Doug Marrone: (Opening statement) “Good afternoon, everyone. From myself, I appreciate everyone being here, especially with it being a holiday. I want to first start off by thanking [Owner] Shad [Khan] and [Senior Vice President of Football Technology & Analytics] Tony Khan. Obviously, there has been a lot of communication going on in the past couple of weeks. They’ve been open, they’ve been honest [and] incredibly professional. As I said on Sunday, make no mistake about it; their desire to win for this franchise, these fans, this city is real. And the chance to return as the head coach of this franchise is always – I have always viewed this position as a privilege that I don’t take lightly, feeling the weight of the community, the sponsors, the building, the coaches and the players. Like I said before, make no mistake, Shad has made it very clear to both of us that the results of the past two seasons are nothing short of disappointing and expectations are high going forward. I know in my heart, like I said before, I can take this team to better roads and can do a better job. The city deserves that, our sponsors [deserve that], [the] people in the building and obviously especially our fans, they deserve that. This community has embraced our players and our coaches, and I can promise you that we’ll do a better job for Jacksonville and the Khan family moving forward.”
Marrone: (On his vision is to fix the on-field problems) “I think a lot goes into what we’re doing right now, self-evaluation. I think that throughout the past couple of weeks, and the conversations that I’ve had with Shad [Khan], Tony [Khan] and as well as with [General Manager] Dave [Caldwell], we’ve talked [about] a lot of things of evaluating the coaching staff, evaluating myself first, which is the first thing that I normally do after the season’s over. Looking at the schematics of what we’re doing in all three phases of our game. How do we get better specifically, which was talked about during the year which everyone knows, from penalties, through personnel, through the way we train our players, the way we treat our players. When I talk about treat, I’m talking about actual treatments and the training room. And I think these things, especially situationally, I know that I brought up some things in our meetings that as we go forward and we start with the players reporting, and coming in and things of that nature, I’ll let out. So, I think that those are things that we have not done a very good job of these past few years, that we have to work together to get done. So again, I talked to everyone about those plans and, actually, we’re going ahead and moving forward right now and trying to get those things in place.”
Dave Caldwell: (On his vision is to fix the on-field problems) “From our standpoint, we could help the coaching staff by making better decisions, and the guys we bring in for them and also really supporting our players that we have here. Then, I think we’ll help the coaching staff.”
Caldwell: (On how much not having an Executive Vice President of Football Operations will change his working role moving forward) “Well, I think the biggest thing is, regardless of what the past was, is moving forward, I’m going to have a direct line to Shad [Khan], kind of like I did earlier. And with Doug [Marrone], and the three of us will answer directly to Shad. I think Tom [Coughlin] was great in a lot of aspects for me, both personally and professionally, but this structure here will allow us to communicate directly with the owner and be able to put our plan forward to him with Doug in a collaborative effort.”
Caldwell: (On his evaluation of QB Gardner Minshew II and if he will be the centerpiece of the offense going forward) “I give Gardner [Minshew II] a ton of credit for what he did, where he came from, how he handled his business. He got thrust in there Week 1. It’s hard enough for a starting quarterback or a first-round quarterback to take all the reps [and play]. This is a young man that didn’t get very many reps in the preseason and he ends up having to go in the Kansas City game and the rest of it. He won more games than any other rookie quarterback and statistically, in less games, put himself in contention for Offensive Rookie of the Year. I think everybody in this room would agree with that. So, I think he did a really nice job. As far as the plans moving forward, I think there’s a lot of self-evaluation, like Coach [Doug] Marrone said, in where we’re at, and that will be a decision made by Coach Marrone, and his staff, in collaboration with Shad [Khan] and decide on that. But I don’t think any decision has been made today as to what that’s going to look like, but we feel good about Gardner and moving forward with him.”
Caldwell: (On how the team will approach DE Yannick Ngakoue’s expiring contract) “I think you guys all know in this room how both Doug [Marrone] and I feel about Yannick [Ngakoue] through our conversations over the years. He’s a tremendous player, he’s an even better person. How he handled his business this year was tremendous, but I would say that’s priority number one, to make sure that he comes back to Jacksonville and [that] he’s a Jacksonville Jaguar, so hopefully we can get that done where he’s here for a long period of time.”
Marrone: (On what the plan is to fix the on-field performances of the team going forward into next year) “I think, obviously, I take accountability for that, because that’s on-field performance where I didn’t do a good enough job with having the team ready. I think that we’ve been through that in those weeks, and I addressed those situations. I think when you’re talking about on-field performance, you’re talking about [how] it’s very simple from the outside to look at it and just say, ‘OK, the personnel, or the scheme on the field.’ So, it’s going to take an effort, there’s a lot more to it. Meaning, availability of players, the training of players, the acquisition of players, the schematics that we’re doing coaching-wise. So, if it was as easy as saying, ‘Hey, let’s take one area, and this is the only area, and this is the only issue.’ When you perform like that as a football team, that falls on everyone. And everyone has to be accountable for that. So, when we’re looking, and we’re talking about how does that change and what happens, it comes from everywhere. It comes from all the support staff in the building, to the way we’re handling the players, to the way we’re acquiring them, to the way we’re coaching them, to everything. So, all that stuff is under evaluation. And there are points that we’ve laid out, or I have laid out, to Shad [Khan], and Tony [Khan] and obviously Dave [Caldwell], of where I think we need to go to do a better job of that and have an opportunity to get this thing where we all want it.”
Marrone: (On what he told Owner Shad Khan that he will personally do to make himself a better coach going forward) “I think one of the things, and I appreciate the question, as the people that are in here day in and day out is that I’m going to go out, and I’m going to look, and I’m going to look to see how we can improve [in all] areas of fielding a better football team. So, I don’t think I’ve ever been one to say, ‘This is it. This is the only way to do it, that’s it.’ I think we’ve done a good job in the last couple years, especially this past year, of the communication between the players. I have a clear vision of the type of communication that I want with our players from different heads of the organization, meaning the people that are touching them. I think that we can do a better job there creating a better environment where you can see our players, and I think we all saw a difference in them and I pointed this out in our last team meeting, that last game, and again, I think it brought out, ‘Hey, you played differently.’ We were down 11. We were down in that game, but yet you saw the players, the emotion, the fun that they had, things of that nature. It’s still to be able to go out and play like that, but have the discipline during the week to make sure that we can train like that and get them prepared like that. So, there are a lot of things that are going to be looked at. There are a lot of things that I believe, and I know, that I can get done with some of the changes that are going to be made to do a better job for the coaches and the players.
Caldwell: (On how big of a challenge it is to improve the talent of the roster in the offseason): “It is twofold. One, it is going to be challenging. That is nothing we have not faced before. We have done it before from 2016 to 2017 and when we first got here, we had a lot of holes to fill. We do not have nearly as many to fill as we did in 2013 and 2014. We have the assets and the draft capital to be able to do that. We have two first round picks. We have an extra fifth round pick this year, and we will be in a good situation from our cap standpoint, too, if we need it to go out and get free agents and fill some holes before the draft.”
Marrone: (On if all of his assistant coaches will be back and how he will evaluate that): “I think it is something that is going to go back and be evaluated. I think, obviously, my focus and concentration at the end was to get our players in a better position to perform. I think I am going to go back through the same process of looking at the staff, seeing what we can do … I think part of being a good leader is being able to make sure that you have the people in the right position, and you can get the most out of them in that position with their strengths. First, it comes to me – kind of what we talked about here, some of the changes that I am going to make and what we do, not just for myself, but for the staff, everyone that touches these players. I think it is going to be a process of I am going to look at it as … The coaches are gone today, they will be back on the 13th, that Monday. That is when we will start meeting and going through that process.”
Marrone: (On if there will be a different communication flow now without an executive vice president of football operations and how that will impact this offseason): “For me, I think that it’s not … I like to create this environment. What you are looking at and you are focused on is myself, Dave [Caldwell] and Shad [Khan] because we both report to him. What we have talked about doing is making sure that it is not just the individuals that are able to communicate directly with each other. We are talking about taking our coaching staff with our scouting staff and really putting it in a true, true partnership where we are meeting and talking and doing that and coming to decisions. I think that Dave would agree – and I have been a part of it before – when we do that, things become clearer on exactly what the vision is that we want. My responsibility as the head coach is to say, ‘OK, this is what our philosophy is, this is what we want to do, this is what we want to be as a football team, this is how we want to play offensively, defensively and on special teams.’ Outline that, give a clear picture of exactly what we believe we need in communication with Dave and his department and really come in fold as one. My experience with that has been that probably 97 percent of the time, you are going to come up with a decision that is best for your organization. Those times that you may be different on it, Dave and I have the ability to try to work it out and if not, we have the ability to bring it to Shad.”
Caldwell: (On how the last few seasons have helped him grow in his role and prepared him for the challenge that the next season will present): “Certainly the last two seasons have been challenging with the adversity we have faced. Especially this season with the distractions and some of the adversity between losing our quarterback after Week 1 and making sure we had a capable person to fill in the roles and looking at that and realizing that it is just not the quarterback position, but we had injuries at linebacker and other positions that we have to make sure that we are going to have that during the season. We have to make sure that we have people capable of coming in here and filling those roles and making sure they can do more than one phase – both special teams and offense or defense.”
Marrone: (On how the last few seasons have helped him grow in his role and prepared him for the challenge that the next season will present): “I think one of the things that is a learning experience and you probably would like to do it really never in your career. You do not want to go through a difficult season. Like I said before, when you are aspiring to be a head coach, you are always going to think that you are going to be to have all the answers, you are going to be able to experience it and you are going to be ahead of things. A lot of the time, that is not the case. I think that when you are a head football coach, every day, there is going to be a different issue that comes up. Obviously, these past couple seasons, there have been more than a few issues. You don’t like it, but you learn from it. If you do not learn from your past, you are going to make the same mistakes over. I think the biggest things I have taken from the last few years is the communication with the players, with the coaches, with people within this building to try to hold things together. I think it is probably underestimated what it is like when you have distractions and adversity. I think we all go through that from a personal standpoint, but just think about managing players, coaches, a building, when you do that. It forces you to communicate, to get everyone’s house in order, is probably not maybe the best choice of words for that – but to be able to do that. The experience of going through such a difficult time with the adversity, you hope builds that foundation of communication knowing that if you think you do not have to work on it and you only work on it when things are going poorly, that is a big mistake. I think those things are what I take from these last two years and not look back and say, ‘Hey, when it comes up, this is what I am going to do to hold it together.’ Let’s get in front of this and let’s get everyone involved. I think importantly for me, the rest of the people in our building. I do not think I have spent enough time or showed them the vision or the focus of exactly what we want to be, or I haven’t showed them how important they are to our football team. I think that when you are in this building and you are employed by the Jacksonville Jaguars, you have an effect on what we do on the field. I hope that I will have that opportunity as we go forward to address that with the rest of the organization because I think that is important. When I say everyone is important, we all have to do a better job, it’s not just the coaches. It’s not just myself. It’s not just the players or Dave [Caldwell] and his staff – it’s everyone. Everyone, and a commitment to win football games, and I really believe through these last two years with the experiences that I had with different parts … I know [Chief Marketing Officer] Julian [Duncan] is here with marketing. We had a situation that happened early in the year where I did not really know him that well when he came in and we worked through it. Going forward, we have a great effort because those things do affect the way we play on the field. I appreciate you being here, but that is something that I have learned.”
Caldwell: (On how he will measure success next season and if a major turnaround is doable for this team): “Yes, for sure. Listen, losing is not fun for anybody. Trust me. Going through this, the people in this building, the fans, the players, the coaches, our families. There has to be improvement. There are no ifs, ands or buts about that. What’s that going to look like this time next year? We’ll have to wait and see, but we feel confident with our plan we put together to be vastly improved.”
Marrone: (On how he will measure success next season and if a major turnaround is doable for this team): “It’s an interesting thing. You get asked this quite a bit at any level you’re at, whether it’s the head coach at Syracuse [University], head coach at Buffalo, head coach here. People will always want to say, ‘Hey, listen, what do you need, what do you have to show, what do you have to be?’ I always find it interesting, and you guys know how much you are with me, I can only explain to you how I think of things. If you’re a head coach of a football team and you go in there and you say to them, ‘Hey listen, if we go 8-8 this year, that’ll be a hell of a year.’ I think you sell people short. I think you sell everyone short. My mindset when I go into the season is, I’m going in it to win every single game that we can possibly have the opportunity of winning, which is 16 to begin with and then after that, you’re going after it again. I think the mindset of the head coach has to be that way, and then, whatever comes after that, when you look back, you say, ‘OK, 2017, was it a successful season or wasn’t it?’ People are going to look at the past of your organization and say, ‘You know what, that’s a pretty successful year, but we fell short of going to the Super Bowl and winning it, so is it a successful year?’ Maybe for people and fans that can feel good about it, everyone is a little bit different. As a coach in the NFL, the only way you’re ever going to feel truly successful, where you’re going to say it and say yes, it’s being able to get to that last game and go [win the Super Bowl]. Do we have a lot of work? Absolutely. Will I put a limit on this football team? Never. Whatever happens with the results, you have to be accountable for and you have to live with. Again, I say that’s the mindset of myself and that’s the mindset of all our coaches. Let’s go out there and compete and see where we are. I think that’s the best way to explain it because, is it getting to the playoffs? Is it the first game? Is it four wins? Is it six games? There’s a lot of things that come into play. For fans and people that are evaluating, not for me. I can’t speak for anyone else.”
Marrone: (On knowing that players had his back during meetings with Owner Shad Khan): “To sit up here and say you don’t appreciate that would be a lie. In the same sense, if there is no hidden agenda and everyone wants to improve, everyone should have the freedom to say what they want. The players going in and saying that is appreciated, but in the same sense, whomever is the leader, the head coach, you would hope that the communication would work that those players would feel that way. I think that shows that the communication, at least from when I’ve been here, has improved on both parts. I think me being open to it and listening and setting things up, and the players being able to communicate what they need to be successful. At the end of the day, I feel fortunate that and I appreciate from Shad [Khan] and Tony [Khan] that they can talk to players and that players can give them their opinion because I go back to the same thing… when everyone says, ‘Hey, we’re all in this thing together,’ none of us would be here if it wasn’t for the players. If you don’t listen to them and you don’t give them that forum, I think that you can be in trouble. I appreciate the players being there and Shad being able to speak to them and get their input on what they think what we can do better.”
Caldwell: (On how imperative it is for this collaborative process to work going forward and if this collaboration is an indication of how fractured the previous structure might have been): “I think it’s always imperative to make it work. The more thoughts, ideas…the idea of a general manager or decision maker sitting in a room making picks by himself is not accurate. There’s input from everybody in the organization and eventually you have to come to a decision. Certain teams have different structures on how they do that, but my feeling at the places I’ve been that have had success [is] when you have thoughtful processes in place with the coaches and the scouts and ownership, you generally make better decisions than one person not doing that. I’m not saying that’s the way it was in the past, but I think some of the ideas that Shad, Tony, myself and Doug have come up with our coaching staff and our personnel staff on how we’re going to go about this in February, March and April is going to be something where everyone in the organization is going to be on the same page and everyone is going to be moving forward.”
Marrone: (On the NFLPA’s recent comments and what the team needs to do to rebuild that relationship prior to free agency and with the players): “I think I can take that one. As a former player that was part of the union, that went on strike for the union, and the relationship that I have with the NFLPA, I would think that myself…you look at people like [Wide Receivers Coach] Keenan [McCardell], [Tight Ends Coach] Ron Middleton, [Director of Player Engagement and Youth Football] Marcus Pollard, [Strength & Conditioning Coordinator] Tom Myslinski, there are a lot of people on this side of this organization that have been on the side of the players. At the proper time, I’m going to talk to [the NFLPA] about where are we right now with them. How do they feel about us right now? And I believe, and I can’t speak for them, that it’s a positive light. I’ve always opened up things for them to come in here. I’m one of the coaches, and this is a tough line, I tell the players on a constant basis, ‘You’re a member of a union. Don’t wait until you get in trouble or something happens and then reach out to them. Know the rules. Know what the collective bargaining agreement is.’ And we start every year making sure our players understand what the collective bargaining agreement is. So, I think I go a little bit beyond maybe what the norm is for people, making sure that our players are involved and know the rules and know what’s going on. So, I’ve always felt I have a good relationship. I can pick up the phone. I can call someone in the [NFL]PA. They can pick up the phone and call me. Moving forward, I feel very confident. I don’t think that we’ll get a statement from them or anything of that nature, that’s not what I’m looking for, but I think both parties, at least from my standpoint as the head football coach and the [NFL]PA, I know they never have to worry about the way I treat the players.”
Caldwell: (On the NFLPA’s recent comments and what the team needs to do to rebuild that relationship prior to free agency and with the players): “As far as the last five or six years, we’ve made it a priority of making Jacksonville a destination team to come to, and we have not had an issue signing any player that we put our sights on to get here and I don’t think that’s going to change.”
Caldwell: (On balancing the need to draft for immediate fixes and developing talent): “I think that’s something with the coaching staff and that’s probably where we’ll rely a little bit more on myself and ownership, where there’s a balance. We want to give the coaches every avenue to succeed this year, but we also want to have that balance of what’s best for the long term. When you’re looking at the first round or the second round or the third round, I think you can find players to fill both needs and take the best player available. That generally helps you with that, barring it’s a position of value, and I think that’s usually what we can do.”
Marrone: (On if he has an idea of who will be the starting QB going forward) “I think we have two that I know about right now and I really feel comfortable with them. I think it’s something that we have to use in our favor. In the past, there have been situations where we haven’t had many or maybe I’ve just had one. I’ve never had two. We’ve got to do a heck of a job making sure we’re getting both guys ready.”
