Perspectives - Dave Caldwell

In this episode, Brian Sexton sits down with Jaguars General Manager, Dave Caldwell.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
The following presentation of the Jaguars podcast Network is presented
by by Star Credite. Jaguars General manager Dave Caldwell is
writing the Jaguar story right now, nearly seven years into
his tenure at the top of the Jaguars personnel department.
The thoughtful, soft spoken Caldwell is laser focused on getting

(00:25):
his roster right for a run in twenty There is
a quiet confidence in the analytical personnel boss. He knows
the Jaguars have a good plan, and he thinks he's
put together a roster capable of executing it in the
twenty fifth season. This is perspectives, the story of the
Jaguars first twenty five seasons, pulled by the people who
built the franchise from the ground up. This is Dave Caldwell.

(00:53):
He was young, but he was experienced when Shod Khan
made the call in January. He'd worked with Hall of
Famer Bill Totally getting Carolina and Indianapolis, and he helped
build a winner with Thomas de Bedrop. He didn't land.
Caldwell knew he wanted a shot at his own team,
but he wasn't entirely ready when the coal came and
I remember my boss, Thomas to Metrop come in and say, hey,

(01:14):
you know, I just got permission from the Jacksonville Jaguars
and they'd like the interview as a GM candidate. And
I said, Okay, when's it going to be at the
end of the season or when the season's over And
he said, no, Shot Cotton's gonna be here at three o'clock.
And I was like today, and he said, yep, he'll
be here today. So I kind of went in a
scramble mode and called my wife and made sure I

(01:36):
had the proper clothes and so I could present myself
like a GM I guess and m Jod showed up
at three and we had a great visit and UM
really kind of kicked off the starter of our relationship. UM,
you know. And then through the process there was other
interviews that I took and I just kept being drawn
to Shod And then I got to meet Tony and

(01:59):
really hit it off with Tony Kahn. UM a lot
of similar visions and and how we want the organization
to be run, how you treat people. The process span
for about two weeks. I did multiple interviews there, I
did multiple interviews here. Uh, there was another team that
UM that I was going to interview with, but then
just decided that we followed my my heart and UM

(02:21):
kind of this really kind of wanted to side myself
with the con family and M I really kind of
tuned a lot of people out, and there was a
select number of people that I confided in. UM. A
lot of people thought that it could never work in Jacksonville,
and UM, don't forget you know, there was always rumors

(02:42):
of the team moving and is it going to go
to l A Is it going to go to London?
And there was always those rumors, and and when I
interviewed a shot, he assured me that they were committed
to Jacksonville. UM did informed me that we may play
a game in London, and UM felt like that would
be a competitive advantage for us. And I'm sure enough
he was right. Caldwell showed up in Jacksonville prepared, but

(03:04):
was he ready for a job that wasn't considered a
good one. Everybody who knew the Jaguars situation knew he
had his work cut out for it. The franchise had
endured four losing seasons in its previous five years and
won just two games in twelve the arrow was pointing
down the day he arrived, but he was ready to
roll up his sleeves and get to work. The vision
was that we were going to try to build this

(03:25):
thing from the ground up. UM. It wasn't a tear down,
which I think a lot of people thought it was.
It was pretty much there. We had to fill some
roster spots too for immediate starters. UM. Our first draft class,
I think UH, we drafted four guys and they all
started in the secondary at some point in time, and
offensive line. The salary cap wasn't um where we wanted

(03:47):
it to be. UM. They had some contracts that were
at the time a little bit over inflated and which
happens to every team and and through free agency. UM,
but we really wanted to take a year to two
years to really generate it some cap space so that
we could build it. And then when we felt like
we were going to be a competitive team, that we
can go out and we can get the marquee guys
like a Malik Jackson and Clays Campbell, UM, guys that

(04:10):
turned out to be Pro Bowlers for US. UM and
felt like that that that was a good UM. A J.
Bouyer was another one all pro and kind of bring
those guys along. Obviously that we made some mistakes along
the way that didn't work out, but um, I think
for the most part, you know, Shod wanted to be
in the playoffs uh within five years, and um I

(04:34):
said that we'll try to get a playoff team together
in five years, and sure enough we did well. Really,
the most important thing was to get this talent level
to a competitive uh state through all facets. Obviously, you
want to do it through the draft. UH. It's hard
to do a year and year out through the draft.
So you have to supplement through whether it's pro free agency,

(04:55):
college free agency, whether you can get a player from
another league Canadian Football, all league. However, you had to
do it. We had to get this to where we
felt like we had fifty three players that can compete
on a weekend, week out. Basis the philosophy of drafting players.
I gotta give credit to Bill Polian and the late
Domineely who really taught me, you know, the the scouting

(05:18):
one on one uh what we'd like to call it,
and just um you know, being around them, listening to them,
how they make decisions, why they make decisions, was very important.
And then uh, as as my career went on, I
tried to learn there's there's other people like John Becker
who about built the St. Louis Rams when they won
the Super Bowl, and he was Dick ru Meal's right

(05:39):
hand man. Learned a lot from him when he came
to Indianapolis to work with us, and then um throughout
throughout the time and then became um the director of
college scouting under Thomas the metroph in Atlanta and really
kind of started honing in on the big butcher and
he involved me in a lot of meetings with coaches,
with with with really everybody in the organization, Arthur Blank,

(06:00):
who was a tremendous owner, and really how organizations should
operate and work. Every situation is different, and um, you know,
every situation has its pros and cons and and you know,
Jacksonville was a small market team. It wasn't a destination
spot at the time. UM, we had a challenge, you know,
getting free agents to come for visits for for whatever

(06:20):
the various reasons were. We weren't competitive at the time. Uh,
they didn't know enough about the city. So we really
spent a good year to two years kind of talking
up the city to agents, building relationship with agents, building
relationship with players, and and uh kind of trying to
make this a spot where players wanted to go. And um,
we had to sign some big deals to to prove

(06:42):
that we could get some players. And we did that
and then um, as people started to have good experiences
here and players came here and said they how much
I loved the city, and we realized what what a
great city this is. UM, we finally got the perception
of Jacksonville turned around in our opinion. And to do
that was was a major hurdle. And now you know,

(07:02):
instead of us soliciting players to come and beg him
to come for visits, we know agents and players everything
out to us, UM being proactive with that. More perspectives
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(07:46):
by n c U A. Dave knew he needed the
right personality for his first coach. The Jaguars wouldn't ever
say it, but they knew it was going to take time,
a few years perhaps to build a team that could win.
They hope they'd be able to line up and compete
at a high level in year one and year two,
which met, they needed a coach players wanted to play for.

(08:08):
Gus Bradley one called well and con over with his
blend of energy, intensity, positivity and results. I think we
interviewed five candidates that year, and uh he was the
last one we interviewed. And by the time we made
it to dinner, I think uh um Shod was ready
to offer the head coaching job. He became a narrator. Um,

(08:29):
so I took the job. Week later, I flew back
for an Atlanta Falcons playoff game, and um, they ironically
enough played the Sattle Seahawks and just got to feel
for their defense and how they you know, they were playing.
And I was looking at their defense, and I was
looking at fourth fifth rounders who became all pros, who
late round draft picks. So they developed college free agents,

(08:52):
and and I really was enamored by their defense and
how they played. UM took me back to kind of
how our defensive is built in Indianapolis too, with some
late round draft picks that that end up being developed
and ended up being coming all pro type of players. UM.
So I figured that the best way to build this
first was, UM, get a defensive minded head coach, a

(09:14):
guy with a lot of energy, UH, bring some positive
passion to the organization and and really kind of get
people excited to play here. And sure enough he did,
And that was the major thing. That got a lot
of background information from people he worked with and I
knew very well, and I just felt like he'd be
a good fit. You have to believe in the same things.

(09:36):
And and I think uh through that Thomas de metrof,
Mike Smith, Thomas and and Dan Quinn is current coach,
And I think there it helps the whole organization when
the head coaching gm are on the same page. And UM,
if you have that, you're fighting chance. A general manager
is generally judged by two decisions. And man, he hires

(09:57):
two coaches, team and the player he signs to be
it's quarterback. He had Bradley, and we had to wait
until to drop. Like portals, the process was very involved
and it really involved everybody, even though the decision was
only came down to a few people. But at the
end of the day we had a uh have everybody
unsolicited give their reports on the player and where there

(10:19):
was a scouting staff, coaching staff, and and sure enough,
he throughout that draft class and really out those those
first couple of years, he was the highest graded quarterback
that we've come across UM and through that he UM
he met all the criteria, big, athletic, productive, winner, anything

(10:40):
that you would want to have quarterback, he met those
and UM, so we needed somebody to play quarterback and
and we just didn't have one at the time. And
at the time Lane was traded with Chad Henny was
our backup, and we needed somebody, a young person to
grow to be a starter. And sure enough, you know,

(11:01):
we knew he was gonna need some development, and unfortunately
for us, he came into first training camp and exceeded
everybody's expectations and so that kind of sped up his
development process and he probably got thrown in with a
team that probably wasn't ready to compete or protect him,

(11:21):
and through that he fought, he battled and UM. But
you know, he was a consensus guy from the coaches
and the and the scouting department of up the guy
that we felt I could lead this team and we
felt like that we'd be able to develop him. For
all the criticism that that he's taken over the last
five years, all I know is that if we would
have said on draft day he was going to break

(11:42):
virtually every franchise record for passing and be two and
one in the playoffs and have you within three minutes
of the playoffs closer to the super Bowl than any
team in Jacksonville, jack where history has come, I think
we probably all would have felt like that was would
have been a successful pick. And I think as time
goes by, people will realize, you know, what he did

(12:03):
and how he did it, and it wasn't in a
conventional way. It wasn't throwing it, it wasn't But Blake
was a good football player. He may not have been
the best pass or he may not have been, but
he was a good football player that gave this team
a chance to win. UM. Obviously it didn't work out
for a long term, but we got five years out
of him, and um, he he changed the narrative of

(12:23):
Jacksonville and putting us in in the n FC Championship game.
In the middle of piecing together a roster, managing the
salary cap, and having input and responsibility for everything football,
Caldwell was told his team would play in London annually,
something no other NFL GM had ever done. On the
interview and two shots credit and the Mark Lamping's credit,

(12:45):
I asked him about it and they said, yeah, we'll
play a game and it might be a commitment for
for many years that will play a game over there.
And they felt like that we could turn us into
a home field advantage. Um that we could take one
home game played in London and and learn to do
it better than any other team who does it once
every three or four or five years. And sure enough,

(13:07):
I think they're right. We've tried it every way possible.
We tried it leaving from the road on a Sunday
night after a road game. We've tried leaving Monday from
a home game, and now we leave on Thursday night
and on a short week, and it seems like we've
kind of really made it very efficient and where our
players don't really feel the effects of traveling over and

(13:28):
then when we come back and then that they can
hit the ground running woe and come back. We've played
good football over there, um outside the first two years
where we probably weren't ready to compete regardless of where
we played. So we're three and three over there, and um,
you know, we won three in a row and then
we lost a last minute game to Philadelphia this past year,
and uh, I feel like we've played good football over there,

(13:48):
and I think players enjoy it. I think the atmosphere
is a great atmosphere. Um, we don't like taking a
home game away from our our home fans, but um,
we feel like we got more pressure to perform in
those seven games here because we got one less. So
I think the the idea that were the the home
team of London UM for one game a year is

(14:12):
kind of resonate with both a lot of our staff here.
You have to be grateful for having great support people
Jimmy Luck and our equipment staff, Scott Truelock and our
athletic training staff, Hams and his logistics and and and
travel staff. Than they do a tremendous job where I
don't think people realize the amount of work and preparation

(14:32):
that goes into it, and it just goes very seamless.
The Jaguars are in their first win in London in
with a combination of precision passing from Portals to Allen
Robinson and Alan Hearns, and a defense offerative glimpse of
what was to come. Portals finished his second season with
the most passing yards passing touchdowns by a quarterback in
Jaguars history. There was plenty of reason to believe the

(14:55):
arrow was finally pointing up, not the least of which
was a draft. It stocked the Jaguars defense with a cornerback,
a linebacker, and a pass rusher upon whom the future
would build, and a scenario played out that no one
could have predicted. I did think it was possible, but
not likely. Uh at least for the first two um

(15:16):
We went through it and felt like Jalen was the
best player for us. He was the cleanest pick, he
was healthy, he had no issues, played in all his
games at Florida State, kind of once in a generation
type of you know defender, and uh so when he
fell the five, it was no brainer. We had some
offers and maybe trade back a little bit, but we

(15:38):
knew that we weren't going to get the same caliber player,
so we we didn't The one time we had a
chance of trade back, we didn't do it, and we
decided to take Jalen. So as the draft went on,
and as Miles started to fall, and and everybody knew
the reasons why he started to fall, some questions about
his health and and um, he just kept going and
going and going. And then as he got into the

(15:58):
twenties twenty five, I'm like, you know, I think it's
about time we take a chance on this guy. We
we had him rated as one of the top two
players in the draft too, and um, you know, our
defensive staff just talked about how much versatility could have
with a player like that. And he's a great kid
and and he's so when you started going, I'm like, well,
let's maybe try to trade up and see if we

(16:20):
could do it. Couldn't trade up into the first round,
and I'm like, is he really going to fall out
of the first round. It was amazing to me because
there are some teams where he really fit their style
of defense. Picking later in that first round, and I
thought man, this is a no brainer. And then we
he he fell all the way out and we had
a meeting with UM our team doctor, and uh, he

(16:42):
felt like that that his situation was manageable, and so
we said, you know what, we're sitting there in a
second round. It's hard enough to find a player that
you know can play, UM, but we know this kid
can play, and we know the versatility and his athleticism
is is uncanny. So we just said, you know what,
let's start trying to trade up. So he kept trying
to trade up, and then eventually I got to Baltimore

(17:05):
and uh, I called Baltimore before the second day started
and I said, listen, I got a fifth round pick.
It's about even. UM. You know, I got to come
back a couple of picks. If you want to do it,
we'll do it. And sure enough, at the time, Erica
Costo was her assistant John manager, and said, hey, you
know what, if if you guys there, we'll do it.

(17:26):
So I called them, and soon do they call them.
After the fact, he told me two or three other
teams we're calling the trade up to. But uh, he
did give his word that he would make the trade,
and he did and we we selected him. That pick
would have been Nick if it wasn't Miles. And so
as the draft went on, and it kept going and going,

(17:48):
and then Johnick fell the third it was that was
a really no brainer for us because we were playing
on picking him and the spit the second pick. There
was momentum in Jacksonville for the first time in a decade.
Expectations real, We're not we're heavy for a team that
had made the playoffs since two thousand seven, they were
not met. And as the Jaguars were seating a second
half lead in Houston in Week fifteen, en route to

(18:11):
a ninth consecutive loss, called what was preparing for a
postgame conversation he knew he couldn't devoid. Well, I think
it goes back to the relationship we had and I
promised I would never lie to him and um, and
that I would never catch him off car with anything.
So after the game, obviously it was emotional, and and

(18:32):
the question was asked, and I just said, yeah, it's
gonna happen, and UM he asked when, And I said,
you know, I almost left it up to him. Do
you want to talk about an hour? Do you want
to wait to the morrow, and I just felt like
that it would have got out from a media standpoint. Um,
but I didn't want him to not know what was
going to happen and and and surprise him. It was

(18:53):
very hard everybody involved. Tony shot Um. It was a
decision that wasn't taken lightly, and we spent a lot
of time ruminating over it and really trying to make
sure that it was the right decision, and um, I
felt like it was at the time, and I felt
like that was the time to do it. More perspectives

(19:14):
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(19:34):
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n c u A. So that gust bus rolled away
from Jacksonville and with it when a coach who was

(19:55):
almost universally loved in the locker room and the front office.
But Tom trained though would sooner rot returning a man
to a franchise he wants put together piece by piece,
and leaving Coldwell to take a hard look and rearrange
his plan. A lot of this went on through discussion
went on through the hiring of coach Moron and and

(20:16):
the potentially bringing somebody else on, whether it was coach
Coughin or somebody else. And uh, I've always been for
whatever makes the team better, and whether that's diminishing my role,
whether it's a greater role, or bringing people in under
me or over me, whatever we could do to get
this team to the point where it needs to be
to win championships, I'm all for it. So Bill Polin

(20:40):
used to always say, when you win, everybody will get
enough credit, and and that's that's true. And when you lose,
everybody feels the burden of that. So when and good
things happen. And I just felt like Tom could bring
He's a hall of fame coach, he's a hall of
fame person, and I I felt like he could help me.
There's I've never learned from him, And I think it

(21:03):
was a great move for the organization, but it was
even better move for me, not only professionally but personally. Obviously.
If I can't learn from a guy like that and
and implement some of his leadership traits and qualities that
he has, well, then shame on me. And so I'm
trying to take as much from him as long as
he's here um to learn from and to um to

(21:23):
pick his brain, because it's it's more knowledge than than
I'll ever have, believe it or not. He and I
we have a lot of things in common and and
really things outside of football, whether it's our faith, uh,
family and just how you treat people and uh and
he's an incredible person and I guess people don't realize
that he's got an incredible sense of humor too, and

(21:43):
uh So working with him on a daily basis has
truly been a joy and and it has really made
a lot of aspects made my job a lot easier.
We all had this common vision and common goal and
that was really to win. And you know, I was
enjoyed with the decision um for that to happen. And
I think to have time and Doug and and there's

(22:06):
a lot of aspects of having a former coach like
coach Coughlin in that role for me to bounce things
off of him, to bounce things off a Doug and
vice versa. So um, Doug and I have always had
a good relationship too, So I felt like, well, you know,
my personality is a lot different than both others, trust me,
and you probably know that. But but um, I don't

(22:28):
think probably having three people with the similar personalities would
have worked. But um, I think the fact that my
personality is a little bit different than than those two
kind of hopefully help helps bring it together. It worked,
and Caldwell wasn't surprised the Coughlin and Marone turned the
Jags on field fortunes quickly. Well, I felt like in

(22:49):
two thousand sixteen, we had a team that compete. I
think we lost ten games by less than a touchdown. Um,
it was a large number, by a little points. So
when you looked at the point differential, we just felt
like that we could still we if a couple of
things went differently earlier in the season, that this team
could have been a five hundred team. And then we

(23:10):
took a lot of that team over and felt like
the defense was closed and if we added a couple
of pieces defensively and then um, we played passable offense,
that you know what, we have a chance to maybe
win this division. And I didn't say it out loud
to anybody, but I just quietly felt like this could
be a year where we could do some good things.

(23:32):
And and sure enough, um, and people don't realize about
that season was we had top five defense, but we
also had a top six offense. And to have both those, um,
offensive defense in the top ten, that's hard to do.
And um, sure enough that got us to the playoffs.
Jalen Ramsey sealed the jack Wards first playoff we need

(23:53):
ten years in front of a sold out crowd in Jacksonville.
Then Boardles Miles, Jack, Kelvin Smith, and Leonard for Nett.
How a second winned Pittsburgh in the divisional round, scoring
forty five points and doing what they did all season
on defense. They outplayed the Patriots for three quarters and
a quick whistle took away what would have been a
ten lead made way through the fourth quarter. Caldwell, like

(24:16):
nearly everyone in Jacksonville, still shakes his head at dead moment,
which would have defined his tenure with the Jaguars and
in a way still sort of does no. To be
honest with you, I was sitting on the couch, um,
my wife was making uh dinner and sauce, and we
had some friends over and on NFL Network, which I

(24:37):
always go to, Jacksonville Jaguars or first New England Patriots
was on TV, and uh, that's the first time I've
watched it, and uh, and I watched it right up
until the Miles Jack play and then and even my
wife's like, how the cow could they call him down?
But you know it is. But to be honest, you know,
in a game like that, and in the NFL, you

(25:00):
had we had our opportunities to win. Elsewhere, we had
our opportunities to win a game, and very suddenly it
doesn't ever come down to just one play. Ideally, that
one play, if if he would have taken it and
scored what he was on path too, would have made
a very challenging for them to come back and win.
But but we also had the ball a couple of
times after that too, so and we had chances to

(25:21):
stop him. So you know, he's the NFL and and
probably games are decided by three or four plays. Soft
spoken as he may be, there is a fire in
his eyes for this team and this season. Called one
knows he's in the right place, with the right people,
at the right moment in time to write a great

(25:42):
story his and the Jaguars well, hopefully for back to
We don't want to move back, but but to the
level that we were playing in seventeen and where we
were playing dominant defense, we were playing good offense, and
that we went into games expecting to win. And you
come out year and year out expecting UH be in
contention for the playoffs. Now that's not always gonna happen.

(26:03):
We were on a pace last year. We were three
and one. We felt like, hey, this is a thing
that we can keep going from. Unfortunately, we got decimated
with with injuries early in the season and I really
affected UH the outcome of a lot of games. So
the key is to get every way back healthy and
and to continue to compete where now you go into

(26:24):
games and you expect to win, and you expect to
be in the conversation at the end of the season,
and the more you're in the conversation, the better chance
you have ending up in the final big game. And
that's the goal. And I didn't know a whole lot
about Jacksonville except for the fifteen years I came here
as a visiting team and Shot assured me that I

(26:45):
would love the city, and Joel, my wife, and my
son would love the city. And uh, sure enough there right,
And uh we decided to take a leap of faith
because of the con family and uh, he's a very
respected owner amongst the league. Uh he he makes very
educated decisions. He's not going to rush to judgment. Um,
He's gonna be very um detailed on on what he

(27:09):
wants and how he wants it. And at the end
of the day, he he's also never said no for
something that could make this team or the city better.
And I think that's that's probably the most underlying thing,
that he has a strong passion to have the most
successful team but but also the most successful city in
the NFL. Ended up being the best movie we've ever made,

(27:30):
and uh we now call Jack's bohme