Jaguars HC Doug Marrone on New OC Jay Gruden: ‘I Believe That Coach Gruden Is the Right Person for What We Need Right Now’

Jaguars' HC Doug Marrone seems more than happy about tabbing Jay Gruden as his next play-caller.

Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Doug Marrone has officially tabbed one of the most respected offensive minds in football as his next offensive coordinator in ex-Washington Redskins head coach Jay Gruden. 

And judging from Marrone's prepared statements on Gruden, the Jaguars' head coach couldn't be happier with landing Gruden to lead his offense in 2020. 

“Coach Gruden is one of the brightest offensive minds in football and I’m pleased to welcome him to the Jacksonville Jaguars,” Marrone said in a statement. 

"In going through the search process, it was important to me and our staff to identify a candidate who had a clear and concise vision for how to lead our offense and how to get the most out of our players and assistant coaches. I believe that Coach Gruden is the right person for what we need right now and the direction that we want to take our offense."

Gruden, 52, is Marrone's third offensive coordinator in as many seasons and is replacing John DeFilippo, who served as Jacksonville's coordinator for a lone season in 2019. Gruden, who coached Washington from 2014 until Week 6 in 2019, also has past experience as an offensive coordinator with the Cincinnati Bengals, where he coached quarterback Andy Dalton in the first few seasons of his career.

"In his last stint as an offensive coordinator for three seasons in Cincinnati, he had great success with the Bengals and played a key role in their three postseason berths from 2011-13," Marrone said. "During the interview process, it became very clear that Coach Gruden learned a lot from his experience as a head coach and he’s ready to get back to work.”

Gruden was hired over other experienced play-callers such as Ben McAdoo and Scott Linehan. 

"We were trying to find someone who's best for this staff, who's best for what you want to run, then you're looking for what person's best for your players – who's going to relate to the players, who's going to be able to communicate with them," Marrone told Jaguars.com.

"At the end of the day, we just felt that Jay was the best fit for us."