Jacksonville Jaguars Hire Doug Marrone, Tom Coughlin

The longtime Giants head coach is being hired as the executive vice president of football operations with the Jaguars, ESPN reported Monday, pairing him with Doug Marrone, whom Jacksonville is promoting to head coach, to steer the woebegone franchise.

The Jaguars could have given Marrone a legitimate trial run as the head coach this year if they had done something brutally easy – fired Gus Bradley earlier in the season.

Coughlin, 70, Jacksonville’s first coach and a victor of two Super Bowls in 12 seasons with the Giants, will serve as executive vice president of football operations. Coughlin is obviously wise beyond his years when it comes to building solid football teams.

So, this leaves people asking: is Blake Bortles the guy? Since they last made the playoffs in 1999, the Bills have two winning seasons – 2004 and 2014 (both 9-7).

So, yeah, this search was all about finding the right coach, but also the right coach who the Jags believe can instill confidence in Bortles and build him back up and find a way to make him a competent National Football League quarterback after a lost 2016.

Marrone, who also interviewed with Los Angeles and San Francisco, served as Jacksonville’s interim coach for the final two games. Coughlin also interviewed for the head coaching job according to Rapoport, but then came around to the idea of being an executive. Jaguars fans are likely in wait and see mode with whether Bortles can become a franchise quarterback, as they hoped he would grow in 2016 after throwing 35 touchdowns in his second season. It shows that the front office and the coaching staff will be on the same page. The Jaguars essentially chose to maintain continuity on offense after the Jaguars finished 25th in points scored. Marrone has a chance to look very good very quickly if he can get things fixed with Bortles.

Kyle Shanahan was another candidate to interview with the Jaguars. I need people to help me. They know that if they get the quarterback many thought they reached on three years ago, it won’t matter.