The name Shaid Khan rings a bell with St. Louis Rams fans. Prior to his purchase of the Jacksonville Jaguars this month, Khan attempted to buy a 60 percent stake in the Rams, the share that Chip Rosenbloom and Lucia Rodriguez, who inherited the team from their mother Georgia Frontiere, were trying to sell. Ultimately, Stan Kroenke, then a 40 percent owner, exercised his right of first refusal and bought full control of the team. However, the experience was not lost on Khan, who saw the inner workings of an NFL franchise.
Here's what Khan had to say about the state of the Rams versus that of the Jaguars.
...in all candor, I think the Jaguars are a far better organization. Compared to the Rams, it's a far better organization. I think that's important because there's less you have to do.
That came in an official interview with the Jaguars media department, for their team's website. The remark was subsequently scrubbed from the record, vanished like an out-of-favor commissar on Stalin's birthday card.
Yesterday on a very special edition of Turf Show Radio, we chatted about what exactly the underlying problem(s) were with the Rams, a subject we've been discussing for weeks now.
Trying to pin the blame on one person or one faction at Rams Park is senseless. It's a cultural failure. Accountability and responsibility, the basic ownership of the actions taken and results on the field, are missing in the day to day conversation, from Spagnuolo's chat and chew press conferences to the draft to the product on the field.
Khan's remarks reinforce that idea, even indirectly confirm it.
Here's the full statement Khan made containing the line above:
Of course, the Rams experience was a good one. That was last year and that would have happened if Stan hadn't exercised his right. That would be one example. The Rams experience - not the result, but the process - was a great experience, because you saw behind the curtain. This was a time they were in a flux. They had the first draft pick. So, you saw them dealing with the questions of, ‘Who should they draft? How much money?' Just like when the Jaguars were making some changes last Tuesday, you're not making them, but you're privy to them. So, I saw how some of those decisions got made, so from my viewpoint that was a really, really good experience. It gave me a sense as to what I would do, and in all candor, I think the Jaguars are a far better organization. Compared to the Rams, it's a far better organization. I think that's important because there's less you have to do.
Khan had the chance to see how the Rams made decisions around the draft and it obviously had a lasting impact.
Losing has become tacitly accepted at Rams Park. Major changes to the structure and function of the organization are needed and are coming soon. Of course, anyone that's followed the Rams should recognize that notion. The last front office and coaching transition was supposed to bring change. It was supposed to usher in an era of football-minded guys dedicated more to winning than front office power struggles. Maybe this time they'll get it right.