Buffalo Bills ex-head coach Doug Marrone is reportedly talking to the Chicago Bears, Atlanta Falcons and New York Jets.
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Doug Marrone has barely been away from Buffalo for 24 hours, but he’s already linked with a few other teams in need of a new head coach. The first wave of speculation had him talking to the Jets, unsurprising as you get the feeling the Jets want to interview as many candidates as possible. The New York Post has him interviewing with the Jets as soon as Sunday, but possibly Monday. There’s a reason why his link with the Jets is so strong, however.
Marrone is a Bronx native and according to a source close to the situation, the Jets new consultant Charlie Casserly is a big fan of Marrone. The Jets job would be a short hop for Marrone and there is apparently strong mutual interest between the two sides.
However, Marrone is keeping his options open and is also lining up interviews with the Bears and Falcons. Marrone surprised everyone, including his own team, when he opted out of his contract with the Bills on Wednesday, reportedly due to uncertainties about the power structure. Marrone had a good season with the Bills, who finished 9-7 for their first winning season in ten years.
The other interesting bit of fallout from this is that Bill Polian has informed the Bills that he’s not taking the reported “czar-ship” offered by the team and will remain an NFL analyst. Mercury News writer Tim Kawakami summed it up nicely:
So Marrone leaves because he's wary of a new Bills czar and, Polian won't take the czar-ship because Marrone left. Weirdness is spreading.
— Tim Kawakami (@timkawakami) January 1, 2015
As for the Jets, they have a big list of candidates they intend to interview for the head coach vacancy. They intend to interview a few members of the Seattle Seahawks staff, including offensive line coach Tom Cable and defensive coordinator Dan Quinn for head coach, plus pro personnel director Trent Kirchner for the GM position.
Marrone could be what the Jets are looking for though. He helped turn around a Bills team with somewhat mediocre talent, showed strong leadership during the blizzard that rocked the area and canceled their home game, and there’s no doubt that players were beyond upset at him leaving. Even if you think he could have left in a better way, there’s no doubt that he was good for the team while he was there.
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