How Will Jaguars’ HC Doug Marrone and GM Dave Caldwell Measure Success in 2020?

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Two years ago, the Jacksonville Jaguars thought they had turned the corner and at long last found the winning formula. They went 10-6 and then won two playoff games before narrowly losing in the AFC Championship.

Compared to the entirety of the previous seven seasons, the 2017 season was the definition of success.

But since then, success has been far out of the Jaguars' reach. The team has an 11-21 record from 2018-2019, both seasons that ended with double-digit losses. The lack of success has already gotten one quarterback cut (Blake Bortles), one quarterback benched (Nick Foles), and one executive fired (Tom Coughlin).

Jaguars' head coach Doug Marrone and Dave Caldwell were able to escape the 6-10 season in 2019 with their jobs intact, however. After owner Shad Khan announced the two would be retained but held accountable moving forward. To preserve job security after 2020, Marrone and Caldwell will have to find success, and quickly.

"Listen, losing is not fun for anybody. Trust me. Going through this, the people in this building, the fans, the players, the coaches, our families," Caldwell said at TIAA Bank Field on Tuesday. "There has to be improvement. There are no ifs, ands or buts about that."

So, how will Caldwell measure that improvement?

"What’s that going to look like this time next year? We’ll have to wait and see, but we feel confident with our plan we put together to be vastly improved."

As for Marrone, he indicated he won't consider a one to two-game improvement in wins as a successful year. That is not the nature of the league or the position of a head coach, he said.

"If you’re a head coach of a football team and you go in there and you say to them, ‘Hey listen, if we go 8-8 this year, that’ll be a hell of a year.’ I think you sell people short<" Marrone said Tuesday." "I think you sell everyone short. My mindset when I go into the season is, I’m going in it to win every single game that we can possibly have the opportunity of winning, which is 16 to begin with and then after that, you’re going after it again."

In 2017, Marrone's first year as head coach, the Jaguars found their greatest success since 2007. But even that season, which had them one possession away from playing in the Super Bowl, isn't considered a true success in Marrone's eyes.

"As a coach in the NFL, the only way you’re ever going to feel truly successful, where you’re going to say it and say yes, it’s being able to get to that last game and go [win the Super Bowl]," Marrone said Tuesday.

"Do we have a lot of work? Absolutely. Will I put a limit on this football team? Never. Whatever happens with the results, you have to be accountable for and you have to live with. Again, I say that’s the mindset of myself and that’s the mindset of all our coaches. Let’s go out there and compete and see where we are.

I think that’s the best way to explain it because, is it getting to the playoffs? Is it the first game? Is it four wins? Is it six games? There’s a lot of things that come into play. For fans and people that are evaluating, not for me. I can’t speak for anyone else.”

The only person who knows the real definition of what a successful season would constitute as for the Jaguars is Khan. He, like any owner, wants a Super Bowl badly, but, likely, he will at least settle for a more competitive team in 2020.