Why Did Doug Marrone Select Jay Gruden as the Jaguars' New Offensive Coordinator?
MOBILE, Ala. — Experience with quarterbacks. Versatility. Ability to see the big picture. All reasons Jacksonville Jaguars' head coach made Jay Gruden his offensive coordinator Wednesday morning, and all reason's Marrone is optimistic about his offenses's new direction.
After all, finding success at the quarterback position is what is going to make or break the Jaguars' season in 2020. Luckily, Marrone said, Gruden has quite the history with the position, dating back to his playing days.
"I think that Jay has some success at that position as a player so I think he sees things through the eyes of a quarterback, which I always think gives you a little bit of an advantage of what you are looking for," Marrone told local media Wednesday. "I think the diversity of what we are going to try to do offensively, and we are getting together and putting our stuff together, will be a big help."
During Gruden's time as Cincinnati Bengals' offensive coordinator (2011-2013) and as Washington's head coach (2014-2019), Gruden helped a number of passers find success. Andy Dalton and Kirk Cousins were especially productive under Gruden's tutelage, in large part because he fit his offense around their skill sets.
"I think the success he’s had with different types of quarterbacks, and I go back to Cincinnati when he was there with Andy Dalton and then with the veteran guys like prior to Alex Smith being hurt," Marrone said. "So he’s been around it and I think he’s going to be able to – I know he’s going to be able to help our football team. I like the schematics of how he does things and it’s more in-tune to what I believe and I’m looking forward to it.”
But perhaps the biggest factor for Marrone when finding a play-caller to replace John DeFilippo, who the team mutually parted ways with on Jan. 13 after one season, was experience. After two straight last-place AFC South finishes, Marrone and general manager Dave Caldwell were retained for 2020 by team owner Shad Khan, but the expectations moving forward became clear: Jacksonville must start winning football games.
Knowing he doesn't have the longest leash, Marrone knows he needed to hire a coach who wouldn't take a long time to get adjusted to the job of play-caller.
“Because of our situation and where we are … My experience has been that I have had people with me who have been first-time coordinators, and I think you go through a learning process and you’re getting better each year. There is a curve to that. One thing that going into it what I felt was I don’t have time for that curve," Marrone said.
"I was looking for someone with experience, someone with conviction with what they believe in that matches what mine and our staff believe. Our staff was heavily involved in this, too. We all had time spent with each candidate that came in and together we made a collective decision on what was best for all of us.”
Of course, Gruden will be tasked with overhauling an entire offensive unit and not just overseeing the quarterbacks room. This means Gruden will have to get the offensive line, running backs, and wide receivers all in the same page if he hopes to improve an offense that was 26th in scoring last season.
“Again, I think that Jay has shown in his past the ability to run the football. That is always going to be a lineman’s best friend and running back’s best friend," Marrone said.
"Like I was asked before in what you are looking for … A really good understanding of all phases of what the players are going to want. You have to be able to stand up in front of them and do what is best for the O-line, best for the receivers, best for the quarterbacks, best for the running backs because if they feel when you get up in front of the room that you are putting a larger emphasis one group or another for production, sometimes that doesn’t sit well with players. You want to make sure that they are all going to be involved and play an important part in what we’re going to do on Sunday.”
