Dec 21, 2014; Oakland, CA, USA; Buffalo Bills coach Doug Marrone reacts against the Oakland Raiders at O.co Coliseum. The Raiders defeated the Bills 26-24. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Back on New Year’s Eve, the Buffalo Bills got a bombshell released to them from Doug Marrone. Depending on how well you liked Doug Marrone at the time, was a dependent on how big the bombshell was. Doug Marrone “opted” out of his contract on December 31st, the final day of his opt out clause.
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So when Doug Marrone “opted” out of his contract, did he “Quit” on the Buffalo Bills?
A lot of players feel that he did quit on them. Marrone sent a mass text message to the team and organization that we was leaving. Fred Jackson is one that feels Marrone quit on the team. Jackson was not the only one as well. Aaron Williams stated that he had “lost all respect” for his former coach on the way that he handled the situation.
So we come back to the question of the day, Did Marrone “quit” on the Buffalo Bills?
Marrone doesn’t think so…
"When asked if he quit on his former team/players Marrone said: “It is perception that’s out there. The coaches that we were with, the players, I don’t agree that they feel that way. That was put out there. I had an opportunity that was in the contract to opt out. Terry Pegula and Kim are going to be outstanding owners. I had two great years there. The people in the organization were outstanding to me and my family. My family and I made a decision to opt out. When people start putting in things like ‘quit’ or things like that, that’s not the case at all.”– wkbw.com"
Marrone had interviewed for a couple of head coaching jobs, one that he was, what seemed like a, sure in for the New York Jets job, but reports have said that he did not have a very good outing up there. He also interviewed for the Atlanta and Chicago jobs as well but didn’t hear anything back from them. He had a chance to interview for the Denver opening but canceled that interview.
Marrone, whether he had something lined up or not, did end up on his feet, if you can call it that, as the offensive line coach/assistant head coach for the Jacksonville Jaguars. It is a couple of steps down from where he was in Buffalo with 2 years left on his contract.