Marrone molding Jacksonville offensive line

Doug Marrone has only been on the job in Jacksonville five months, yet head coach Gus Bradley says Marrone's detail-oriented approach to coaching the offensive line is already making a difference with players.

"That was one thing last year the players wanted," Bradley told the team's official website. "That’s not a knock on what was taking place last year. For a lot of them it was their first year in the league and they were taking care of themselves, but I think now after going through that, they have some maturity to them and that’s a big part of what they’re looking for – that attention to detail. Because of last year’s experiences, they’re open to it and they want to be challenged in that way."

Marrone joined the Jaguars in January as assistant head coach-offense/offensive line after spending two seasons as head coach of the Buffalo Bills. He's charged with helping improve a Jacksonville offensive line that allowed a league-high 71 sacks in 2014.

"He’s a strong fundamentalist and he really does a good job developing players," Bradley said. "With our offensive line, although there are some veteran players in there now with free-agent acquisitions (center Stefen Wisniewski and right tackle Jermey Parnell) and (guard) Zane Beadles, it’s still a relatively young group. He has been known to bring offensive line groups together, to develop players. If you watch him in individual work, you see that he is a strong, fundamental, developmental coach. That’s what I’ve come to appreciate with him."

Marrone raised eyebrows by opting out of his contract with the Bills before ending up with the job with Jacksonville. If he succeeds in improving the Jaguars offensive line, the circumstances that led him to the team won't matter much to folks in Jacksonville.

(h/t Jacksonville Jaguars)

Photo credit: Timothy T. Ludwig/USA TODAY Sports