Coughlin, Caldwell, Marrone will be back for 2019, Shad Khan says

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – As the final second ticked off in the Jaguars 2018 season, the Jaguars issued a statement from owner Shad Khan saying he preferred to go into the 2019 season with as much stability at the top of the organization as possible, but leaving open the possibility that Coughlin could make moves on his own. 

Khan says he met with Coughlin this week and both agreed the best course of action was to maintain the same leadership of the team for 2019, with Coughlin remaining as the executive vice president of football operations, Dave Caldwell as general manager and Doug Marrone as head coach.

"I informed Tom Coughlin this week that I want him to see through our shared goal of bringing a Super Bowl title to Jacksonville. Given our overall body of work over the past two seasons, I offered to Tom that I preferred entering the 2019 season with as much stability as reasonable or possible at the top of our football operation. However, those decisions, at all times, are Tom’s decisions, and I would respect any call he made on our general manager and head coach, I am pleased that Tom sees our situation and opportunity similarly, so we will return to work this week fully confident and optimistic with Dave Caldwell as our general manger and Doug Marrone as our head coach.

That seemed to indicate that Khan is patient, but would support changes if Coughlin preferred them.

The statement went on: 

"I have the same trust in Tom, Dave and Doug as I did upon their introduction two years ago, and I do believe our best path forward for the moment is the one less disruptive and dramatic.  Stability should not be confused with satisfaction, however.  I am far from content with the status quo and while it’s best to put 2018 behind us, I will not overlook how poorly we accounted for ourselves following a 3-1 start.  There were far too many long Sundays over the last three quarters of the season, with today’s loss in Houston being the final example, and that cannot repeat itself in 2019.  That’s my message to our football people and players, but also our sponsors and fans, both of whom were remarkable."

The Jaguars fell from 10-6 to 5-11 this year in a season riddled with offensive injuries, poor quarterback play, and a defense that fell well short of their stated goal of being a historically great unit. 

Marrone said he learned of his status as the game was ending: