Early Tuesday morning, word broke that the Jacksonville Jaguars owner Wayne Weaver is selling the franchise. This is not unexpected news, as there have been rumors for some time that the Jaguars were for sale, but the timing of the announcement is a shock. Not only did the Jaguars fire their head coach Jack Del Rio today, but they have also announced their new owner — Shahid Khan — and gave GM Gene Smith a three-year extension.

So who is Shahid Khan? Khan is an Illinois-based businessman that owns and runs an auto manufacturing company called Flex-N-Gate. He was interested in buying the St. Louis Rams last year, but that fell through when minority owner Stan Kroenke outbid him. Khan reportedly intends to keep the Jaguars in Jacksonville.

Khan is a Pakistani-American, so if he gets approved by the NFL, he will become the first minority owner of an NFL franchise. The NFL is one of the last of the major sports to have a non-white owner, so this would be a welcome step for the league as a whole.

To join in the conversation about all these changes, drop by SB Nation’s blog on the Jaguars, Big Cat Country.