After going over a week without an offensive coordinator, the Jacksonville Jaguars found their guy. The team announced that they signed former Washington Redskins coach Jay Gruden to take the vacancy Wednesday.
Coach Doug Marrone spoke with the media about the hiring and stated that he wanted someone who would be both a fit with the staff and also someone who would adapt to the players on the roster.
“We were trying to find someone who’s best for this staff, who’s best for what you want to run, then you’re looking for what person’s best for your players – who’s going to relate to the players, who’s going to be able to communicate with them.” Marrone said. “At the end of the day, we just felt that Jay was the best fit for us.”
Gruden definitely makes a ton of sense for a Jaguars staff that is in “win-now” mode. He also makes sense for a roster that needs a spark offensively after finishing 24th in total yards, 28th in rushing, and could be starting a young quarterback in Gardner Minshew II. While he ultimately ended his run with the Redskins 35-49-1, his experience as a head coach should benefit him with a lesser role and his experience with young quarterbacks should especially help.
His last run as an offensive coordinator (with the Cincinnati Bengals) should especially be encouraging as he was tasked with grooming Andy Dalton during his first, second, and third seasons in the league. All three of those seasons resulted in postseason berths and Dalton also went to the Pro Bowl as a rookie.
Afterward, in Washington, he was tasked with grooming Kirk Cousins, who put together a strong enough résumé to eventually earn a historic three-year deal worth $84 million, all of which is guaranteed.
“[Experience] was [big] for me, because I look at how you grow as a play-caller and how you grow as a staff,” Marrone said. “Time is not on our side. We’ve had two poor seasons and we’ve got to turn this thing around quickly. You don’t want some of the growing pains that at times go with a young coordinator. Not to say a young coordinator couldn’t be great, but I look for people who have dealt with a lot of different dynamics. It’s important to have had experience managing.”
With the most important hire out of the way, the Jags now must shift their focus to finding a quarterbacks coach and assistant running backs coach as Scott Milanovich and John Donovan moved on to new teams this offseason. With over a decade of experience in the NFL (including his days as a quality controls coach) maybe Gruden can point the Jags in the right direction to fill their staff.