack play and then and even my

470
00:24:51,200 --> 00:24:52,920
Speaker 1: wife's like, how the cow could they call him down?

471
00:24:53,480 --> 00:24:56,960
Speaker 1: But you know it is. But to be honest, you know,

472
00:24:57,000 --> 00:25:00,119
Speaker 1: in a game like that, and in the NFL, you

473
00:25:00,200 --> 00:25:02,520
Speaker 1: had we had our opportunities to win. Elsewhere, we had

474
00:25:02,560 --> 00:25:06,240
Speaker 1: our opportunities to win a game, and very suddenly it

475
00:25:06,280 --> 00:25:08,560
Speaker 1: doesn't ever come down to just one play. Ideally, that

476
00:25:08,760 --> 00:25:10,639
Speaker 1: one play, if if he would have taken it and

477
00:25:10,680 --> 00:25:14,080
Speaker 1: scored what he was on path too, would have made

478
00:25:14,080 --> 00:25:15,920
Speaker 1: a very challenging for them to come back and win.

479
00:25:16,119 --> 00:25:19,480
Speaker 1: But but we also had the ball a couple of

480
00:25:19,480 --> 00:25:21,919
Speaker 1: times after that too, so and we had chances to

481
00:25:21,920 --> 00:25:25,800
Speaker 1: stop him. So you know, he's the NFL and and

482
00:25:26,160 --> 00:25:31,560
Speaker 1: probably games are decided by three or four plays. Soft

483
00:25:31,600 --> 00:25:33,760
Speaker 1: spoken as he may be, there is a fire in

484
00:25:33,800 --> 00:25:37,119
Speaker 1: his eyes for this team and this season. Called one

485
00:25:37,200 --> 00:25:39,159
Speaker 1: knows he's in the right place, with the right people,

486
00:25:39,560 --> 00:25:42,160
Speaker 1: at the right moment in time to write a great

487
00:25:42,240 --> 00:25:47,000
Speaker 1: story his and the Jaguars well, hopefully for back to

488
00:25:47,760 --> 00:25:49,640
Speaker 1: We don't want to move back, but but to the

489
00:25:49,760 --> 00:25:51,959
Speaker 1: level that we were playing in seventeen and where we

490
00:25:51,960 --> 00:25:55,040
Speaker 1: were playing dominant defense, we were playing good offense, and

491
00:25:55,080 --> 00:25:57,439
Speaker 1: that we went into games expecting to win. And you

492
00:25:57,520 --> 00:26:00,679
Speaker 1: come out year and year out expecting UH be in

493
00:26:00,680 --> 00:26:03,359
Speaker 1: contention for the playoffs. Now that's not always gonna happen.

494
00:26:03,440 --> 00:26:05,120
Speaker 1: We were on a pace last year. We were three

495
00:26:05,160 --> 00:26:07,160
Speaker 1: and one. We felt like, hey, this is a thing

496
00:26:07,240 --> 00:26:12,760
Speaker 1: that we can keep going from. Unfortunately, we got decimated

497
00:26:12,760 --> 00:26:15,640
Speaker 1: with with injuries early in the season and I really

498
00:26:15,640 --> 00:26:18,640
Speaker 1: affected UH the outcome of a lot of games. So

499
00:26:19,359 --> 00:26:21,880
Speaker 1: the key is to get every way back healthy and

500
00:26:21,880 --> 00:26:24,760
Speaker 1: and to continue to compete where now you go into

501
00:26:24,760 --> 00:26:26,840
Speaker 1: games and you expect to win, and you expect to

502
00:26:27,520 --> 00:26:29,919
Speaker 1: be in the conversation at the end of the season,

503
00:26:30,520 --> 00:26:33,440
Speaker 1: and the more you're in the conversation, the better chance

504
00:26:33,480 --> 00:26:36,159
Speaker 1: you have ending up in the final big game. And

505
00:26:36,200 --> 00:26:38,720
Speaker 1: that's the goal. And I didn't know a whole lot

506
00:26:38,760 --> 00:26:41,679
Speaker 1: about Jacksonville except for the fifteen years I came here

507
00:26:41,680 --> 00:26:45,800
Speaker 1: as a visiting team and Shot assured me that I

508
00:26:45,840 --> 00:26:48,639
Speaker 1: would love the city, and Joel, my wife, and my

509
00:26:48,680 --> 00:26:51,439
Speaker 1: son would love the city. And uh, sure enough there right,

510
00:26:51,560 --> 00:26:54,000
Speaker 1: And uh we decided to take a leap of faith

511
00:26:54,000 --> 00:26:57,360
Speaker 1: because of the con family and uh, he's a very

512
00:26:57,400 --> 00:27:01,400
Speaker 1: respected owner amongst the league. Uh he he makes very

513
00:27:01,520 --> 00:27:05,240
Speaker 1: educated decisions. He's not going to rush to judgment. Um,

514
00:27:05,280 --> 00:27:09,840
Speaker 1: He's gonna be very um detailed on on what he

515
00:27:09,880 --> 00:27:12,679
Speaker 1: wants and how he wants it. And at the end

516
00:27:12,680 --> 00:27:16,400
Speaker 1: of the day, he he's also never said no for

517
00:27:16,480 --> 00:27:18,480
Speaker 1: something that could make this team or the city better.

518
00:27:18,960 --> 00:27:21,880
Speaker 1: And I think that's that's probably the most underlying thing,

519
00:27:21,960 --> 00:27:24,920
Speaker 1: that he has a strong passion to have the most

520
00:27:24,920 --> 00:27:27,520
Speaker 1: successful team but but also the most successful city in

521
00:27:27,560 --> 00:27:30,000
Speaker 1: the NFL. Ended up being the best movie we've ever made,

522
00:27:30,200 --> 00:27:32,159
Speaker 1: and uh we now call Jack's bohme