Jacksonville Jaguars: How effective will Doug Marrone be moving forward?

Doug Marrone wants to change the culture of the Jacksonville Jaguars, just how effective will he be in doing so?

Doug Marrone spoke on Monday following the Jacksonville Jaguars‘ season ending loss in Houston. He took the blame on several issues that plagued Jacksonville throughout the season. Marrone promised change, but how effective can he be in 2019?

Marrone seemed to stress two areas that would be the benchmarks for the new Jaguars locker room atmosphere.

John Oehser of jaguars.com reported the following:

"Marrone said he emphasized in his end-of-the-year meeting Monday with players the importance of “availability and coachability,” presenting statistics showing the benefits of meeting offseason workout goals and attending voluntary offseason organized team activities.“Your body in the game of football is a commodity,” Marrone said. “You have to take care of it. You need availability and coachability.”"

To read between the lines, Marrone is sending a message to Jalen Ramsey. Everyone knows what voluntary means, especially the NFL Players Association. Remember, Ramsey skipped last offseason’s voluntary workouts. The line has been drawn in the sand.

Ramsey is the franchise’s elite, shutdown corner. He has been a distraction to team focus earlier in the season. Currently, he appears to have grown into a leadership role — or has he?

To his credit, Marrone has taken the blame of the deterioration of team discipline. The question remains if he can take control back from the players. The Leonard Fournette suspension comes to mind.

Fournette, a team captain via player vote, left the sideline to fight with a Buffalo Bills player. Marrone was asked if Fournette would lose his captain status after poor behavior. His reply, according to Reuters.com, spoke volumes:

"“Captaincy is voted by the team,” he said. “If the team came to me and said they wanted to strip his captaincy, then that is a team decision, not necessarily just the head coach’s decision.”"

So, who is in charge? Hopefully, it’s a team decision to win games, the division, the AFC championship and a Super Bowl. How effective can Marrone be now, at this point?

Will Marrone hold Ramsey and Fournette to the same degree with the others in the areas of availability and coachability? What happens if they call his bluff? Would Jacksonville trade Ramsey and release Fournette? Is the Jaguars team culture better without them?

Be careful what you ask for because you might get it. Expect Marrone to exhibit the “no more Mr. Nice Guy” persona. It will be interesting to see how the team responds. Let’s see how it plays out.