Should Gene Smith be the Jacksonville Jaguars General Manager?

[I-10east]

Smith drafted Alualu who is a good player, but how many people come to Everbank Field to see Alualu? That's the impact that Tebow would have made on the team and its finances. Smith did not see that 2 years ago and he did not want him here either.

Yet, for the past two years, Jags fans still managed to sell out games. Please don't say the obligatory 'companies had to but tickets' because that happened in other markets too, and some (SD, CIN, TB etc) can't even sell out games, so I'm not buying that cliched and overused  'No Tebow lead to poor attendance' crap. We have a very attractive home schedule this year, and I'll be surprised if we have any blackouts for 2012, esp. with a significantly better team (coaches, and players). 

If the Jags really wanted Tebow, they could have got him, but its over for now, at least.

Yeah, I guess that you've been living in Guam the past week; If Tebow 'really' wanted the Jags, he could have came here, but (luckily for me and other logical Jags fans) he chose the NYJ. Yall are really like scorned women with this dumb Tebow to Jax crap; Yall will never let it go!

[I-10east]

^ not that I'm a comic book expert, but isn't it Bruce Banner?

Yeah you're right, obviously I'm no comic book expert either. I'll edit it, in an attempt to act like I got it right all along. LOL

[Tacachale]

^ not that I'm a comic book expert, but isn't it Bruce Banner?

Yeah you're right, obviously I'm no comic book expert either. I'll edit it, in an attempt to act like I got it right all along. LOL

You weren't totally wrong. "Bruce Banner" is the Hulk's name in the comic. When they made the 1977 TV show, they changed the character's name to "David Banner", evidently because the strudio didn't think Bruce was a manly enough name. The rapper takes his stage name from the TV show (he's older than he looks). The 2003 Ang Lee film confused the issue by including both Bruce Banner as the Hulk, and his father, David Banner.

[BridgeTroll]

My feelings are very mixed... I voted to fire ONLY because IMHO it should have been a clean break from JDR and Weaver.  To this point I do NOT think he should have been or should be fired due to performance... 3 years is not enough to recover from the notorious "Harris" years...

[SMoody84]

Of course he should be the General Manager.  It's all going to come down to the development of Blaine Gabbert.  We'll see how it all plays out this year...  Everyone's all up in arms b/c we had a bad year last season, and Tim Tebow is in New York now

Tons of injuries last year.  We did manage to go from one of the worst Defenses in 2010 to one of the best in 2011.. b/c our GM landed some good Free Agents.

We are a Defensive End away from being an elite Defense.. And we have an new offensive minded coaching staff. There are good things ahead, and I'm excited!

[mtraininjax]

Yet, for the past two years, Jags fans still managed to sell out games.

Are you for real? Tarp covered stands and even though we managed to "sell out" the games, the stands were still empty, for TV purposes. Get real, we need to pull off the tarps to really have a sell out. We used to have a full stadium in the beginning, and Green Bay, the other small market stadium does not need tarps to sell out the stadium, for real. We've had enough generations come through our city, to be able to fill the stadium. The Gators are mediocre, FSU is a bit better, the Sharks are a great inspiration. We could do it again, its all a choice!

Tebow had no power in the deal, in his own defense, he said "I want to go wherever is best for the Denver Broncos and the situation I am in". Elway is full of crap, and no player ever, I repeat, EVER has any say so on where they are going to go after only 2 years in the NFL. He had no power, the Broncos sent him to the Jets for a better deal than what the Jags offered. This was NOT Tebow's decision.

[mtraininjax]

Tons of injuries last year.  We did manage to go from one of the worst Defenses in 2010 to one of the best in 2011.. b/c our GM landed some good Free Agents.

We are a Defensive End away from being an elite Defense.. And we have an new offensive minded coaching staff. There are good things ahead, and I'm excited!

Really, we had injuries? So did every NFL team, the difference is being able to make up the difference with the other players. We had some free agents come in and they were a bust. Kampmen is a bust as far as I am concerned, nice vet leadership from the sidelines, but he is a bust, and he is on Smith's watch. Harvey was on Shack's watch, but Smith was there too for that one. We have not had an elite end since Brackens.

Many of the linemen, backers and some of the backfield were there to help the Jags give up almost 350 points last year. The Defense will ONLY get better if our Offense can score more points and keep the D off the field.

[Non-RedNeck Westsider]

Yet, for the past two years, Jags fans still managed to sell out games.

Are you for real? Tarp covered stands and even though we managed to "sell out" the games, the stands were still empty, for TV purposes. Get real, we need to pull off the tarps to really have a sell out. We used to have a full stadium in the beginning, and Green Bay, the other small market stadium does not need tarps to sell out the stadium, for real. We've had enough generations come through our city, to be able to fill the stadium. The Gators are mediocre, FSU is a bit better, the Sharks are a great inspiration. We could do it again, its all a choice!

Tebow had no power in the deal, in his own defense, he said "I want to go wherever is best for the Denver Broncos and the situation I am in". Elway is full of crap, and no player ever, I repeat, EVER has any say so on where they are going to go after only 2 years in the NFL. He had no power, the Broncos sent him to the Jets for a better deal than what the Jags offered. This was NOT Tebow's decision.

I think I can speak for a few others here when I say, "Opinions are like Assholes, but Some Assholes refuse to let Facts get in the Way of their Opinion."

With regards to stadium attendance, I'm done.  The numbers speak for themselves:  NFL Attendance - 2011

With regards to Tebow making the decision:  Tebow the Man didn't say Jets or Jags.  Tebow's agent said Jets.  Do the math.  That's for Tebow and Condon to sort through.  We had the better offer in place, so take it for what it's worth.

[Tacachale]

Yet, for the past two years, Jags fans still managed to sell out games.

Are you for real? Tarp covered stands and even though we managed to "sell out" the games, the stands were still empty, for TV purposes. Get real, we need to pull off the tarps to really have a sell out. We used to have a full stadium in the beginning, and Green Bay, the other small market stadium does not need tarps to sell out the stadium, for real. We've had enough generations come through our city, to be able to fill the stadium. The Gators are mediocre, FSU is a bit better, the Sharks are a great inspiration. We could do it again, its all a choice!

Tebow had no power in the deal, in his own defense, he said "I want to go wherever is best for the Denver Broncos and the situation I am in". Elway is full of crap, and no player ever, I repeat, EVER has any say so on where they are going to go after only 2 years in the NFL. He had no power, the Broncos sent him to the Jets for a better deal than what the Jags offered. This was NOT Tebow's decision.

I think I can speak for a few others here when I say, "Opinions are like Assholes, but Some Assholes refuse to let Facts get in the Way of their Opinion."

With regards to stadium attendance, I'm done.  The numbers speak for themselves:  NFL Attendance - 2011

With regards to Tebow making the decision:  Tebow the Man didn't say Jets or Jags.  Tebow's agent said Jets.  Do the math.  That's for Tebow and Condon to sort through.  We had the better offer in place, so take it for what it's worth.

I too considered writing a response to the tarps comment, but I don't have the energy this morning. I will instead take the opportunity to criticize the bullshit league policy that ties the definition of "sell out" to a percentage of the stadium being full, rather than a particular number of tickets sold (or butts in seats).

And by all accounts, our offer was equivalent to or better than the Jets' offer. Something caused him to go the the Jets. It wasn't us or our offer.

[BridgeTroll]

My guess would be the willingness to adopt special plays ie the "wildcat" for tebow...

[Non-RedNeck Westsider]

My guess would be the willingness to adopt special plays ie the "wildcat" for tebow...

Or the possibility to compete in training camp for the starting job. 

[Gators312]

Sweet we have a Defense....too bad you have to build an offense as well.

Now only if he could have found more than one or two adequate OL to keep Gabby upright, about 3 receivers to throw to in those two years we might have a team.

Just like the everyone has an asshole comment, the same applies to those of you who wear the teal colored glasses who have been telling everyone success is just around that next corner for the past 10 years.

Time will tell, and I understand it's hard to acknowledge that Gene Gene has built only a average to below average team, because it causes you to temper your expectations for the coming year, and tempered expectations are not as fun as delusions of Super Bowls. 

Gene has a chance for redemption if he doesn't let the other teams outsmart him on draft day, and gets the most value out of his picks.  You can't argue he has maximized the value of his first three drafts.  You mention some starters he has gotten in the draft, but if you pay attention to what some other teams have done it's not like they didn't either or didn't get better starters.

Actually outside of Monroe (Who was one of the top two OL in that draft)  he overpaid for Gabby and Alualu (Miami wasn't taking Alualu at 12).  If he can get a couple starters at positions of need it will help his case, but I'm not holding my breath.

And you are being a bit naive with the stadium sellouts if you don't think we have work to do in that regard, yes we had no blackouts, but there is a bigger financial picture out there that matters and unfortunately if we don't significantly improve over the next 5 years, some games will move to Orlando/London/Mexico City for financial reasons and not exposure reasons.    The lease is pretty solid and NFL doesn't like to open the books so I don't see an imminent move, but after 5 years or so they may look for loopholes (Stadium deficiencies etc.)  if the Jaguars aren't selling more tickets.

[Gators312]

To clarify Tebow on Jax here are quotes from his PC:

Tebow said several times that he is thrilled to be a Jet. Even though the Jaguars were pursuing a trade for him, Tebow said he felt more comfortable with the Jets because of his relationship with some of the Jets coaches.

"I can tell you this, I had a better relationship with the Jets coaches," he said when asked why the Jets were more attractive to him than Jacksonville. "It would have been fun to be home but this is exciting. This is a blessing for me and it is going to be a great opportunity."


Meaning Shahid Khan wanted me but no one else there does....

[Tacachale]

My guess would be the willingness to adopt special plays ie the "wildcat" for tebow...

Or the possibility to compete in training camp for the starting job.

Shad Khan confirms that "Tim Tebow didn't want to come to Jacksonville".

http://jacksonville.com/sports/football/2012-03-26/story/jaguars-owner-tim-tebow-didnt-want-come-jacksonville

The offer we made was very serious and better than the one the Jets offered; Tebow felt better about the Jets' coaches and thought he'd have a better opportunity to start, so that's where he went.

[copperfiend]

(Miami wasn't taking Alualu at 12)

link?