JACKSONVILLE – Let's get to it …

James from Jax

Coughlin in the Pride? He had some early success taking advantage of expansion rules but helped ruin the cap and later mismanaged the team to the point of having warnings about playing in Jax written. He also was responsible for the R. Jay Soward pick and probably some other stinkers. Let's not forget about the harsh media rules. For years we never heard from assistant coaches and the information we got was limited. I prefer to remember him as an old school coach who helped kick us off and did good things with Jay Fund but should have been given the boot years before he left. Putting his name up there doesn't change a thing.

We could have stopped after the first four words of your email, because the answer to your lead question – "Coughlin in the Pride?" is a simple and resounding, "Yes." I indeed received a few emails along these lines when it was announced that former Jaguars Head Coach Tom Coughlin would be placed in the Pride of the Jaguars. I suppose I'll receive a few more as his Week 5 enshrinement approaches. While anyone can think what they like on this topic (or any topic, I suppose), this is as much of a no-brainer as anything I've been around in sports. I don't say this because of any great relationship I have with Coughlin. Though I have known him 30 years, and though I like to assume our respect is mutual, I wouldn't call us particularly close. If you covered the Jaguars during their early seasons, if you played for them, if you were around them, if you were anywhere near them, you knew that Coughlin more than anyone defined that era. He WAS the franchise. When I returned to Jacksonville in 2011, Coughlin had been gone for eight years and it still felt to me at first as if he was there. He was in the walls of the stadium. From this view, the Pride of the Jaguars will be incomplete until Coughlin is enshrined. For people who were involved with or close to the franchise, this is not a matter of debate. His name must be on the wall.

Sean from Oakleaf, FL

Besides our own Doug Pederson, two other current NFL head coaches have a shot at setting an NFL record with Super Bowl wins with two different teams: Denver Broncos Head Coach Sean Payton (New Orleans Saints) and Dallas Cowboys Head Coach Mike McCarthy (Green Bay Packers). After 58 Super Bowls, it is surprising this has not happened yet, I guess if you (a head coach) win a Super Bowl for your city, you tend to stick around that team for a while. You would agree that if either of these two other head coaches accomplish that feat it would also propel them to the Pro Football Hall of HOF?

These discussions are always tricky. Whereas in individual sports there are often measurables for Halls of Fame – i.e. major championships or world records – the voting in teams sports makes the process objective and therefore muddier. But while it's a little surprising no head coach has won a Super Bowl with two teams, you're right about the main circumstance that has prevented it. For a long time, it was rare for an owner to part ways with a head coach who had won a Super Bowl. The other circumstance is it's just really hard for all the circumstances necessary to win a Super Bowl to come together twice in a head coach's career – that despite it always being coaching in the NFL. As for Payton and McCarthy … yes, like Pederson, the thought here is that winning a Super Bowl with a second franchise likely would get them into the Hall of Fame someday.

Michael from Orange Park, FL

Zone, do you feel it? Is it real? Am I dreaming? Is the dead zone over?

The dead zone essentially ends when the readers submitting questions decide it ends. As such, there is no official End of Dead Zone. But the beginning of training camp tends to bring more news, more developments and more topics of interest than the offseason. Training camp begins Wednesday, so yeah … the 2024 dead zone is pretty much over. Or darned close.

DMiz TJ's and JH-A's resident city

And here it goes. "The Jacksonville Jaguars have placed DL Arik Armstead on the Active/Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list, the team announced today." Question: How do situations like these affect the salary cap? If Armstead never plays a down because of a prior injury, do the Jags (or any NFL team in such a scenario) have any contractual obligations? Are there clauses built into contracts for these scenarios?

The Jaguars indeed placed defensive lineman Arik Armstead on the physically unable to perform list Saturday, though I don't know that the doomed tone of your email is warranted. Players can be removed from the PUP list at any time, and it's routine to start a player there and move him to the active roster early in training camp. Yes, the Jaguars have contractual obligations in the unlikely event Armstead never plays a down this season. Once the season begins, a player on PUP counts against the cap.

Marc from Oceanway

Zone, if Doug Pederson were to win a Super Bowl for Jacksonville, not only will he have won two Super Bowls with two different teams, he will have won the first Super Bowl in the history or two separate franchises. #firstballot

OK.

Keith from Saint Augustine, FL

I've been a Jags fan from Day One. I celebrated at the Landing when the team was awarded. I stood in a long line just to buy the first Jags sweatshirt to be sold. Since the first game, I've cheered the team on from the stadium and developed dislike for any opposing player that routinely stood in our way. One of the exceptions was Peyton Manning. The more I witnessed his personality away from football, the more difficult it became to dislike him. When you covered him with the Colts, did you get to see that fun personality or was he all business around the game?

It was a combination. Manning when at the Colts facility was as focused and maniacal about preparation as any player I ever have covered, with pretty much every moment planned. Also: As a writer, I'm not often around players in meetings or in casual locker room situations – i.e., the situations when you most often see player's "fun personalities." That said, I covered Manning for 10 years so sure … there were moments you saw what you think of as "the real guy." My impression is Manning is what you imagine – the ultracompetitive personality that allowed him to be an all-time great quarterback mixed with the humorous/likeable television pitchman. That mix made him enjoyable to cover. What I probably liked best was you never doubted the game meant everything to him and that he gave everything he could to every moment. That was cool.

DMiz from Jagsonville

Hey, KOAFunk and Punk. That video for the release of the throwback with Leon Searcy was awesome. I personally love the throwbacks, as I assume most Jags fans do. This is the dead zone still and I know you have much more important things to concern yourself with, but are you in the least bit bummed that the ugly mustard wasn't chosen? In all seriousness, you rock and you are indeed the KOAF!!! Here's to a dead zone that went by super fast because YOU ROCK (not quite as good as the best band of all time RUSH and of course Gene Frenette). And don't listen to Gary … you do NOT suck!!!

I am the king of all funk.

Bob from Sumter, SC

You may want to considering forwarding O-Zone comments about the possibility of having real grass turf in the new stadium. He probably hasn't even thought of it.

I'll assume you're saying Jaguars President Mark Lamping hasn't thought of having grass at the Jaguars' Stadium of the Future. He has thought of it and will continue to think of it. When it's time to decide whether to have it or not, he will make the decision.

Hilarious from Funnytown

Lemme know if y'all need a consult on grow lights and grass. I may know a little.

I smiled at this. I would have smiled longer when I was in college.

John from Jacksonville

Hi KOAGF - You want coolness? At halftime, for the game against the Colts, have as many of the alumni Jags players walk out on the field wearing the throwback uniforms and helmets on (along with Tom Coughlin wearing his coaching gear) as he gets honored. What a sight that would be. Whatcha think?

I'd click on that. I could show up with my too-round glasses and Flock-of-Seagulls haircut. We would be set.