Jacksonville Jaguars: Doug Marrone speaks the truth, earns trust
By Luke Sims
Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Doug Marrone knows that the team is far from competitive and desperately needs to improve this offseason. He pulled no punches during a press conference.
“I think everyone had a week that we realized we have a long way to go.” Those words opened head coach Doug Marrone’s press conference after day three of OTA’s. “Hey listen, we’ve got a lot of work in front of us…we’ve got to get to work.”
The Jacksonville Jaguars are, more than ever in the last four years, on notice.
After four years of Gus Bradley’s bubbly press conferences about improvement, Marrone came out with an abrupt change in tone. He wasn’t just noting that the Jags aren’t a good football team right now, he hammered it in. “We’re a team that won three football games. I’d be lying to you guys if I came up here and said everything is hunky-dory,” Marrone said when asked about where the team was in its offseason development.
It is a refreshing change for those who follow the Jaguars. It’s a stark reminder that the Jags are simply a bad football team until the win-loss column changes. And Marrone knows how to get the job done.
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The process will take time so it’s important to immediately establish that the baseline right now is not in a desirable position. The Jaguars have a lot to do and a lot to prove.
What Marrone’s statements also did was win people over with a trustworthy approach during a time of the year that is usually filled with empty platitudes and coach-speak. The media and the fans can trust that Marrone isn’t going to sugarcoat anything and will speak the truth. He isn’t going to try and deceive those who follow the team.
That, perhaps more than anything, is a key takeaway after the first three days of OTA’s for the Jaguars.