Jaguars introduce Tom Coughlin, Doug Marrone

Today at 10am (9:55) Tom Coughlin and Doug Marrone were introduced to the Jacksonville media.

PRESENTED BY

During the press conference Coughlin and Marrone both spoke, along with Dave Caldwell, the team's General Manager, Mark Lamping, the team's President, and Shad Khan, the team's owner.

Things have come full circle for this organization, who reintroduced their first head coach to Jacksonville this morning and the newest head coach Doug Marrone, some 24 years after Coughlin was first introuduced to Jacksonville.

Of course, since the press conference was scheduled for 10am, it started on Coughlin time -- five minutes early at 9:55. 

Mark Lamping opened the press conference by introducing Shad Khan to media. 

Khan opened by thanking Gus Bradley.

He went on to say "any football organization that includes Tom Coughlin is going to be one the best"

Regarding his first meeting with Coughlin, he said afterwards it was clear that Coughlin needed to return to Jacksonville. 

Khan then introduced Coughlin. 

Coughlin:

"Will this be easy? Of course not"

"It was clear how driven he (Shad Khan) is to win"

"He (Shad Khan) is driven to win and succeed"

He went on to talk about accountability, a concept that has been talked about a lot around Jacksonville. And in typical Tom Coughlin fashion he went on to say

"While I'm thrilled to be back, it's not about me, it's not about any one individual. It's about the team"

Following Coughlin's short speech filled with references to character, virtue, and hard work Khan introduced the Jaguars new Head Coach Doug Marrone.  Regarding the hiring of Doug Marrone Khan had this to say:

"We interviewed numerous quality candidates. They were all fantastic. In the end, it wasn't close. Our choice was Doug Marrone."

Doug Marrone made his way to the podium and shared his thanks for the entire organization. He also thanked his family and went on to say:

"The people of Jacksonville deserve a winner"

And he's correct. This fan base has stood with this team through thick and thin over the past decade.

Dave Caldwell, who just received a two year contract extension through 2019, also spoke.

He too thanked the organization. And went on to say this:

"We picked the best candidate for the Jacksonville Jaguars and that's Doug Marrone"

On Coughlin, Caldwell said he is a "hall of famer".

The floor was then opned up to questions.

When asked about his role Tom Coughlin said: "this is the role I really wanted"

Shad Khan was asked how much of a role Coughlin playedd in the hiring of Doug Marrone.

Khan said that Coughlin gave him his top two guys to work with and Marrone was one of them.

Coughlin was asked if he had control of the roster and his thoughts on Blake Bortles. This was his response:

"We will act as a team, we will make all decisions as a team, and Blake Bortles is our quarterback"

Shad Khan was asked how much did the final two games factor in: "they are a factor, they looked like a different team ... but it's not the only factor."

Doug Marrone on the coaching staff and schemes:

"We have not defined any roles with our coaches right now"

Doug Marrone and Tom Coughlin both spoke on their relationship with eachother which started with a phone call from Doug Marrone to Tom Coughlin where Marrone was trying to get a graduate assistant job with Coughlin at Boston College.
Marrone said "24 years later I finally got a job with him"

Caldwell spoke about the culture that Marrone could establish and referenced the culural changes in Buffalo and Syracuse that Marrone was able to create.

Coughlin nor Marrone would comment on the roster except to say Blake Bortles is our quarterback.

On the search firm Khan had this to say:

"We've never used a search firm in my life, but we didn't want to leave any stones unturned"

Dave Caldwell said of the search firm "we wanted an unbiased opinion."

Doug Marrone on the culture changes

"I hope our players are watching this right now and understand. They should be working right now."

Coughlin's answer to the question "Is winning games going to be the focus?"

"What the hell else is there ... winning is what this thing is all about"

Doug Marrone said he is in the best situation he's ever been in.

Coughlin: "When you stop learning, you might as well be dead"

The words and attitudes shared by Doug Marrone and Tom Coughlin give a much different feeling than the one that permiated the previous regime. Accountability, Hard work, and Winning seem to be the main themes here. 

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