Many Jags fans are experiencing fatigue for Marrone and want to see a different coaching staffgetty images
Jaguars coach Doug Marrone and GM Dave Caldwell will return for the '20 season despite "double-digit back-to-back losing seasons," according to John Reid of the FLORIDA TIMES-UNION. Team Owner Shad Khan met with Marrone and Caldwell before "deciding to bring back both for next season." Under the team's "new front office structure following the Dec. 18 firing" of Exec VP/Football Operations Tom Coughlin, the role he occupied "will not be filled" in '20. Marrone and Caldwell instead will "report directly to Khan as they have since mid-December" (FLORIDA TIMES-UNION, 12/31). In Jacksonville, Gene Frenette notes many Jaguars fans are experiencing "fatigue" for Marrone and "want to see a different coaching staff on the sidelines." However, the perspective is "far different in the locker room" among players (FLORIDA TIMES-UNION, 12/31).
INDICTMENT ON COUGHLIN'S TENURE: ESPN.com's Michael DiRocco writes this has been an "eventful season" for the Jaguars, highlighted by the "strained atmosphere inside the building" due to Coughlin's old-school approach. Khan ended up firing Coughlin "two days after the NFLPA sent a letter to NFL players that detailed Coughlin's disregard for the league's collective bargaining agreement and warned players about potentially signing with the Jaguars" (ESPN.com, 12/31). ESPN’s Domonique Foxworth said Marrone and Caldwell returning shows Khan has "some confidence" in both of them, but it indicates that Coughlin was the "problem ... more than anything." Foxworth: "This is such an indictment on Tom Coughlin. They’re going to keep everybody on the team that has frankly underachieved a little in the last couple of years. … This suggests to me that Shad Khan believes that Tom Coughlin was undermining them, that Tom Coughlin was the problem all along.” He added, "You can’t put together an argument to keep Doug Marrone. Your argument is: ‘Tom Coughlin killed us. Everybody here was fine, but Tom Coughlin, once he leaves, we’re going to get better immediately.’ You have an opportunity to go clean slate … and they just said, ‘That guy! You ruined everything. You undercut us building this team. You undercut us winning as many games as we should have, and if you get out, we don’t need to change anything. We don’t need to go get a quarterback. We don’t need to go hire anybody else. We just need to get you the hell out the building. Now, all of a sudden, we’ll be better’” (“First Take,” ESPN, 12/31).
