Buffalo Bills: Doug Marrone Opens Up About Leaving Team in 2014
By Ryan Brennan
After the 2014 season, Doug Marrone left the Buffalo Bills hanging when he opted out of his contract with the team.
Doug Marrone caught the Buffalo Bills by surprise following the 2014 season when he decided to opt out of his contract as head coach. It’s something that doesn’t happen often, but was an option in the event of a change in ownership — which happened when Terry and Kim Pegula bought the franchise.
On Wednesday during a presser at the NFL Scouting Combine, Marrone opened up about the decision in 2015 and added that he learned a lot from it.
Here’s what Marrone had to say, according to NFL.com:
"“Yeah, I’m not going to sit up here and say, ‘No it wasn’t [a learning experience].’ Yeah, that’s definitely a big part of the learning process of wanting more time and things of that nature,” he said Wednesday. “Privately, I’ve talked to [Bills owner] Terry [Pegula] about that and he knows how I feel about it. Obviously, I’ll keep that conversation private, but yes, I would say ‘absolutely’ you learn from that and that’s one of the mistakes you wish you can go back and do over and you just wish you had more time. I think when I look at it, I look at myself, is that I wish I could’ve communicated things better at that time.”"
The Buffalo Bills could’ve been on to something in the Doug Marrone era. Not only did they see a 2-game improvement after one season, but there was a lot of promise in his coaching staff. He would’ve enherited some talented players in 2015 and who knows, the team could’ve already ended their 17-year playoff drought.
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Marrone had more to say on Wednesday, acknowledging his mistakes:
"“I think you take away a lot. I think you take away (that) everything is a learning experience. You look back, and obviously, I made mistakes in Buffalo. You look back on them and just a couple things and you just try to grow from it and do a better job. I always appreciated that experience, I thought Kim and Terry Pegula were great coming in. Mr. (Ralph) Wilson was awesome while he was alive when I was there, Mary Wilson. The people in the organization; there’s a lot of great people there and I think when you go back and when you look back, I’ll be honest, there’s some things that I should’ve done differently and I think I’ve learned from that and it’s made me a better coach today.”"
Marrone was offered the position by Buffalo in 2013 after spending 4 years fixing Syracuse’s football program. After going 7-9 in his first season with the team, he would finish the 2014 season 9-7. It was the first time the Buffalo Bills had a winning record since 2004, despite missing the playoffs.
Unfortunately, it was the last time Marrone would coach the team as he decided to find a job elsewhere. That job would be the offensive line coach for the Jacksonville Jaguars under head coach Gus Bradley. After Bradley was fired this offseason, the Jags promoted zmarrone to head coach.
Only time will tell what Marrone’s future has in store, but it looks like we won’t be seeing him give Jacksonville the same treatment he gave Buffalo.
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What at are your thoughts on Doug Marrone and what he had to say on Wednesday? Leave your comments below!