Marrone views Jaguars as golden opportunity
JACKSONVILLE — Slightly more than two years after making the stunning choice to walk away as coach of the Buffalo Bills amid changing ownership, Doug Marrone sat comfortably inside EverBank Field on Thursday morning.
He flashed smiles to his family while he listened to Jaguars owner Shad Khan speak about his vision for the future.
Marrone believes he finally has found his ideal situation.
Khan introduced Marrone, 52, as the fifth fulltime coach in franchise history along with new executive vice president of football operations Tom Coughlin on a day that felt more get-down-to-business than anything else as the Jaguars try to move on after a decade of futility.
“I didn't have any expectations if I would get a job again or not,” said Marrone, the Jaguars' offensive line coach the past two years. “I knew that if somebody was going to give me that opportunity, that I would put my best effort forward and do the best job.”
Next up for Marrone is finding the best people to fill out his coaching staff. The Jaguars fired eight assistants Tuesday.
The biggest looming question is whether Nathaniel Hackett will return as offensive coordinator after the Jaguars averaged 19.9 points per game, 25th in the league. Marrone declined to go into much detail about possible scheme adjustments or staff changes Thursday but said it will be a diligent process that involves more than just him.
“It would be stupid by me not to talk to Coughlin about coaches,” Marrone said. “Coaches that he knows, coaches that I know, ones that we've worked with, we know, we've been around. We're in the process of working on that together, which I'm excited about.”
Although Marrone isn't the flashy hire a young offensive-minded coordinator such as Josh McDaniels of the New England Patriots or Kyle Shanahan of the Atlanta Falcons might have been, the Jaguars made clear he separated himself as the best candidate for the job.
Khan said the decision to hire Marrone, who led the Jaguars to a 1-1 record after Gus Bradley was fired Dec. 18, “wasn't close” after interviewing other candidates.
“Doug will offer just the right amount of continuity to the roster, building a roster that has much better talent than our record shows,” Khan said. “But as you've seen already with the staff changes announced this week, ‘status quo' is not in Doug's vocabulary. The environment Doug will create will emphasize accountability, discipline, conditioning, commitment and above all, results — winning.”
General manager Dave Caldwell said the Jaguars wanted their new coach to check two major boxes: Previous head-coaching experience and a history of turning around the culture of an organization. Marrone has both.
After improving Syracuse University during his four seasons, Marrone led the Bills to their first winning season in a decade in 2014 before taking the $4 million opt-out clause in his contract to pursue other jobs in January 2015.
Although he interviewed for several head-coaching vacancies in the NFL, that opportunity didn't materialize until the Jaguars signed him to a three-year deal this week. (Coughlin signed a three-year deal while Caldwell received a two-year extension.)
“There was a lot of work put into it,” Marrone said. “It was a long process; I can say that. But it was worth it, obviously, at the end.
“This is a perfect situation for me.’’