Coughlin out as Jags’ executive VP of football ops

7:11 PM ET

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shad Khan fired executive vice president of football operations Tom Coughlin on Wednesday, two days after the NFL Players Association warned players of potentially signing with the franchise because of excessive fines and player grievances.

Khan said he initially decided to make the move once the season ended, but the letter the NFLPA sent to its players clearly accelerated his timetable.

“I determined earlier this fall that making this move at the conclusion of the 2019 season would be in everyone’s best interests but, in recent days, I reconsidered and decided to make this change immediately,” Khan said in a statement. “I thank Tom for his efforts, not only over the past three years but for all he did from our very first season, 25 years ago, to put the Jacksonville Jaguars on the map.

“My expectations, and those of our fans, for our final two games and the 2020 season are high.”

The Jaguars (5-9) close the season at Atlanta and at home against Indianapolis. Khan did not offer any insight into the status of general manager Dave Caldwell and coach Doug Marrone.

“My expectations, and those of our fans, for our final two games and the 2020 season are high,” the owner said.

Khan hired Coughlin in January 2017 after the team he purchased in November 2011 won just 17 games in five seasons. Coughlin, who had been fired by the New York Giants after the 2015 season, was the link to the franchise’s only period of sustained success, building it from the ground up as its GM/coach and taking it to playoffs four straight years and reaching two AFC Championship games.

Khan gave Coughlin the final say over all football matters, though he kept Caldwell in the general manager’s role. It was an unusual structure but it worked at first: The Jaguars hit big in free agency with defensive end Calais Campbell, cornerback A.J. Bouye, and safety Barry Church. They landed two starters (running back Leonard Fournette and left tackle Cam Robinson) and a late-season impact player (receiver Dede Westbrook) with three of their first four draft picks.

The Jaguars led the league in rushing, quarterback Blake Bortles significantly cut down his turnovers, and the defense was one of the league’s best. They went 10-6 and won the AFC South (the franchise’s first division title since 1999), hosted a playoff game for the first time since January 2000, and reached the AFC Championship game.

Two years later, however, the franchise has fallen apart, and Coughlin played a major role. He bungled the quarterback situation with Blake Bortles (signing him to an extension in 2018 and then cutting him and eating $16.5 million in dead money against the salary cap this season) and the free-agent signing of Nick Foles.

Foles got hurt in the season opener and then lasted just 10 quarters after he returned before getting benched. He has three TD passes and two interceptions. Coughlin also took running back Leonard Fournette fourth overall in his first draft over quarterback Deshaun Watson.

Fournette is having the best season of his career but Watson has become a franchise quarterback for the division rival Houston Texans. Coughlin also drafted defensive tackle Taven Bryan in 2018 instead of quarterback Lamar Jackson.

Bryan has been a disappointment and Jackson is the favorite to be the league’s MVP this season. The Jaguars’ past two free-agent classes have been major busts, too. Cornerback Jalen Ramsey, the best player the Jaguars have drafted since Tony Boselli, got so fed up with management and Coughlin he asked for, and forced, a trade.

There’s also internal strife between Coughlin and the coaching staff, including Marrone.

Coughlin held a news conference on Nov. 27 — his first time speaking with the media since the final day of the 2019 draft — but refused to answer questions about his job status, Marrone’s status, whether he tried to repair the team’s relationship with Ramsey, and the contract situation of defensive end Yannick Ngakoue. The Jaguars have won just 10 games in the past two seasons and only three have come against teams that finished the season with a winning record or currently have a winning record.

The apparent last straw for Khan was the letter the NFLPA sent to every player in the league that announced it won a grievance filed against the Jaguars for requiring former player Dante Fowler to attend rehab and doctor appointments in Jacksonville during the offseason and fining him more than $700,000 when he didn’t.

The letter also warned players about potentially signing with the Jaguars in the future because more than 25 percent of the grievances filed by NFL players have been against the club and that players “continue to be at odds with Jaguars management over their rights under the CBA far more than players on other clubs.”