The Jacksonville Jaguars are on the clock for the No. 1 pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, they're searching for a new general manager and now they're looking for a new head coach.
Following a one-win 2020 campaign, Doug Marrone has been fired as Jacksonville Jaguars head coach, NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported. The team later made the news official.
"I am committed and determined to deliver winning football to the City of Jacksonville," Jaguars owner Shad Khan said in a statement. "Realizing that goal requires a fresh start throughout our football operations, and with that in mind I spoke this morning with Doug Marrone to express my gratitude for his hard work over the past four seasons as the head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars.
"I'll always appreciate Doug's passion, grit and class, and I'm confident he will enjoy success in the next chapter of his career. As the search for our new general manager continues, now the quest begins to find a head coach who shares my ambition for the Jacksonville Jaguars and our fans, whose loyalty and faith are overdue to be rewarded."
Seemingly on the hot seat for the better part of the last two seasons, Marrone's tenure in Duval has concluded after a 1-15 season that ushered him out with a 23-43 record over four-plus seasons.
Marrone, 56, took over as an interim coach for the final two games of the 2016 season and helmed a surprising 2017 march to the AFC Championship Game after being hired full-time.
Since then, though, victories have been difficult to find, a franchise quarterback has eluded the Jaguars and a cast of all-star defenders -- Jalen Ramsey, Calais Campbell and Yannick Ngakoue, among them -- have departed Duval. So too, now, has Marrone.
Amazingly, when including the pair of postseason wins during the 2017 campaign, Marrone's win total over the last three seasons equaled that one successful campaign's 12 victories.
While the aforementioned defensive departures garnered much ado, the failure to find or find confidence with a franchise QB plagued Marrone's tenure.
Despite having a surprisingly successful rookie season -- at least statistically -- in 2019, Gardner Minshew competed for starts in 2020 with Mike Glennon and rookie Jake Luton, each of them notching at least three starts. They joined Blake Bortles, Nick Foles and Cody Kessler in the Jaguars' never-ending QB carousel under Marrone.
Even before Marrone’s expected dismissal, successors names were bandied about, among them former Ohio State coach Urban Meyer and current Ohio State coach Ryan Day.
Regardless of who takes on the role as the new Jacksonville head coach, it will be one of a great many changes for Khan's franchise, which has made the playoffs just once since 2008.
The team moved on from general manager Dave Caldwell earlier this season and never appeared to view Minshew as a potential franchise quarterback.
Now, with the No. 1 overall pick, the Jaguars will enter the 2021 season with a new quarterback, a new general manager and, now officially, a new head coach.
Speaking with reporters over a Zoom call on Monday morning, Khan said there is a huge amount of interest in the Jaguars' vacant GM and HC positions, more so than in years past.
"We are in a better position today than we were a year ago," Khan proclaimed.
Khan also revealed that he had roster control in 2020 following Tom Coughlin's departure, and said he will make sure the incoming GM and coach knows he wants to be in on the conversations of personnel and contract decisions, and that he will have final say.
The Jaguars owner went on to mention that diversity is a major issue in the NFL and is something important to him, but he won't limit his options on the GM/HC search. Khan said it would be ideal to hire both at the same time.
"What has evaded the Jags is a franchise quarterback," admitted Khan, pointing out the six different starting QBs over the past three years. "We have the ability to make a choice and it will define the franchise moving forward."
