It’s firing season in the NFL, and while teams like the Atlanta Falcons got a jump on the process of vetting new candidates, others like the New York Jets and Jacksonville Jaguars, who took the long road to seemingly reach the same destination. With news of the former expecting to fire Adam Gase at the conclusion of the 2020 season, the latter is apparently ready to do the same with head coach Doug Marrone — or they’re at least heavily mulling it. It’s being reported just ahead of Jacksonville’s regular season finale against the Indianapolis Colts that owner Shad Kahn is likely to move on from Marrone, per Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, but the decision hasn’t been formally made yet.
For those wondering what the hold up is, considering the Jaguars are 1-14 and owners of a league-worst 14-game losing streak, it appears Kahn is potentially eyeing former Florida and Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer — per Kaelen Jones of The Ringer — whose name has recently been connected to the University of Texas and, one year ago, to the Dallas Cowboys. The former will instead hire Steve Sarkisian to replace Tom Herman (both items dropping on Jan. 2), and the Cowboys are all set with Mike McCarthy for both now and later.
That puts the Jaguars as a frontrunner to woo Meyer out of retirement, and his decision will impact Marrone’s future. Considering his connections to the state of Florida from his time leading the Gators to two national championships in the early to 2000s, it makes sense North Florida would be an intriguing landing spot for him. Adding to the level of interest from Meyer’s side is likely the fact the Jaguars have secured the No. 1 pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, putting them in a position to select consensus top-overall pick Trevor Lawrence, along with the windfall in available cap space to build in free agency.
As it stands, Meyer is reportedly lining up a coaching staff for a possible agreement with the Jaguars, but the club is also building contingencies in the event that deal falls through. Sticking with the Ohio State theme, Jacksonville also has eyes on Ryan Day, who led his Buckeyes to a throttling of Lawrence and the Clemson Tigers on New Year’s Day to earn a national championship clash with Alabama.
This all builds to the likely aforementioned split from Marrone because even if Meyer and Day are a no go, the fact the Jaguars are building a list of candidates hints heavily at Marrone coaching his final game in Jacksonville. The 56-year-old joined the organization as assistant head coach and offensive line coach in 2015 before landing the interim tag in 2016 after the firing of Gus Bradley, ultimately being promoted to head coach in 2017. After stunning the NFL with an appearance in the AFC Championship Game, the wheels came off by way of a mass exodus of All-Pro and Pro Bowl talent that helped fuel both the ousting of Tom Coughlin from the front office and a combined record of 12-35 over the past three seasons.
And, with that, Marrone’s days with the Jaguars might finally be numbered.
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