Jacksonville is maintaining the status quo.
Jaguars owner Shad Khan assured in a statement released following the team's loss to Houston on Sunday that executive vice president of football operations Tom Coughlin, general manager Dave Caldwell and coach Doug Marrone will all return in their respective capacities in 2019.
"I informed Tom Coughlin this week that I want him to see through our shared goal of bringing a Super Bowl title to Jacksonville. Given our overall body of work over the past two seasons, I offered to Tom that I preferred entering the 2019 season with as much stability as reasonable or possible at the top of our football operation," Khan's statement began. "However, those decisions, at all times, are Tom's decisions, and I would respect any call he made on our general manager and head coach. I am pleased that Tom sees our situation and opportunity similarly, so we will return to work this week fully confident and optimistic with Dave Caldwell as our general manger and Doug Marrone as our head coach.
"I have the same trust in Tom, Dave and Doug as I did upon their introduction two years ago, and I do believe our best path forward for the moment is the one less disruptive and dramatic. Stability should not be confused with satisfaction, however. I am far from content with the status quo and while it's best to put 2018 behind us, I will not overlook how poorly we accounted for ourselves following a 3-1 start. There were far too many long Sundays over the last three quarters of the season, with today's loss in Houston being the final example, and that cannot repeat itself in 2019. That's my message to our football people and players, but also our sponsors and fans, both of whom were remarkable."
Caldwell has been Jacksonville's GM since 2013. Marrone has been on the Jaguars' staff since 2015 and was promoted to head coach in 2017. Coughlin joined the organization in 2017.
Khan's announcement came minutes after the conclusion of an underwhelming 5-11 season. On the heels of their championship-game run in 2017, expectations for Blake Bortles and the Jags were sky high in 2018. After a Week 2 victory over the Patriots, Jacksonville was seen as the favorite to come out of the AFC.
But following a 3-1 start, the Jags finished 2-10, saw their previously all-world defense collapse in losses to Dallas and Tennessee, fired offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett and benched Bortles for Cody Kessler in December, essentially waving the white flag.
"I do believe I will be able to get this right," Marrone told reporters after the game.
For that to happen, Marrone and Co. will need to finally solve the puzzle under center. Bortles is no longer the answer at quarterback, and the free agency pool figures to be flush with veteran arms like Joe Flacco and Teddy Bridgewater worthy of a starting gig. The Jags will also have to reevaluate a defensive unit overwhelmed with infighting.
