The Jacksonville Jaguars are cleaning house and seek the move on from the Tom Coughlin era in Duval County.
According to a report from Dianna Russini from ESPN, the Jaguars have informed coach Doug Marrone that he will be dismissed following Sunday’s season finale against the Indianapolis Colts.
Jacksonville head coach Doug Marrone has been informed that he will be dismissed following Sunday’s game vs. Colts, per sources. Jaguars will begin a search for a new head coach.
— Dianna (@diannaESPN) December 28, 2019
Could the Houston Texans look to add the former coach of their division foes to the coaching staff?
The two are good friends outside of the game of football, and it goes back to their time with Georgia Tech from 1996-1999 when they were on the staff of head football coach George O’Leary. Marrone was a tight ends coach for a season before taking over as offensive line coach. O’Brien was a graduate assistant for their first two seasons together before taking over as running backs coach in the last two seasons together.
“We’re good friends, we care about each other, we love each other’s family, but we kind of keep business on the outside,” Marrone told the Houston media on a conference call on Sept. 11. “I think the only — this is — I probably talk to him less now.”
Marrone and O’Brien talked less during the regular season, and they were competitive with one another as they both coached in the same division, and were the only two coaches since 2015 to win the AFC South.
However, Marrone and O’Brien do have a working history together and they do get along outside the football field. The problem would be Marrone’s specialty is the offensive line, and Mike Devlin is someone O’Brien considers in his inner circle.
“I lean on [defensive coordinator] RAC (Romeo Crennel),” O’Brien told reporters on Jan. 6, 2019. “He was a head coach. I lean on [special teams coordinator] Brad Seely. He’s been around a long time. I lean on Mike Devlin. Mike Devlin has worked for a lot of different guys, played for a bunch of different guys.”
It is possible O’Brien could bring in Marrone as an assistant head coach, a role that Crennel has had since joining the Texans in 2014. In 2017, it was his exclusive role as defensive coordinator was handed over to Mike Vrabel. In the same vein, by adding Marrone, perhaps Crennel could be the defensive coordinator only while Marrone is the assistant head coach.
O’Brien and Marrone have history. Whether they find a way to work together will come down to whether it makes sense for both of them.