According to Ian Rapoport, there’s a good chance that after firing EVP Tom Coughlin last week, the Jaguars elect to stand pat with HC Doug Marrone and GM Dave Caldwell for another season.
Rapoport adds the move to fire Coughlin went over well in the locker room with the players. Now that Marrone no longer has to deal with putting out fires from Coughlin’s serial fine tendencies, the team is expected to operate more smoothly.
Rapoport says agents have told him now that Coughlin is gone they would have no reservations about sending players to Jacksonville even after the NFLPA’s stinging rebuke that precipitated Coughlin’s firing.
If the final two games go well then Jaguars owner Shad Khan would prefer to be patient and give Marrone and Caldwell another chance. Jacksonville is currently 5-9 and in last place in the AFC South.
Rapoport adds that vice-chair and director of football operations Tony Khan, the son of the owner, could take on a larger role in Coughlin’s absence.
Marrone, 55, was hired by the Bills as their head coach back in 2013 after he had spent a number of years with at Syracuse. After two seasons in Buffalo, Marrone surprising voided his contract with the team to become a free agent.
The thinking at the time was that Marrone was going to be hired by the Jets. However, he didn’t secure another head-coaching job and eventually ended up on the Jaguars’ coaching staff as an assistant.
The Jaguars promoted him to interim head coach after they parted ways with Gus Bradley in 2016 and he’s remained in the position since then.
As the Jaguars’ head coach, Marrone has compiled a 21-27 record (43.7 percent), which includes one playoff appearance and a trip to the AFC Championship game.
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