JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The Haagen-Dazs ice cream stand nestled in the corner of Doug Pederson's press conference served as a perfect metaphor for that day.
Calm. Cool.
That feeling hasn't changed for Jaguars co-owner Tony Khan.
"Great vibe in the office and Doug's experience and what he's bringing to the building I can't understate how awesome it is for us and how needed it is and like I'm saying it was a breath of fresh air. Doug was definitely worth the wait," Khan said.
Good vibes aside, Pederson's analytical approach falls in line with Khan's approach as the team's Chief Football Strategy Officer.
ESPN's Seth Walder reported Friday that Pederson hired Ryan Paganetti as his director of coaching analytics. The two worked together in Philadelphia, and, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer's Jeff McLane, Paganetti was Pederson's 'game management guru' and played a big role in Pederson's aggressive play-calling in Philly.
"I'm so analytics driven and data driven and Doug is a data driven coach, which was so important to me during the search. Trent (Baalke) is very analytics driven from his time in San Francisco and went to the Super Bowl with a team where a lot of the team was built on stats," Khan said.
Khan's plate is filled to the brim. He runs All Elite Wrestling, is the General Manager for Fulham FC and is heavily involved in the Jaguars front office.
But, it hasn't stopped him from being a part of Jacksonville's lengthy offseason coaching search. Whether it was in-person or over Zoom, Khan juggled his schedule to ensure he was face-to-face with every coaching candidate.
"The second time we interviewed Matt Eberflus is because I wasn't able to do the first one because they did it on a Wednesday and I wasn't even able to Zoom in because I had the show (AEW)," Khan said.
"It was my idea to talk to him in the first place to be honest with you and I was the one who put him on the list," Khan added.
As for the Jaguars Executive Vice President search, Khan said it has gone well, but offered no timetable on when his father, Shad, will make a hire.
Despite his heavy involvement in the interview process, Khan is by no means in the driver's seat. He says every decision ends with his dad, but reiterated Pederson, general manager, Trent Baalke, and the EVP will collaborate.
"I'm in there and we're all working together and I think now with Doug in we have a great group of people that like working together with my dad and me, with Doug and Trent. I think we'll add an EVP and have a really good room," Khan said.