Jacksonville Jaguars bizarre history begins a new chapter

An expansion team that first took the field in 1995, the earlier years were much kinder to the Jacksonville Jaguars as the club starts over again.

It’s a franchise that will begin its 27th season of play in 2021 and under its seventh head coach as collegiate legend Urban Meyer takes over this fall. The Jacksonville Jaguars entered the NFL as an expansion team in 1995, along with the Carolina Panthers. Both clubs benefitted from free agency and other factors and incredibly, each played in their respective conference championship game in their second seasons in 1996.

Incredibly, the Panthers have yet to post consecutive winning seasons despite winning three straight NFC South titles from 2013-15 while making appearances in Super Bowls XXXVIII and 50.

On the other hand, the Jaguars’ very best years came in the earliest days of their existence. The franchise made four straight playoff appearances from 1996-99 and that final year saw the team finish with the best record in the NFL (14-2).

In fact, in their first 13 years of existence (1995-2007), the club amassed a combined 113-95 regular-season mark and reached the postseason six times. The organization employed only two head coaches in Tom Coughlin and Jack Del Rio.

But it’s been pretty dismal when it comes to the last 13 NFL campaigns. Del Rio was late in the 2001 season and replaced by interim Mel Tucker. Mike Mularkey was hired in 2012 and last 16 games.

Gus Bradley took over in 2013 but didn’t make it through his fourth season. The club promoted Doug Marrone to the top spot and there was that scintillating playoff run in 2017. But he was dismissed after this past season’s disastrous one-win showing.

Since 2008, Jacksonville owns a combined 64-144 regular-season ledger and has made just one postseason appearance — the aforementioned ’17 season in which the club owned a 20-10 lead in the fourth quarter of the AFC title game before falling to the Patriots, 24-20.

As has been well documented, Meyer and the Jaguars take a 15-game losing streak into 2021. There’s first overall pick Trevor Lawrence and former college teammate Travis Etienne in the backfield, along with underrated wideout D.J. Chark. General manager Trent Baalke has been busy adding talent to the roster (via Ourlads) — including Tim Tebow.

Regardless, the team is once again in rebuilding mode. And who would have thought that after 26 seasons and a promising start to their existence, the Jaguars would once again be looking for answers when it comes to putting together a competitive football team.