Jaguars roll out upgrades with look of winners

Credit: Sam Riche

Credit: Sam Riche

The Jacksonville Jaguars are the new Cool Cats of the NFL.

Read all about it.

New uniforms. Refurbished digs. They've ditched the tarp. The first dog park in an NFL stadium.

And Jacksonville home boys Lynyrd Skynyrd are playing at the stadium on Sept. 2.

Woah. Excuse me while I catch my breath. It's a bit much to take in, given the drastic makeover.

It wasn't so long ago — 12 months if that — that these cool cats were pussycats. They stunk. A lot. Six consecutive losing seasons, and nine consecutive non-winning seasons.

And then things changed under the leadership of billionaire owner Shad Khan, executive vice president of football operations Tom Coughlin  and coach Doug Marrone.

The Jaguars went 12-4 during the regular season and almost advanced to the Super Bowl, with the New England Patriots needing a little of that Tom Brady magic to fend off those pesky underdogs in the AFC Championship Game.

The Jaguars aren't satisfied with participation medals, leading us to all the newsy tidbits revealed during the State of the Franchise presentation to key stakeholders Thursday morning.

There was one big reveal after another:

The team will travel to London for the sixth time to take on the defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles.

Dog lovers can bring their poochies to the games, thanks to a partnership with Pet Paradise. The dogs will even have access to their own pool as part of the doggie daycare experience.

End zone pools will remain open for humans, of course, as the franchise looks to enhance its funky vibe #CoolCats.

"People are just taking their pets everywhere now," said Fernando Acosta-Rua, president and CEO of Pet Paradise. "Pets are just becoming more and more part of the family, so it's a natural extension to be able to take them wherever you're going."

The eyesore tarps will be removed, clearing the way for 3,501 additional seats.

"Psychologically, it was a visible sign of underachievement," Jaguars president Mark Lamping said Thursday.

The eyesore Band-Aid has been ripped off. The Jags are no longer unsightly to look at, from near or afar.

How you feel about those new unis is another thing. There are five different variations, including an all-teal version for as many as three games, a first in team history.

You will either love it, or want to throw up in your mouth a little bit.

Either or, the Jags aren't sitting around stagnant, reminiscing about last season.

"True to our current identity and what we want to represent for years to come, our new uniforms are no-nonsense, all business and unmistakably Jaguars," Khan said. "Tradition has returned to Jacksonville."

The team's new Nike Vapor Untouchable uniforms features three jersey options (black, white, teal), three pants options (black, white, teal) and two sock options (standard, color rush teal).

"I wanted to see the return of tradition, I wanted to see the distinctiveness, I wanted the shiny black helmet with a beautiful Jaguars logo," Coughlin said. "I wanted to be represented that way. Just exactly how I've explained it: the classic Jaguar uniform.

"To a player, the uniform means everything. Because when you put that uniform on you not only represent your franchise, your team, your community; you represent your family. You represent your parents, your wife, your children, everything packed into one because your name is on the back of that uniform."

One thing that break away from tradition: Say goodbye to the two-tone gold half of the helmet, and the matte finish. The franchise will return to a high-gloss, all-black paint scheme of its first 19 years of existence.

Good look. Bad look. Don't care, really.

The Cool Cats on the NFL have made their point with emphasis:

The dog days are over, unless you bring your pooch to the stadium.

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