Jaguars S Andrew Wingard shares embarrassing details about the Doug Marrone era

Doug Marrone took the Jacksonville Jaguars to the AFC Championship in 2017 but amassed a measly 12 wins the following three years. Not surprisingly, he was given the boot after the 2020 season. Veteran safety Andrew Wingard recently talked about what was it like to play for Marrone. Based on his comments, he doesn't have fond memories.

Wingard told Ryan Green of 1010 XL that he doesn't think Marrone knew who he was, pointing out that there wasn't a great vibe going around when he was the head coach.

"I don't think Doug Marrone even knew who I was for two years, honestly," Wingard said. "It was that kind of vibe. It wasn't good, it was a bad culture and you knew when you stepped out on the field, it's like we're gonna lose, it was just terrible. But now, it's like, 'Here. We got this new facility. We got great players, it's really Doug [Pederson]."

Wingard continued, "When you see Doug leading the way, he's a winner, and you want to follow winners. There's definitely a culture change. It's time to win, we can all sense that. And it's weird because last year, it was more like, 'Oh God, we have to win.' But now it's like, time to win."

After going undrafted in 2019, Wingard signed with the Jags and ended up making the initial 53-man roster. He appeared in all 16 games with two starts, registering 30 total tackles, one forced fumble, and one sack. The former Wyoming Cowboy made four starts during Marrone's last year as the head coach, accruing 50 tackles, two interceptions, and five passes defensed.

Wingard joined the starting lineup full-time in 2021. This was a shocking decision at the time because then-rookie Andre Cisco seemingly had a bigger upside. When Cisco became the starter next to Rayshawn Jenkins in 2022, most of Dewey's contributions to the team came on special teams.

But despite getting a reduced role, Wingard got a three-year extension worth $9 million, a sign that Jacksonville believed he was an integral part of the team. Moreover, he was named captain by his teammates, showing he was an important locker room presence. Here's his full exchange with Green.

Andrew Wingard has earned the spotlight in Jaguars training camp

At this point of his career, you would think that Andrew Wingard already reached his ceiling but he's playing at an absurdly high level in training camp. Granted, it's only practice but he's done more than enough to make you think that he can perform better than he did in previous years.

On Day 2 of practice, Wingard picked off Trevor Lawrence twice. You could argue that the offense is still working out the kinks but that doesn't make the feat any less impressive. Having said that, the Colorado native may not get much playing time in 2024 given how stacked Jacksonville is at safety.

Cisco is firmly entrenched as the starter, and sophomore Antonio Johnson will tentatively replace Rayshawn Jenkins, who was released in a cap-saving move, in the lineup. On top of that, the Jags brought in Darnell Savage, who'll tentatively play nickel cornerback but could move to safety — his natural position — if needed. Nevertheless, it's great to see Wingard remind everyone that he can make plays.

The end of the Doug Marrone era was a mess

After making the AFC Championship in 2017, things quickly went sideways in Duval. Instead of paying their players, former Dave Caldwell continually traded them, and when he wasn't able to deal them, he outright released them.

That's why players who were integral to the team's success in 2017, such as Jalen Ramsey, Yannick Ngakoue, Calais Campbell, and Leonard Fournette were gone by the start of the 2020 season, effectively leaving the team devoid of talent. It didn't help that Caldwell had several misses in the draft, including defensive tackle Taven Bryan, edge rusher K'Lavon Chaisson, and cornerback C.J. Henderson.

Sure, Gardner Minshew, Josh HInes-Allen, and DJ Chark Jr. were still on the roster in 2020. All three flashed the year prior but they weren't going to be able to overcome the Jaguars' overall dearth of talent. By the end of the season, everyone was going through the motions. Whenever Doug Marrone met with the local media, he sounded resigned and tired.

At that point, the only meaningful thing Jacksonville had going for them was whether they were going to clinch the first overall pick in 2021. Going back to Andrew Wingard's comments, it's understandable why the vibes weren't great. Marrone might've already tuned out mentally by then.

Unfortunately for Winard, 2021 was a bit more of the same because the Jaguars made the crass mistake of thinking Urban Meyer could be a head coach in the NFL. He failed spectacularly. The silver lining is that the organization acknowledged the mistake, kicked Meyer to the curb, and signed Doug Pederson to take his place.

With Pederson at the helm, the Jaguars have shown noticeable improvement. They're coming off back-to-back winning seasons and made the playoffs in 2022. There's still plenty of work left, but it's easy to see why Wingard is hyped up to play for Pederson.

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