Sunday marks the final day of the 2019 NFL regular season, which means Monday is shaping up to be a tough day for a number of head coaches for non-playoff teams. While we’ll have to wait until we get to Dec. 30 to see what happens with some of the coaches who are on hot seats, we already know the first name that may be on the chopping block.
According to Dianna Russini of ESPN, the Jacksonville Jaguars plan to part ways with head coach Doug Marrone after their game against the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday. Regardless of the outcome of the game, the currently 5-10 Jaguars will finish in last place in the AFC South.
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 Russini (@DMRussini) December 28, 2019
The report was refuted by Tony Khan, one of the team’s co-owners.
On the other hand, imagine reading that 100% false report stating you’d been informed that you’d been fired when in fact nobody had ever told you that?
— Tony Khan (@TonyKhan) December 28, 2019
If this does end up being true, it’s quite the fall for Marrone, who took over as the team’s interim head coach for the final two games of the 2016 season and saw his interim tag stripped once the year ended. In his first season at the helm, the Jags were one of the best teams in football, going 11-5 and coming ever so close to taking down the New England Patriots in the AFC Championship game.
But in the years since, Jacksonville has been unable to recapture that magic, going 5-11 in 2018 and potentially finishing with the same record in 2019. It was a tough season for the Jags — injuries, quarterback uncertainty, the Jalen Ramsey trade saga, everything that happened and led to Tom Couglin’s firing — and evidently, the team will hit the reset button as it enters the offseason.
