The Jacksonville Jaguars were one of the worst teams in the league last season, but the franchise is hoping that a new logo and new uniforms will help with the 2013 campaign.
The team unveiled a new logo at Tuesday's "State of the Jaguars" address, unveiling a more ferocious jaguar with sharper teeth and a more defined head with more realistic looking spots. The new change isn't something totally different, but more of an improvement on the past symbol. The Jaguar in the logo has a team-colored teal nose, tongue and eyes, while the ears are slightly smaller.
The Jaguars logo on the helmet has remained the same since the team joined the NFL 18 years ago and now offers a bit more modernity and sleekness to the logo. Another cat-named franchise changed its logo last year as well, when the Carolina Panthers updated their logo in a similar fashion. Carolina made their logo sleeker and tougher, adding more team-color blue to the logo and making the fangs sharper.
The Jaguars were one of the worst teams in the league last season, but showed some signs of life against the Texans, nearly beating them in overtime. The franchise has a new coach in Gus Bradley and a new owner in Shad Khan, who will be trying to bring the team into a new era of success, much like when coach Tom Coughlin was there at the expansion, bringing the team to the AFC championship game.
Jacksonville was ranked 30th in total defense and was tied for 29th in scoring with 27 points per game. The team has a lot of young talent, but could not play consistently on either side of the ball. The offense scored only 15 points per game, ranked 30th in the NFL, and had quarterback issues all season with rookie Blaine Gabbert, although Chad Henne showed some promise.
The Jaguars also announced on Tuesday that the team was hiring a hired a full-time sales executive in London. According to the team's official Twitter: "Will hire full-time sales executive in London to lead sponsorship sales in UK. 1st franchise to sell, share in local sponsor $$ in UK."
The Jaguars have agreed to play four games in London over the next four seasons, including next year against the NFC champion 49ers on Oct. 27, 2013. Khan also told the Florida Times-Union that the game in London was already sold out for the 2013 season.
Bradley was hired from the Seattle Seahawks, where he served as a defensive coordinator. The Seahawks were one of the top defenses in the NFL, ranking first in defensive scoring with 15.3 points per game. The team also was ranked in the top 10 in both passing and rushing yards allowed.
The Seahawks were also ranked fourth in takeaways with 31 and fourth in total yards with 306 per game. The secondary was one of the best with Richard Sherman and Brandon Browner, while the linebackers were one of the top units in the NFC. According to ESPN.com, the Seattle defense has improved in each of the past three seasons and finished in the top 10 in points and yards the last two.
The Jaguars have nowhere to go but up and a new logo would help excite the fan base and help start a new era of solid football in Jacksonville.
