Happy trails, Doug Marrone

Happy trails, Doug Marrone.

The Jacksonville Jaguars relived Marrone from his duties as head coach on Monday following a 1-15 season, to no one’s surprise. The writing was on the wall for Marrone in that he’d be let go at the end of the season, but that still didn’t deter him from trying to get the most from the team he could week in and week out, and that played out on the football field.

The Jaguars might have been outmatched in most of their games this season, but Marrone never seemed to lose the locker room and the players played their ass off to the bitter end, despite the season being hopeless.

Marrone exits the Jaguars with a 23-43 record, after starting his career with an 11-7 start and an appearance in the AFC title game in 2017. The wheels kind of fell off after that, but despite the piling losses, Marrone somehow managed to position himself to be the likeable one in the organization,

Marrone, even during the 1-15 season, appeared personable in his press conferences down to the end. He had a way of telling fans everything without saying it, even positioning himself in 2018 and 2019 as letting everyone know his hands were tied on a lot of things and all he could do was go out there and coach with what he had. Sometimes that brutal honesty, even if it’s not what fans want to hear, resonates and endears you to them.

I think Marrone is going to exit the Jaguars as probably the most well liked bad coach, because he seemed so relatable during this trash can season and he seemed to care about the losses and had a refreshing honesty about the situation surrounding the Jaguars.

Happy trails, Doug. If I ever see you around town, beers on me.