ST. LOUIS, Mo. (First Alert 4) - St. Louis native James Gladstone’s football journey took a path he never expected.
From catching passes at St. John Vianney High School, to captaining Westminster College’s football team, to coaching high school football with his father — the current Jacksonville Jaguars General Manager took a unique path to the NFL front office.
“It wasn’t all that long ago I found myself as a ball boy on the sideline for some of my dad’s football teams at Vianney High School,” Gladstone recalls.
In February, Gladstone was hired as general manager of the Jacksonville Jaguars at 34 years old, making him the second-youngest GM in NFL history.
He began his career as a high school educator and assistant coach under his father, Gene Gladstone, at both Vianney and Clayton High School. It was at Clayton where he ultimately turned heads.
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“James at a young age came in as the activities director, wide receiver then offensive coordinator,” said Doug Verby, Brentwood-Clayton football head coach. “Everything was very detailed, planned out. It was easy to see he was going to be a good manager of a team, whether that was a head football coach at the high school level, teacher leader, or now GM of an NFL team.”
Les Snead, the General Manager of the Los Angeles Rams, agreed. Snead and his wife Kara met Gladstone when their son attended Clayton High School.
“The first time I met James Gladstone, I didn’t really meet him,” Snead said. “I came to a orientation meeting, he was in charge of all the clubs. Clayton High School may have more clubs than any high school on the planet. He did an unbelievable presentation. I wanted to join a club after that.”
Snead brought Gladstone on board with the Rams in 2016. Gladstone started as Snead’s senior assistant, eventually becoming the Rams director of scouting strategy (2019-2022) and director of scouting (2022-2024).
In his first NFL Draft in 2017, the Rams selected wide receiver Cooper Kupp in the third round (69th overall). He would go on to be named Super Bowl LVI MVP.
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In Gladstone’s nine-year tenure, the Rams appeared in the postseason six times, including a Super Bowl win in 2021.
“By being hand and hand with Les, it was fairly clear that he was somebody that didn’t operate out of fear,” Gladstone said. “That’s something that I’ve held onto, something that I look to embody as it relates to where I currently sit.”
He followed Snead’s bold strategy when trading up for wide receiver and cornerback Travis Hunter in his first NFL Draft as general manager of the Jacksonville Jaguars.
“We want to bring people into this space who elevate it. Travis is a great example of that. With our first selection, we wanted to make sure that was something that was obvious.”
From a high school educator to a leading an NFL franchise, Gladstone’s way of leading remains the same.
“The idea of getting better every single day, every single week, every single month, every single year is something that we’re going to be looking to see take shape. That goes back to never remaining stagnant and always looking to push the needle forward. I want to see that imprinted on who we are as the Jacksonville Jaguars.”
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