JACKSONVILLE, Fla. _ The Jaguars announced on Wednesday that Jay Gruden will join coach Doug Marrone's staff as the offensive coordinator.
Gruden, who was the Washington Redskins head coach for six seasons before he was fired this past October after an 0-5 start, becomes the third offensive coordinator Marrone has hired since 2018.
Sources confirmed on Tuesday night the Jaguars and Gruden were close to reaching a deal, but a few specific terms had to be finalized on Wednesday morning.
"Coach Gruden is one of the brightest offensive minds in football and I'm pleased to welcome him to the Jacksonville Jaguars," Marrone said in a statement. "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."
Gruden, 52, replaces John DeFilippo, who took a job with the Chicago Bears as quarterbacks coach after the Jaguars parted ways with him on Jan. 13.
There's a chance Gruden could have a dual role serving also as quarterbacks coach. Marrone said they're not leaning one way or the other at this point but it is being discussed between the two.
"I don't know if we're going to go down that path or not," Marrone said. "Like I said before, I've done it both ways where you have one person that's teaching the quarterbacks, coaching the quarterbacks, calling the plays. That's pretty much lock and sync. We're going to do what's best for the players and the staff. So, it's really an option."
Gruden emerged as the frontrunner after Marrone interviewed former Dallas Cowboys offensive coordinator Scott Linehan on Saturday and met with former New York Giants head coach Ben McAdoo and former Arizona and Tennessee coach Ken Whisenhunt.
With urgency to win this upcoming season after a disappointing 6-10 record this season, Marrone said he was looking for an experience coordinator who could easily mesh with his existing staff. Marrone indicated that his staff was heavily involved in the interview process, spending time with each candidate.
"I like the schematics of how he does things and it's more in-tune to what I believe," Marrone said.
Gruden has 26 years of coaching experience, including 16 seasons in the NFL. Gruden ended with a 35-49-1 with the Redskins. Gruden's most successful season in Washington came in 2015 when the Redskins won the NFC East division title behind quarterback Kirk Cousins, who threw for 4,166 yards and 29 touchdowns.
With the Jaguars' voluntary offseason program starting this upcoming April, Gruden has plenty of work ahead installing his West Coast offensive system designed around quick-reads, play-action passing, end around plays and taking shots down the field.
The Jaguars struggled offensively under DeFilippo this season, ranking 20th in total offense (341.8 yards per game), 26th in scoring (18.6 average) and 31st in red zone scoring percentage for touchdowns (40.43).
Marrone and Gruden will have to make a determination whether Gardner Minshew returns as the starting quarterback or veteran Nick Foles.
Earlier this month, Marrone was not ready to name Minshew his starter for 2020, saying instead that he thinks that he has two that he knows right now.
Still, Minshew appears to be the frontrunner.
Gruden has a reputation of developing young quarterbacks, especially in Cincinnati where he helped Andy Dalton emerge when he served as offensive coordinator.
"We have three quarterbacks," Marrone said. "And situations, they're up, they're down, they can change. And I think that Jay has had some success at that position as a player, so I think he sees things through the eyes of a quarterback, which I always think gives you a little bit of an advantage of what you're looking for. I go back to Cincinnati when he was there with Andy Dalton and then with the veteran guys like prior to Alex Smith being hurt. So he's been around it and I think he's going to be able to _ I know he's going to be able to help our football team."
Gruden began his NFL coaching career with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as an offensive assistant from 2002-08 under his old brother, Jon, now the head coach of the Raiders.
Following the Bucs, Gruden served four seasons in the Arena Football League as head coach of the Orlando Predators. Gruden, a former quarterback at the University of Louisville, won four ArenaBowl titles as the starting quarterback of the Tampa Bay Storm.
