Buffalo Bills: Doug Marrone Regrets How Head Coaching Tenure Ended
Doug Marrone is set for another head coaching stint, but he regrets how his run with the Buffalo Bills came to a close.
Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Doug Marrone is getting a new start on his coaching career. After leaving the Buffalo Bills at the end of the 2014 season, he shockingly took a lesser role at on the Jaguars, being named assistant head coach as well as coaching the offensive line. All this despite the fact he was a hot commodity during the 2015 offseason as a head coaching candidate.
While the move was surprising to the outside world, his departure in Buffalo had been expected. Despite the fact that the Bills had finished 9-7—their best record since 2004—Marrone was wary of an ownership change, and he held a three-day opt out clause of his contract after the season in the event of any dramatic changes at the top.
Indeed, he opted out. Players and coaches alike expressed their displeasure over the way he handled the situation, and Marrone has been trying to restore the way he’s perceived amongst players ever since.
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Marrone has since been promoted to head coach of the Jaguars, and while speaking to the media on Wednesday, he expressed his regret on how the situation in Buffalo ended, per Conor Orr of NFL.com:
"“…that’s one of the mistakes you wish you can go back and do over and you just wish you had more time. I think when I look at it, I look at myself, is that I wish I could’ve communicated things better at that time.”"
Marrone later added:
"“I’ll be honest, there’s some things that I should’ve done differently and I think I’ve learned from that and it’s made me a better coach today.”"
The Bills, to an extent, are still trying to pick up the pieces. Marrone had done a solid job in turning Buffalo into a playoff caliber team, especially on the defensive side of the ball. Since his departure, and during the Rex Ryan era, the Bills have floundered on defense, falling from fourth in 2014 to 19th this past season.
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Now with a fresh start of their own with head coach Sean McDermott, the Bills will try to do something they haven’t done since 1999: make the postseason.