Jacksonville Jaguars: GM Gene Smith Is Example of True Leadership

It’s rare that you find loyalty in sports today. One year you can be at the top of your game as a coach or general manager, but the next year you are out of work because that team fired you. Sports is a cruel business that does not have a lot of job security. It’s why, when someone like Jacksonville Jaguars general manager Gene Smith turns down a contract extension because he wants to be loyal to his co-workers, that you recognize how special and rare these qualities are. 

What Smith is doing—rejecting an extension with the Jags unless his staff also gets an extension—is an act of leadership that is rarely shown in any league. 

Take for example, the Cleveland Cavaliers firing their head coach Mike Brown after the 2009 season. When Cavs owner, Dan Gilbert fired Brown, it was after Brown became the Cavs most successful coach in franchise history. 

Just the other day the Chicago Cubs let go head coach Mike Quade, after managing for one year. Chicago’s new President of Baseball Operations’ Theo Epstein, made the decision as Theo, “Wanted to start with a clean slate.” 

With the news of Smith sticking with his crew, not taking the extension, he said, “I did not think I deserved an extension based on the conditions. Our scouts and other employees weren’t being extended. I didn’t think I deserved it. However, I do appreciate that Wayne [Weaver] offered me one.”

Now you would think that because he is turning down this contract extension, that it would mean he is looking to find another job once this season is over. It would make sense, as his Jaguars fell apart at the end of last year, and are 2-6 through eight games this year. 

But, as Smith said it’s the exact opposite, “I’d like to be here long-term, I’d like to finish what we started,” Smith said. “I feel like I work for one of the best organizations. I’ve invested a good part of my life here, but I also realize transition is a way of life in the NFL.”

Smith is doing the right thing this year, as he feels that, “Despite our 2-6 record, I do feel we’re moving in the right direction,” Smith said. “At worse, I think we should be 4-4. I have no reservation in saying that.” 

Gene Smith is turning this Jacksonville team around, by doing it the right way. He knows that he has the full support of Jaguars’ ownership. Instead of doing the easy thing, by taking an extension, he is being one of biggest men in sports by making sure the people around him, who make his work look good, get the respect they deserve. 

Sports need a lot more people running their franchises like Gene Smith.

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