JAGUARS HIRE JAY GRUDEN AS OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Jacksonville Jaguars have hired Jay Gruden as their offensive coordinator, Head Coach Doug Marrone announced this morning.

“Coach Gruden is one of the brightest offensive minds in football and I’m pleased to welcome him to the Jacksonville Jaguars,” said Marrone. “In going through the search process, it was important to me and our staff to identify a candidate who had a clear and concise vision for how to lead our offense and how to get the most out of our players and assistant coaches. I believe that Coach Gruden is the right person for what we need right now and the direction that we want to take our offense. In his last stint as an offensive coordinator for three seasons in Cincinnati, he had great success with the Bengals and played a key role in their three postseason berths from 2011-13. During the interview process, it became very clear that Coach Gruden learned a lot from his experience as a head coach and he’s ready to get back to work.”

Gruden, 52, has 26 years of coaching experience, including 16 seasons in the NFL. Most recently, Gruden served as the head coach of the Washington Redskins from 2014-19 after serving as the Cincinnati Bengals’ offensive coordinator from 2011-13. Gruden led the Redskins to an NFC East division title after being led by QB Kirk Cousins, who threw for 4,166 yards and 29 TDs. Gruden helped Cousins earn Pro Bowl honors in 2016 with the Redskins’ record-breaking offense, which posted team records in total net yards (6,545), net passing yards (4,758) and yards per play (6.40), ranking in the top three in the NFL in all three categories.

From 2011-13, Gruden served as the offensive coordinator for the Cincinnati Bengals when the team had three consecutive postseason berths, averaging 10 wins per season. This marked the first time in franchise history in which the Bengals had three consecutive trips to the postseason. In his first year in Cincinnati in 2011, the club drafted QB Andy Dalton in the second round (35th overall), and as a rookie, Dalton led the team to a 9-7 record, including four fourth quarter come-from-behind victories, and was named to the Pro Bowl. Dalton became the fifth rookie QB in NFL history to throw for at least 3,000 yards and 20 TDs. In Dalton’s first three seasons in the NFL, all under Gruden’s tutelage as the offensive coordinator, he accumulated a 30-18 regular season record and threw 80 TD passes, the fifth-most in NFL history through a player’s first three seasons. Gruden oversaw an offense in Cincinnati that had seven Pro Bowl selections during his three-year tenure as the offensive coordinator, including three consecutive Pro Bowl appearances by WR A.J. Green. In Gruden’s three years as the offensive coordinator in Cincinnati, the Bengals’ offense improved in points-per-game from 18th (2011) to 12th (2012) to sixth (2013).

Gruden played QB for four seasons at the University of Louisville (1985-88) and played in the AFL from 1990-96, including six seasons with the Tampa Bay Storm. He was named the 1992 AFL Most Valuable Player and was honored with induction into the AFL Hall of Fame in 1999. He and his wife, Sherry, have three sons – J.J., Joey and Jack – and a grandson, Trey. Gruden’s older brother, Jon, is the head coach of the Oakland Raiders.

*Held jobs concurrently

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