A lot of fans weren’t happy with Shad Khan’s decision to keep coach Doug Marrone and general manager Dave Caldwell last month as both have come up short of expectations in 2018-19. However, with the success they had in 2017 still in mind, Khan didn’t want to shake things up too much this offseason and elected just to get rid of front office executive Tom Coughlin, giving Caldwell and Marrone more freedom with just ownership over them when it comes to personnel decisions.
“My feeling is that we can return to that place [the success of 2017] and go much faster to where we want to be if we can keep some things intact for 2020,” Khan said this week in his interview with Black News Channel. “The results are going to speak for themselves a year from now, and we will all know if this is the right approach I took, and I will take full responsibility for it.”
The decision to keep Caldwell is especially baffling to fans as the veteran general manager will be entering his seventh season. Since being named general manager in 2013, the 2017 season is the only season in which he has put together a winning product while the rest have been double-digit loss seasons.
As for Marrone, he doesn’t deserve nearly the amount of blame of those in the front office and Khan, however, some of his decisions haven’t benefited the team all that much like the swing and miss on offensive coordinator John DeFilippo. Under DeFilippo, the Jags offense finished 26th in points (18.8 PPG) and 20th in yards (341.8 YPG) last year, which caused Marrone and him to mutually part ways last month.
The Jags’ defense also hasn’t really shown the growth fans would like either under one of Marrone’s lieutenants in defensive coordinator Todd Wash. Although the case could be made that injuries hurt the Jags’ defense last year, there has been a lack of adaptation on Wash’s part, yet, somehow Marrone has let him stick around.
When looking at the combination of all these issues fans feel Khan would’ve clearly been better off cutting his losses and starting over, but obviously, he feels making it back to the postseason is easier than they do. Ultimately, time will tell which side is truly right, but if Khan is wrong, fans will be sure to remind him of his promise to admit it come January of 2021.