It's been a little more than a year since billionaire Shahid Khan purchased the Jacksonville Jaguars for $770 million.
The purchase made the Pakistani-born businessman the first NFL team owner of an ethnic minority, and an instant celebrity here in Jacksonville. It also thrust him into the national spotlight with a profile on CBS's 60 Minutes, and a cover story in Forbes naming him the "new face of the American dream."
The past year has not been kind to everyone, though. The Jaguars have faced a rocky 2-14 season, and the replacement of their head coach. Despite this, Khan says in an interview with Forbes this week that he's viewing the past year as a learning experience:
...you hit bottom. You’re 2-14. You unshackle from the past. When I got there, there were two sides, business and football. Business I understand. It was pretty obvious to me what we had to do. But the football side was like the Holy Grail. They had the ‘secret recipe’ here and the self-analysis of the team was that we were pretty good, that we were just a little bit away from the playoffs and if we just get some free agents signed up, we’ll be in great shape. That’s why we ended up with the fourth-highest cash payroll last year. The result was self-evident. If you are honest with yourself and the team and the fans, there’s only one thing to do when it’s 2-14. When it’s 8-8 you can be conflicted as to how much baby and how much bathwater there is, but here there was no baby – it was just water.
You can read more of Kahn's thoughts on his first year, including ticket sales and plans for the Jaguars' games in London, on the Forbes site.
