How Will the Jaguars Decide to Fill the Quarterbacks Coach Vacancy?
The Jacksonville Jaguars hired a new offensive coordinator in Jay Gruden earlier this week, but the team is still missing a quarterbacks coach for Gardner Minshew II and Nick Foles.
Scott Milanovich, the team’s former quarterbacks coach left the Jaguars to be a head coach in the Canadian Football League the Edmonton Eskimos. Milanovich had served as Jacksonville's quarterbacks coach since head coach Doug Marrone took over in 2017.
Marrone spoke with the press following Gruden's signing to discuss the search for a new quarterback’s coach and what kind of impact Gruden will have on the search. The two coaches went over the situation Wednesday to discuss the process of bringing in a new guy, Marrone said.
“Jay and I spoke this morning on it, we’re going to think about the direction we want to go and then have discussions later on,” Marrone said Wednesday. “If we do, then obviously we’ll go through the same type of process of trying to find the best guy who knows what we want to do.”
Another option that has been discussed is Gruden taking on the responsibility of being a play-caller as well as the position coach - something that has been seen in the NFL before.
"In other words, the role of the offensive coordinator, play-caller with the quarterback coach. I’ve done it both ways where the coordinator has been the quarterback coach before, Marrone said. "When you go that way, then you just have to have really good support around the coordinator, more logistic support. I’ve also gone the other way where now you have the quarterback coach that is out there working, and those guys have to be really in line. I’m talking about step-by-step of there’s certain ways that we believe that we want to teach our quarterback."
“Those are discussions that Jay and I are having now,” Marrone stated. “I’ve done it both ways so obviously that’s the discussion we’re having.
When asked if that is the path that the team was going down, Marrone was a little hesitant to give a straightforward answer on whether or not that is the direction that they’re heading down.
"So, we’re just discussing those options now as we go forward, and at the end of the day, we’re going to do what’s best for the players and the staff," Marrone said. "So, it’s really an option. We’re not leaning one way or the other.”
As an offensive coordinator, Gruden has helped developed passers like a young Andy Dalton. Dalton accomplished his best statistical season in 2013 under GrudenMs tutelage, a year where he threw 4200 yards and tossed over 30 touchdowns. As a head Gruden he helped Kirk Cousins elevate his game be viewed as a franchise quarterback, throwing for over 4000 yards and 20 touchdowns in each of his three years as the starting quarterback in Washington, helping Cousins receive a massive contract from the Minnesota Vikings in 2018.
