INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – Doug Marrone understands perception.
That doesn't change what the Jaguars' head coach sees as reality – that despite things seemingsimilar, there's a different feeling around the team these days.
"I think it's totally different as far as the approach, and what we want to do get things done," Marrone said Wednesday.
Marrone, entering his fourth season as the Jaguars' head coach, spoke on jaguars.com live Wednesday. He joined the show from the 2020 NFL Scouting Combine, where coaches and officials continue preparing for the NFL Draft – and for the 2020 NFL season.
This was Marrone's second consecutive day speaking to the media at the combine, and a big part of his message both days was the same – that despite he and General Manager David Caldwell being familiar to observers, the Jaguars' 2020 offseason approach differs from past off-season's.
"People on the outside, from a perception standpoint, are going to look and they're going to say, 'Well, what's going to really change?''' Marrone said, adding: "I totally get it. There's no doubt. I totally get it. I haven't had the voice to speak out to all the fans and to everyone, but first what you want to do is make sure you're implementing it and doing it before you speak out on it. You can say things, say things, say things, but I've always been more, 'Show me what you're about.'''
Jaguars Owner Shad Khan dismissed Executive Vice President of Football Operations Tom Coughlin late last season. Caldwell and Marrone now both report to Khan directly, and both talked during their postseason media availability of improving communication between coaching and football operations.
"We've had unbelievable communication," Marrone said, adding that the improved communication has spread beyond football through the entire organization. "Everyone plays a role in our football team. I truly believe that, but I've never had the opportunity to express that to everyone. Everyone is a part of it, and everyone has a part of us winning; it's not 'the business side, the football side, or the scouting side…' We've got to understand that we're one team – one team and everyone plays a role in us winning.
"Through that, you feel like there's a different type of energy in the building. You can feel that and when our players come back, they're going to feel it. All of that is going to help us perform better on Sundays, and have a better football team.
"If we're all better and we're all better, then the culture changes. That's what I'm excited about. It's been awesome."
NOTABLE
Marrone covered multiple topics on jaguars.com live Wednesday, including:
*New offensive coordinator Jay Gruden: "It's been great. You come in and you have people who have a fresh set of eyes, a fresh set of looks, guys who have done different things before that may be able to help us. You can go out and find someone who's really good at what he does, but the key – especially in the leadership role that Jay's in – is in the management part of it with the coaches. How do they get along? How are they communicating? How are they solving issues? How are they solving problems? There are challenges throughout every phase of what we do. What are we installing offensively? What do we want to call it? How do we want to use the personnel? All of that stuff's coming in and it has been great [with Gruden]." …
*The team's quarterback situation. Marrone and Caldwell on Wednesday both discussed quarterback Gardner Minshew II and Nick Foles as an open competition, and Marrone again discussed it in that vein Wednesday. "We've got a good situation. We have two players who have won games in the NFL. We feel really good about both of those players. We're going to have an opportunity to see them come in and compete. …"
