Jacksonville Jaguars hire Doug Marrone, the most blasé option possible
By Josh Hill
The Jacksonville Jaguars stunned no one on Monday when they made the most boring head coaching hire they possibly could.
When the Jacksonville Jaguars fired Gus Bradley before the end of the season, it was an expected move. The team was spinning its wheels and had just blown a big lead on the road to a division rival.
The Jaguars also shocked no one when on Monday it was reported by Adam Schefter that they planned to promote Doug Marrone to the top job on the sideline. This is quite possibly the most Jaguars of they possibly could have made; a blasé choice that gives Jacksonville just enough new blood without meddling too much in remaining as terrible as they have been.
Perhaps I’m being too overly cynical. Marrone was a successful coach at Syracuse before bolting to the NFL. But his trajectory there is the reason why Jaguars fans are a little uneasy and wholly unimpressed with this news.
Marrone’s time in the NFL over the last three years has been split between a head coaching job in Buffalo that he quit and being part of a disastrous era in Jaguars history. Marrone quitting on Buffalo might have actually been a move that displays intelligence, and there’s hope he can channel his Syracuse success in Duval County.
One thing that Marrone was lauded for was his ability to be an offensive minded coach with a heavy focus on quarterback development. He had a ton of success with Ryan Nassib at ‘Cuse and was thought to be the guy to fix the Bills situation. E.J. Manuel had the most successful years of his career under Marrone, throwing for almost 2,000 yards in his rookie season. Marrone also went 9-7 in the AFC East with a quarterback combo of Manuel and Kyle Orton — which is impressive in its own right.
That’s what jaguars fans should be focusing on as this boring hire sinks in. He’s not a home run name, but Marrone’s impact on the Jaguars is likely expected to be similar to the one Dirk Koetter had down in Tampa.
Koetter usurped Lovie Smith as an in-house replacement hire and almost took the Buccaneers to the playoffs in his first year. The major difference there is that Koetter was the offensive coordinator and has Jamies Winston. Marrone was the assistant head coach and has Blake Bortles.
Blake Bortles.
Blake. Bortles.
The hire deserves to be killed for being boring as hell, but let’s not kill it dead before we see what happens. It’s not the sexiest pick ever, but this is Jacksonville. It doesn’t need to be sexy — it just needs to work.
Sometimes it’s the blasé, under-the-radar hires that end up being the decisions that turn a franchise around.