Tom Coughlin, Doug Marrone, and the clash of personalities in Jacksonville
Who are the Jacksonville Jaguars right now? They reached the AFC Championship game in 2017 and then stumbled to a last-place finish in 2018. It seems as if everybody not named Tom Coughlin is on the hot seat in 2019. Head coach Doug Marrone is 15-17 in his two seasons in charge while GM David Caldwell has been with the team since 2013 and they’ve gone 30-66 in that time. The team finally moved on from Blake Bortles this offseason and threw money ($88 million over four years) at Eagles Super Bowl MVP Nick Foles. This team still has the pieces that got them to the AFC Championship, but can they hold it together?
Marrone is essentially coaching for his job this year with Coughlin breathing down his neck. Caldwell might be the GM in title, but Coughlin has final say over everything. So, in reality, this is Coughlin’s team. He’s a no-nonsense type of coach. The big issue is the Jaguars locker room is full of nonsense and when things aren’t clicking on the field the team spirals downward.
Part of the reason the Jaguars were so all-in on Foles was his ability to stabilize the locker room. He’s a safe veteran presence at quarterback that can add some leadership to the team, but what if he’s bad? That’s when guys like Jalen Ramsey, Yannick Ngakoue, and Leonard Fournette will have issues. Keep in mind they’ve already lost Pro Bowl linebacker Telvin Smith who is sitting out the season. It doesn’t help that Ramsey and Ngakoue, two of the best players on the team, want to be paid now and Coughlin isn’t budging. Throw in that the team already paid Myles Jack and some resentment could begin to bubble. This is all hearsay, but we saw the team clash last season when they went 5-11.
Best case scenario is Foles and offensive coordinator John DeFilippo re-discover some of the magic they found in Philly and the offense finds its identity. With an improved offensive line and a healthy Fournette, he should begin to live up to his draft position. Defensively Calais Campbell is still one of the leagues best and they added rookie Swiss Army knife Josh Allen with Ngakoue, Jack, Ramsey, and AJ Bouye. The defensive pieces are strong. If everything clicks, then it falls on Marrone’s shoulders to prove he’s a worthwhile head coach. It’s just hard to see this team going better than 7-9 with their schedule.