The Jacksonville City Council may soon decide whether to hire a former Jacksonville Jaguars executive and current NFL diversity expert to represent City Council in stadium deal negotiations. The Finance Committee this week greenlighted drawing up a $150,000 economic development consulting contract.
On Tuesday, Council President Ron Salem presented Finance Committee members with the proposal to draft a contract to employ attorney Michael Huyghue of Michael Huyghue & Associates LLC, a sports and entertainment consulting firm based in Jacksonville.
Huyghue has more than 30 years in the industry, getting his start running football operations for the Jaguars in 1994 — back when the team was just an NFL cub. He was later commissioner of the United Football League, from the minor league’s 2009 inception to 2012 when the financially strapped organization canceled its season early. And, for the past 10 years, he told the committee, he has been working for the National Football League overseeing diversity hiring. He also teaches law at Cornell University in New York.
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