1997 Jacksonville Jaguars season

1997 Jacksonville Jaguars season
Head coach	Tom Coughlin
Home field	Alltel Stadium
Results
Record	11–5
Division place	2nd AFC Central
Playoff finish	Lost Wild Card Playoffs (at Broncos) 17–42
Pro Bowlers	T Tony Boselli QB Mark Brunell WR Jimmy Smith P Bryan Barker K Mike Hollis
Uniform

The 1997 Jacksonville Jaguars season was the franchise's 3rd season in the National Football League and the 3rd under head coach Tom Coughlin. The team looked to reach the AFC Championship for the second straight year following a surprising run in 1996. The Jaguars improved upon their previous 9-7 record and won 11 games. They made the playoffs as a wild card team, playing the Denver Broncos on the road for the second straight year. This time they lost to the Broncos 42–17, bringing the Jaguars’ season to an end.

The team also made a couple of changes to the uniforms. They changed the numbers to new font style numbers and added black side panels to the uniforms. During the offseason, the team had changed the font style numbers on the jerseys to a skinnier style with a black drop shadow in the back of the numbers. During the team's 1997 preseason games there were several complaints that the announcers and the viewers had a hard time recognizing the numbers on the players, so the team decided to make the jersey numbers wider and removed the drop shadow numbers by the beginning of the regular season.

Offseason

Draft

Main article: 1997 NFL Draft

1997 Jacksonville Jaguars draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1	21	Renaldo Wynn	Defensive tackle	Notre Dame
2	50	Mike Logan	Cornerback	West Virginia
3	79	James Hamilton	Linebacker	North Carolina
4	114	Seth Payne	Defensive tackle	Cornell
5	147	Damon Jones	Tight end	Southern Illinois
6	184	Daimon Shelton	Running back	Sacramento State
7	221	Jon Hesse	Linebacker	Nebraska
Made roster    †   Pro Football Hall of Fame    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Personnel

Staff

1997 Jacksonville Jaguars staff

Front office Chairman/president/chief executive officer – Wayne Weaver 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 – Louis Clark College scout - Gene Smith College scout – Rick Mueller Head coaches Head coach – Tom Coughlin Offensive coaches Offensive coordinator/quarterbacks – Chris Palmer Running backs – Jerald Ingram Wide receivers – Pete Carmichael Tight ends – Fred Hoaglin Offensive line – Mike Maser

Defensive coaches Defensive coordinator – Dick Jauron Defensive line – John Pease Linebackers – Steve Szabo Outside linebackers – Lucious Selmon Defensive backs/secondary – Randy Edsall 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

1997 Jacksonville Jaguars final roster

	Quarterbacks  8 Mark Brunell 11 Rob Johnson 16 Steve Matthews Running backs 49 Ty Hallock FB 23 Randy Jordan 20 Natrone Means 31 Daimon Shelton FB 33 James Stewart Wide receivers 84 Reggie Barlow PR 80 Willie Jackson KR 87 Keenan McCardell 81 Will Moore 82 Jimmy Smith Tight ends 86 Derek Brown 85 Rich Griffith LS 88 Damon Jones 83 Pete Mitchell		Offensive linemen 71 Tony Boselli T 62 Ben Coleman G/T 73 Brian DeMarco G 78 Todd Fordham T 68 Mark Nori G 67 Jeff Novak G 72 Leon Searcy T 76 Rich Tylski G 79 Dave Widell C/LS Defensive linemen 90 Tony Brackens DE 56 Jeff Lageman DE 91 Seth Payne DT 96 Clyde Simmons DE 99 Joel Smeenge DE 98 Jabbar Threats DE 93 Esera Tuaolo DT 95 Jose White DT 97 Renaldo Wynn DT		Linebackers 52 Brant Boyer OLB/MLB 54 James Hamilton OLB 51 Kevin Hardy OLB 57 Jeff Kopp OLB 50 Eddie Robinson OLB 58 Bryan Schwartz MLB Defensive backs 25 Curtis Anderson CB 21 Aaron Beasley CB 45 Travis Davis SS 26 Kevin Devine CB 27 Deon Figures CB 28 Dana Hall SS 37 Chris Hudson FS 32 Mike Logan FS 29 Ricky Parker S 41 Dave Thomas CB Special teams  4 Bryan Barker P  1 Mike Hollis K		Reserve lists 63 Michael Cheever C (IRTooltip Injured reserve) 92 Don Davey DT (IRTooltip Injured reserve) 64 John Jurkovic DT (IRTooltip Injured reserve) 55 Tom McManus MLB (IRTooltip Injured reserve) 39 Chris Parker RB (IRTooltip Injured reserve) 94 Kelvin Pritchett DT (IRTooltip Injured reserve) Practice squad 75 Harold Gragg DE 59 Tyrone Hines LB 35 Malcolm Thomas RB 65 Craig Warren T Rookies in italics 53 active, 6 inactive, 4 practice squad

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance
1	August 31, 1997	at Baltimore Ravens	W 28–27	1–0	Memorial Stadium	61,018
2	September 7, 1997	New York Giants	W 40–13	2–0	Alltel Stadium	70,581
3	Bye
4	September 22, 1997	Pittsburgh Steelers	W 30–21	3–0	Alltel Stadium	73,016
5	September 28, 1997	at Washington Redskins	L 12–24	3–1	Jack Kent Cooke Stadium	74,421
6	October 5, 1997	Cincinnati Bengals	W 21–13	4–1	Alltel Stadium	67,128
7	October 12, 1997	Philadelphia Eagles	W 38–21	5–1	Alltel Stadium	69,150
8	October 19, 1997	at Dallas Cowboys	L 22–26	5–2	Texas Stadium	64,464
9	October 26, 1997	at Pittsburgh Steelers	L 17–23 (OT)	5–3	Three Rivers Stadium	57,011
10	November 2, 1997	at Tennessee Oilers	W 30–24	6–3	Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium	27,208
11	November 9, 1997	Kansas City Chiefs	W 24–10	7–3	Alltel Stadium	70,444
12	November 16, 1997	Tennessee Oilers	W 17–9	8–3	Alltel Stadium	70,070
13	November 23, 1997	at Cincinnati Bengals	L 26–31	8–4	Cinergy Field	55,158
14	November 30, 1997	Baltimore Ravens	W 29–27	9–4	Alltel Stadium	63,712
15	December 7, 1997	New England Patriots	L 20–26	9–5	Alltel Stadium	73,446
16	December 14, 1997	at Buffalo Bills	W 20–14	10–5	Rich Stadium	41,231
17	December 21, 1997	at Oakland Raiders	W 20–9	11–5	Oakland Coliseum	40,032

Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Standings

AFC Central
	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA	STK
(2) Pittsburgh Steelers	11	5	0	.688	372	307	L1
(5) Jacksonville Jaguars	11	5	0	.688	394	318	W2
Tennessee Oilers	8	8	0	.500	333	310	W1
Cincinnati Bengals	7	9	0	.438	355	405	W3
Baltimore Ravens	6	9	1	.406	326	345	L1

Postseason

Main article: 1997–98 NFL playoffs

Schedule

Round	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance
Wild Card	December 27, 1997	at Denver Broncos (4)	L 17–42	0–1	Mile High Stadium	74,481

Game summaries

AFC Wild Card Playoffs: vs (4) Denver Broncos

AFC Wild Card Playoffs: (5) Jacksonville Jaguars at (4) Denver Broncos – Game summary

Period	1	2	3	4	Total
Jaguars	0	7	10	0	17
Broncos	14	7	0	21	42

at Mile High Stadium, Denver, Colorado

• Date: December 27, 1997
• Game time: 2:00 p.m. MST
• Game attendance: 74,481

After upsetting the Broncos in the playoffs in the previous year, the Jaguars fell short in the re-match. John Elway lead the Broncos to a 42–17 win over the visiting Jaguars, throwing for 223 yards and a touchdown. Mark Brunell was 18 for 32 for 203 yards, but had no touchdowns on top of an interception. Similar to the year before when the Broncos could not stop Natrone Means and the Jaguars running game, the Jaguars struggled all game to contain the Broncos running attack. Terrell Davis carried 31 times for 184 yards and two touchdowns. Nonetheless, the game was close throughout, as the Broncos led by only 21-17 late in the 3rd. But the Broncos would score 21 unanswered points in the 4th quarter, ending the Jaguars season.

Awards and records

• Mike Hollis, franchise record (tied), most field goals in one game, 5 field goals (November 30, 1997)
• Mike Hollis, franchise record, most field goals in one season (tied), 31 field goals
• Mike Hollis, franchise record, most points in one season, 134 points
• James Stewart, franchise record, most touchdowns in one game, 5 touchdowns (October 12, 1997)
• James Stewart, franchise record, most points in one game, 30 points (October 12, 1997)

External links

• Jaguars on Pro Football Reference
• Jaguars Schedule on jt-sw.com