JUPITER, Fla. • Former St. Louis Cardinals president Mark Lamping will make the drive north to his new job later this week and take over, officially, as the president of the Jacksonville Jaguars on Monday.

He knows questions about the viability and the stability of the National Football League franchise will be there to greet him.

"I'm moving to Jacksonville to stay in Jacksonville," Lamping said.

Lamping has spent the past four years as the CEO of MetLife Stadium, the new football stadium in the Meadowlands that is home to the New York Giants and New York Jets. Before moving to New York, Lamping was the president of the Cardinals from 1994 to 2008, a span that included the sale of the team, a new ballpark, the hiring of manager Tony La Russa, and the selection of both Walt Jocketty and later John Mozeliak as general manager.

Illinois businessman Shahid Khan purchased the Jaguars during this past season. Khan had previously tried to purchase the St. Louis Rams.

He was immediately welcomed as Jacksonville's new owner by speculation that the team would uproot and move to another location. Both the Rams and the Jaguars have been involved in rampant speculation that the league might accept relocating either franchise. Rams owner Stan Kroenke invoked his right to match an offer for the team to take over ownership after Khan's bid had been approved. Kroenke is currently involved in the bidding process to purchase the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Lamping knows that he'll face concerns about the Jaguars commitment to the Jacksonville area, and he is ready with an answer that is more direct than Kroenke has given when asked about the Rams' commitment to St. Louis.

"I'm very confident that the franchise can be extremely successful in Jacksonville," Lamping said. "You've got a great owner who is very committed and very supportive of what needs to be done there. You've got a strong fan base. There's a lot of football fans there. It's not like you're going into a market where there isn't a base of football fans who can make you successful.

"The idea that the franchise can become much more of a regional brand, I think, can mitigate in a major way the fact that Jacksonville is one of the smaller markets."

Lamping said the draw of leaving New York was the chance to work for a single team again. Lamping maintained a home in St. Louis while he worked in New York. He will be leaving the home he kept in the Jupiter, Fla., area nearby the Cardinals' spring training facility. Lamping said he was a fan of the football Cardinals and after they left St. Louis he did not reattach to a new team.

The lure of a single team and an NFL team was too attractive to pass up when Khan approached him with an offer.

"I really missed being with a team," said Lamping, who is scheduled to complete his job in New York later this week. "The second thing, from my perspective, is it's a geographically desirable place. I'm really optimistic and I have become very, very impressed with Shahid Khan and his vision for the franchise and the potential for success in Jacksonville and north Florida."