The coaching search for the Jacksonville Jaguars was short lived. The Jags quickly pulled the trigger on a familiar face. On Monday the team announced that interim head coach Doug Marrone would lead the team going forward.
The former Bills head coach might have been the plan all along. Doug Marrone signed as an assistant head coach/offensive line coach in 2015 with the team underachieving. Starting another losing season the team finally gave up on head coach Gus Bradly. From there Marrone would lead the team to a 1-1 record after week 14.
[Rick]
Marrone is Mr. .500. During his time as a head coach with Buffalo(NFL) and Syracuse(NCAA), he’s barely below a career winning record. As a head coach, he sits at 16-18. To be fair, the teams he’s been involved with were well below average. Each time he was hired, the teams he was then in charge of were near the bottom of their division. While he has had great success taking the two teams back to relevancy, Marrone quickly bolted before getting the job done. The Jags haven’t had a winning record since 2007, can this new regime bring one back to Jacksonville before the coach calls it quits again?
Doug Marrone should be able to get the stalled offense going. His New Orleans Saints had top ranked offense with him as coordinator. Now he’ll be tasked with getting the Jags stumbling but talented offense back on track. Jacksonville lost 10 games by a touchdown or less and have pieces in place to overcome. With the Dolphins making the playoffs and the Bucs challenging for their spot, Jacksonville is the only Florida team still struggling.
The Jaguars and Tom Coughlin
Speaking of familiar faces, Jacksonville hired a former coach and two-time super bowl winner Tom Coughlin as their Vice President of Football Operations. Coughlin took the Giants to league contenders with often less than stellar seasons. If he can bring that sort of turn around to the Florida, it won’t be long before the team is winning football games. While Coughlin won’t be on the field, his football knowledge combined with Marrone’s offense should give fans something to look forward to. Jacksonville’s offseason will be a crystal ball into the direction the team is headed. Will it be the right direction? Only time will tell.