American Football Wiki
1996 Jacksonville Jaguars season
Head Coach Tom Coughlin
Home Field Jacksonville Municipal Stadium
Results
Record 9–7
Place 2nd AFC Central
Playoff Finish Won Wild Card Playoffs (Bills) 30–27
Won Divisional Playoffs (Broncos) 30–27
Lost Conference Championship (Patriots) 6–20
Uniform
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Timeline
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1995 1997

The 1996 Jacksonville Jaguars season was the team's second year in the National Football League, and saw the Jaguars trying to improve on their 4-12 record from their inaugural season. The Jaguars marked success as they won six of their last seven games of the season and finished with a record of 9–7. The credit for this midseason turnaround probably lies in the demotion of wide receiver Andre Rison in favor of Jimmy Smith after a game against the St. Louis Rams in which Brunell threw 5 interceptions. The interceptions were blamed on Rison and he was benched. In the team's final game of the regular season against the Atlanta Falcons, needing a win to earn a playoff berth, the Jaguars caught a bit of luck when Morten Andersen missed a 30 yard field goal with less than a minute remaining that would have given the Falcons the lead.[7] The Jaguars clinched the fifth seed in the AFC playoffs.

The Jaguars achieved their first ever franchise playoff game victory, in a stunning upset on the road against the Buffalo Bills. Their next game was on the road against the Denver Broncos, who had dominated the AFC with a 13–3 record (and earned the top AFC seed). The upstart Jaguars were not intimidated by the Broncos or their fans and their good fortune continued, as they largely dominated from the second quarter on. A late touchdown pass from Mark Brunell to Jimmy Smith gave the Jags a 30–20 lead. They held on to win in a huge upset, 30–27, in a game that many people still consider the franchise's finest hour. Upon their return home, the Jags were greeted by an estimated 40,000 fans at the stadium. Many of these fans had watched the game on the stadium JumboTron displays and had stayed into the early hours of the morning when the team arrived. In the AFC Championship Game, the Jaguars acquitted themselves very well, playing a tight and close defensive game in a hostile environment for over three quarters before finally losing 20–6 to the New England Patriots on the road.


Personnel[]

Staff[]

1996 Jacksonville Jaguars final staff
Front Office
  • Chairman/Chief Executive Officer – Wayne Weaver
  • President/Chief Operating Officer – David Seldin
  • Senior Vice President of Football Operations – Michael Huyghue
  • Director of College Scouting – Rick Reiprish
  • Director of Pro Personnel – Ron Hill
  • Assistant Director of Pro Personnel – Fran Foley
  • College Scout – Rick Mueller
  • College Scout – Doug Williams

Head Coaches

Offensive Coaches

  • Offensive Coordinator – Kevin Gilbride
  • Running Backs – Jerald Ingram
  • Wide Receivers – Pete Carmichael
  • Tight Ends – Nick Nicolau
  • Offensive Line – Mike Maser
  Defensive Coaches

Special Teams Coaches

  • Special Teams Coordinator – Larry Pasquale
  • Assistant Special Teams – Joe Baker

Strength and Conditioning

  • Strength and Conditioning – Jerry Palmieri
  • Assistant Strength and Conditioning – Jeff Hurd

Roster[]

1996 Jacksonville Jaguars final roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

  • 36 Ryan Christopherson FB
  • 34 Roger Graham
  • 23 Randy Jordan
  • 35 Le'Shai Maston FB
  • 20 Natrone Means
  • 33 James Stewart

Wide receivers

Tight ends

  • 86 Derek Brown
  • 85 Rich Griffith
  • 83 Pete Mitchell
Offensive linemen
  • 71 Tony Boselli T
  • 63 Michael Cheever C
  • 62 Ben Coleman G
  • 73 Brian DeMarco T
  • 74 Jimmy Herndon T
  • 66 Greg Huntington G/C
  • 67 Jeff Novak G/T
  • 72 Leon Searcy T
  • 76 Rich Tylski G
  • 79 Dave Widell C

Defensive linemen

  • 90 Tony Brackens DE
  • 92 Don Davey DT
  • 77 Andre Davis DT
  • 91 Paul Frase DE/DT
  • 64 John Jurkovic DT
  • 56 Jeff Lageman DE
  • 93 Ernie Logan DE
  • 94 Kelvin Pritchett DT
  • 96 Clyde Simmons DE
  • 99 Joel Smeenge DE
Linebackers
  • 52 Brant Boyer
  • 59 Reggie Clark
  • 53 Nate Dingle
  • 51 Kevin Hardy
  • 57 Jeff Kopp
  • 55 Tom McManus
  • 50 Eddie Robinson
  • 58 Bryan Schwartz

Defensive backs

  • 21 Aaron Beasley CB
  • 42 Ricky Bell CB
  • 22 Bucky Brooks CB
  • 27 Vinnie Clark CB
  • 45 Travis Davis S
  • 24 Rashid Gayle CB
  • 28 Dana Hall S
  • 37 Chris Hudson S
  • 40 Robert Massey CB
  • 30 Darren Studstill S
  • 41 Dave Thomas CB
  • 25 Mickey Washington

Special teams

  •  4 Bryan Barker P
  •  1 Mike Hollis K
Reserve lists



Practice squad



Rookies in italics
Active, Inactive, Practice squad

Regular season[]

Schedule[]

Week Date Opponent Result Record Attendance
1 September 1, 1996 Pittsburgh Steelers W 24–9 1-0
70,210
2 September 8, 1996 Houston Oilers L 34–27 1-1
66,468
3 September 15, 1996 at Oakland Raiders L 17–3 1-2
46,291
4 September 22, 1996 at New England Patriots L 28–25 (OT) 1-3
59,446
5 September 29, 1996 Carolina Panthers W 24–14 2-3
71,537
6 October 6, 1996 at New Orleans Saints L 17–13 2-4
34,231
7 October 13, 1996 New York Jets W 21–17 3-4
65,699
8 October 20, 1996 at St. Louis Rams L 17–14 3-5
60,066
9 October 27, 1996 at Cincinnati Bengals L 28-21 3-6
45,890
10 Bye week
11 November 10, 1996 Baltimore Ravens W 30–27 4-6
64,628
12 November 17, 1996 at Pittsburgh Steelers L 28–3 4-7
57,879
13 November 24, 1996 at Baltimore Ravens W 28–25 (OT) 5-7
57,384
14 December 1, 1996 Cincinnati Bengals W 30–27 6-7
57,408
15 December 8, 1996 at Houston Oilers W 23–17 7-7
20,196
16 December 15, 1996 Seattle Seahawks W 20–13 8-7
66,134
17 December 22, 1996 Atlanta Falcons W 19–17 9-7
71,449

Standings[]

Template:1996 AFC Central standings

Playoffs[]

Round Date Opponent Result Attendance
Wild-Card December 28, 1996 at Buffalo Bills W 30–27
70,213
Divisional January 4, 1997 at Denver Broncos W 30–27
75,678
AFC Championship January 12, 1997 at New England Patriots L 20–6
60,190

Awards and records[]

  • Mark Brunell, Franchise Record, Most Passing Yards in One Game, 432 yards (Sept 22, 1996) [1]
  • Mark Brunell, Franchise Record, Most Passing Yards in One Season, 4,367 Yards [1]
  • Mark Brunell, Led NFL Passing Yards, 4,367 Yards [2]
  • Mark Brunell, Pro Bowl MVP Award [3]
  • Mike Hollis, Franchise Record, Most Field Goals in One Game, 5 Field Goals (December 1, 1996) [1]
  • Keenan McCardell, Franchise Record, Most Receptions in One Game, 16 receptions (Oct 20, 1996) [1]

Milestones[]

  • Keenan McCardell, 1,000 yard receiving season (1,129 yards) [4]
  • Jimmy Smith, 1,000 yard receiving season (1,244 yards) [4]

References[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York,NY, ISBN 0-7611-2480-2, p. 52
  2. NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York,NY, ISBN 0-7611-2480-2, p. 438
  3. NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York,NY, ISBN 0-7611-2480-2, p. 202
  4. 4.0 4.1 NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York,NY, ISBN 0-7611-2480-2, p. 440