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Jaguars News | Jacksonville Jaguars - jaguars.com

It's all about teaching

Join jaguars.com senior editor Vic Ketchman as he tackles the fans' tough questions.

Rob from Green Cove Springs, FL:
As you have stated, the NFL will move an existing franchise to Los Angeles. Now that Minnesota and Indy are apparently stabilized, the list of potential movers is rapidly shrinking. I see the only viable candidates at this point as New Orleans, San Diego, Oakland and Jacksonville. Do you agree?

Vic: If Jacksonville is a candidate, it's only for one reason: slow ticket sales. New Orleans, San Diego and Oakland have stadium issues. Cleveland lost the Browns due to a stadium issue. Houston lost the Oilers due to a stadium issue. Indianapolis and Minneapolis are trying to resolve stadium issues. In almost all cases of a town losing a team it was the result of stadium and/or lease issues. That's why the Rams left Los Angeles for St. Louis. Jacksonville doesn't have a stadium issue. Alltel Stadium is a fine facility that's been upgraded to state-of-the-art status. Hey, it just hosted a Super Bowl. So, all Jacksonville has to do to make sure the Jaguars stay here is buy tickets. It's just that simple. Jacksonville doesn't have to build the Jaguars a new stadium. Jacksonville doesn't have to negotiate a new lease with the Jaguars. All Jacksonville has to do is fill the building and we're not even talking about this. That's what makes the Jacksonville situation different from the others.

Evan from Philadelphia , PA:
Since teams lose a pick in the following year's draft by picking in the supplemental draft, do any teams actually pick players in the supplemental draft? Any first-rounders?

Vic: If you pick a player in the first round of the supplemental draft, you lose your first-round pick in the following spring's regular draft. Therefore, anybody you pick in the first round of the supplemental draft better be the equal of a first-round pick in the regular draft, and there aren't many players of that caliber who come along in the supplemental lottery. Bernie Kosar is one who was. The Browns traded their first-round picks for the spring drafts of 1985 and '86, along with a third in '85 and a sixth in '86 to the Bills for the Bills' first-round pick in the '85 supplemental draft, which the Browns then used to select Kosar. Houston picked running back Tony Hollings in the second round of the 2003 supplemental draft.

Vincent from Jacksonville:
If a team drafts a guy in the supplemental draft and loses the same pick in the regular draft, who gets the pick the team forfeited by using it in the supplemental draft?

Vic: Nobody gets the pick. It results in one less pick in that round. Houston lost a high second-round pick in the 2004 regular draft, for having selected Hollings in he second round of the '03 supplemental. Who might Houston have selected had it not picked Hollings? It could have significantly altered the way the round shook out.

Cassandra from Savannah, GA:
I have a question regarding being a journalist wanting a good story, while also being friends with a fellow reporter. If you and Vito Stellino were having lunch and, say, Jack Del Rio came by and gave the two of you great story information during lunch, how is the "who gets the story" sorted out, or is the redundancy thought to be okay, or is it handled by gentleman's agreement, a sprint to the keyboard or other?

Vic: I would politely excuse myself under the guise of going to the men's room, and I wouldn't come back. By the time Vito got the bill, the story would be up on jaguars.com.

Shaun from Jacksonville:
In regards to the Colts offensive coordinator, you said "it only proves it's not about plays, it's about players." Does that mean all the talk about the exciting new offense in Jacksonville with Carl Smith may be over-hyped, because it's about the players not the plays?

Vic: You've left the most important ingredient out of the equation: Carl Smith's ability to teach. For an assistant coach, it's all about teaching. The plays are the same on every team. I've said this over and over and I guess I'm wasting my time, but I'll try it one more time: The greatest teams in history had the most predictable offenses. The Packers were going to run the sweep. The Steelers were going to run the traps. The 49ers were famous for "sprint right option." The Cowboys ran the lead draw with Emmitt. When you played those teams, you knew what was coming, but you couldn't stop it. In each case, we're talking about a team with a great quarterback: Bart Starr, Terry Bradshaw, Joe Montana, Troy Aikman. That's why I say it's not about plays, it's about players. Those teams also had coaches who were outstanding teachers. Starr had Lombardi, Bradshaw had Noll, Montana had Walsh and Aikman had Johnson. They were unbeatable combinations; great players and great teachers. Walsh is famous for his line, "At some point in the season the coach has to turn the team over to the team." Carl Smith isn't going to win games for the Jaguars with his playbook. He's going to win games by teaching his players how to execute the plays in his playbook. That's when the offense will get exciting.

Mike from Bridgeport, CT:
What is more important in football, physical or mental toughness?

Vic: I don't how to separate the two.

Tim from Satellite Beach, FL:
I see Tennessee sold-out their single-game seats in 22 minutes. I think the single-game sales will give the Jags close to sellout numbers. Why are the Jags waiting until Aug. 20 this year to sell the single-game tickets?

Vic: Selling tickets on a single-game basis is not what you want to do. You want to sell-out your stadium with season tickets. That's what the really strong franchises do. That's why the Jaguars aren't putting single-game tickets on sale until Aug. 20. They want to promote the sale of tickets on a season-ticket basis. Beyond that, the Tennessee situation is very different from the Jaguars'. The Titans' single-game ticket sale was for about 3,000 tickets per game. As of right now, the Jaguars have about 7,500 non-premium-seat tickets per game available. There's also another big difference between the two teams: The Titans' season-ticket base is built on Permanent Seat Licenses that were sold in the beginning. The Jaguars chose not to use the PSL concept.

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