What Do Doug Marrone’s Past Comments on a Quarterbacks Coach Suggest About the Ben McAdoo Hire?
When Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Doug Marrone hired new offensive coordinator Jay Gruden, he was still searching for a quarterbacks coach. In fact, Marrone even said it was an option for Gruden to pull double duty and serve in the role of Gardner Minshew II's and Nick Foles' position coach.
But this week, Marrone and the Jaguars made the call to find another coach to replace former quarterbacks coach Scott Milanovich, hiring New York Giants head coach and offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo on Wednesday. The new addition left Gruden serving as solely the team's offensive coordinator, a scenario Marrone said would happen under certain circumstances.
"I’ve done it both ways where the coordinator has been the quarterback coach before. When you go that way, then you just have to have really good support around the coordinator, more logistic support," Marrone said on Jan. 22, following the hiring Gruden.
"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, so we discussed it."
With McAdoo being added to the Jaguars' staff, it suggests he has the trust of Marrone and Gruden to work cohesively with those around him and in line with the Jaguars' philosophies.
"Like I said before, I’ve done it both ways where you have one person that’s teaching the quarterbacks, coaching the quarterbacks, calling the plays. That’s pretty much lock and sync," Marrone said in January. "And then there are other responsibilities for the coordinator that he has to do that may pull him away if he’s supported the right way."
Having Gruden serve as the quarterbacks coach in addition to coordinating the offense would have been a unique setup, one that only a few other teams are set to have in 2020 (New York Jets and New England Patriots are two examples). Instead, Marrone opted to add McAdoo to coach up the quarterbacks on a day-to-day basis, allowing Gruden to focus on designing the offense and calling plays.
McAdoo has past experience as a quarterbacks coach when he served in the role with the Green Bay Packers from 2012-2013, and he worked closely with Eli Manning during his time calling the shots in the Giants' offense (2014-2015 as offensive coordinator, 2016-2017 as head coach).
"Coach McAdoo brings a lot of experience and knowledge to the quarterback room, and we're excited to add him to our offensive coaching staff," Marrone said in a statement Wednesday. "He has mentored several great quarterbacks throughout his career, and his understanding of the position will be a valuable addition to our team and for the development of that group."
The fact that McAdoo knows what the role entails, and has overseen quarterbacks have productive years in the past, likely made the Jaguars' decision to leave Gruden at only offensive coordinator easier. As Marrone noted in the past, he wants his quarterbacks coach to be able to work within the confines of how the Jaguars want to develop their passers. By hiring McAdoo, it is clear Marrone thinks he is capable of working closely with the rest of the Jaguars' staff in how to coach quarterbacks.
