Doug Marrone`s big day has arrived and with it might

DOUG
MARRONE
QUICK COACHING FACTS AND INFORMATION
Coaching Experience: 21 Years NFL: 7 years NCAA: 14 Years
NFL Coaching Experience: Coordinator: 3 Years Position: 4 Years
MARRONE QUICK FACTS
•
Becomes the 16th head coach in Buffalo Bills history
•
Owns 21 years of coaching experience, including
seven in the National Football League and 14 in the
NCAA
•
Held the title of Offensive Coordinator/Offensive Line
coach of the New Orleans Saints from 2006-2008
•
His first NFL coaching stint came in 2002 with the New
York Jets as the team’s offensive line coach
O.C./O-LINE COACH OF HIGH POWERED SAINTS
•
From 2006-08, the New Orleans Saints led the NFL
in total yards per game (387.8) and passing yards per
game (287.4) while ranking third in points per contest
(26.1)
•
The Saints led the NFL in total offense in 2006 and
2008... in 2008 the offense set team records for points
(463), total yards (6,571), net passing yards (4,977),
touchdowns (57) and first downs (354)
•
Oversaw an offensive line unit that yielded the fewest
sacks in 2006 (16) and the tied for the least allowed in
a three-year span through 2008 (52) despite throwing
the ball an NFL-best 1,868 times
RESTORES SYRACUSE PRIDE
•
Returned to his alma mater of Syracuse in 2009 and
guided the Orange to a 25-25 record in four seasons
•
Posted 8-5 marks in 2010 and 2012 en route to
capturing New Era Pinstripe Bowl Championships
•
Set multiple offensive school records in 2012, including total yards (5,681), passing yards (3,691) and first
downs (300)
•
In 2011, a school-record and league-leading 28
student-athletes were named to the BIG EAST AllAcademic Team
•
Tabbed the 2010 American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Region 1 Coach of the Year... 2010 Liberty
Mutual Coach of the Year finalist
•
Was a three-year letterman along the offensive line at
Syracuse from 1983-85... earned Associated Press AllEast accolades as a senior and second-time honors as
a junior... tabbed AP All-East Honorable mention in his
sophomore year
•
During his playing time at Syracuse, the Orange compiled a 19-15 record and made their first bowl game
appearance in six years
THE MARRONE FILE
•
A Bronx, N.Y. native, Marrone was drafted in the sixthround of the 1986 NFL draft by the LA Raiders and
played two years in the NFL, first with Miami in 1987
and then with the Saints in 1989.... also had playing
stints with Pittsburgh, Dallas and Minnesota before
closing his career with the NFLE London Monarchs
•
Coaching career began in 1992 at Cortland (N.Y.) State
as the school’s tight ends coach before stints as the
offensive line coach at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy
(1993) and Northeastern University (1994)
•
Was the director of football operations at Georgia Tech
in 1995, before coaching the tight ends (1996) and
offensive line (1997-99)... In 1999, the Yellow Jackets
led the nation in total offense (509.4 yards/game) and
points per game (40.7)... part of a coaching staff that
helped guide the school to a bowl game in three consecutive years (1997-99).
•
Spent 2001 at the University of Tennessee (tight ends
coach) and 2000 at the University of Georgia as the
program’s offensive line coach
O-LINE COACH OF JETS: 2002-05
•
Began his NFL coaching stint as offensive line coach of
the New York Jets for four seasons from 2002-05
•
Part of a coaching unit that helped the team earn two
postseason appearances (four games) in two of his
four years with the Jets (2002 and 2004)
•
Oversaw an offensive line that paved the way for the
NFL’s leading rusher in 2004 in Curtis Martin (1,697
yards)
•
Posted the third-best rushing offense in 2004 (149.3
rushing yards/game) and second in rushing first downs
(135)
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, January 7, 2013
BILLS TAB MARRONE 16TH HEAD COACH IN TEAM HISTORY
ORCHARD PARK, NY – The Buffalo Bills today announced the hiring of Doug Marrone as the
16th head coach in franchise history.
Marrone, 48, replaces former Bills head coach Chan Gailey who was relieved of his duties on
December 31, 2012.
The 2013 season will mark Marrone’s eighth year in the National Football League and first as a
head coach in the professional ranks.
Marrone spent the previous four years as the head coach of his alma mater’s football program
at Syracuse University from 2009-12 and led the program to a 21-17 record in the last three
seasons. He guided the Orange to an 8-5 mark in 2010 and 2012 – with both campaigns
culminating in a New Era Pinstripe Bowl Championship.
Syracuse’s offense set several program records in 2012 for total yards (5,681), passing yards
(3,619) and first downs (300).
Prior to his Syracuse tenure, Marrone spent seven years in the NFL. From 2006-08 he served
as the offensive coordinator of the New Orleans Saints after a four-year span as the offensive
line coach of the New York Jets (2002-05).
The Saints led the NFL in total offense and passing yards per game in 2006 (391.5 total
yards/game and 281.4 passing yards/game) and 2008 (410.7 total yards/game and 311.1
passing yards/game).
In 2004, the Jets’ offensive line paved the way for the league’s third-best rushing offense (149.3
rushing yards/game) while tallying the second-most rushing first downs (135). Running Back
Curtis Martin led the NFL with 1,697 rushing yards and posted nine 100-yard games.
Before arriving in New York, Marrone coached the tight ends and tackles at the University of
Tennessee in 2001. He spent the 2000 season at the University of Georgia as the program’s
offensive line coach after spending the previous five years at Georgia Tech. In 1995, Marrone
was the director of football operations before coaching the tight ends in 1996 and offensive line
from 1997-99.
In 1999, the Yellow Jackets led the nation in total offense (509.4 yards/game) and points per
game (40.7). Marrone was part of a coaching staff that helped guide the school to a bowl game
in three consecutive years (1997-99).
Marrone’s coaching career began in 1992 at Cortland (N.Y.) State as the school’s tight ends
coach before stints as the offensive line coach at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy (1993) and
Northeastern University in 1994.
Marrone, a Bronx, N.Y. native, was drafted in the sixth-round of the 1986 NFL draft by the Los
Angeles Raiders and played two years in the NFL, first with the Miami Dolphins in 1987 and
then with the Saints in 1989. He also had playing stints with Pittsburgh, Dallas and Minnesota
before closing his career with the NFLE London Monarchs (1991-92).
A three-year letterman at Syracuse, Marrone returned to the university and graduated in 1991.
He and his wife, Helen, have two daughters, Madeline and Anne, and a son, Mack.
DOUG MARRONE COACHING HISTORY:
YEAR
1992
1993
1994
2001
LOCATION
Cortland (Tight Ends)
U.S. Coast Guard Academy (Offensive Line)
Northeastern (Offensive Line)
Georgia Tech (Director of Football
Operations)
Georgia Tech (Tight Ends)
Georgia Tech (Offensive Line)
Georgia Tech (Offensive Line)
Georgia Tech (Offensive Line)
University of Georgia (Offensive Line)
University of Tennessee (Tight
Ends/Tackles)
2002
2003
New York Jets (Offensive Line)
New York Jets (Offensive Line)
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
New York Jets (Offensive Line)
New York Jets (Offensive Line)
New Orleans Saints (Offensive Coordinator)
New Orleans Saints (Offensive Coordinator)
New Orleans Saints (Offensive Coordinator)
Syracuse University (Head Coach)
Syracuse University (Head Coach)
Syracuse University (Head Coach)
Syracuse University (Head Coach)
RECORD
7-4
4-5
2-9
6-5
5-6
7-5
10-2
8-4
8-4
11-2
9-7
6-10
10-6
4-12
10-6
7-9
8-8
4-8
8-5
5-7
8-5
ACHIEVEMENTS
Carquest Bowl Champions
Gator Bowl Champions
Gator Bowl Appearance
Oahu Bowl Champions
Citrus Bowl Champions
1st AFC East – Lost 2nd Round
Playoffs
2nd AFC East - Lost 2nd Round
Playoffs
1st NFC South – Lost NFC
Championship
New Era Pinstripe Bowl Champions
New Era Pinstripe Bowl Champions
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WHAT THEY’VE SAID ABOUT COACH MARRONE
“I am thrilled for Doug and his family. I really enjoyed my time working with him when he was here with the
Saints. Doug is a coach who deeply about his players. It was fun to watch him resurrect the program at his alma mater,
Syracuse, and I know that the feeling in our organization was that he would have success doing that very quickly. This is
a great opportunity for Doug and I can tell you that there are a lot of people here at the Saints that are proud to see him
having earned this opportunity with the Bills.”
-- Drew Brees, New Orleans Saints Quarterback
“I was truly fortunate to be under Coach Marrone’s tutelage both at the University of Georgia and for
three years with the New Orleans Saints. In my opinion he was the best position coach that I was ever able to work
with. He really had a knack and passion for the game of football, was very detail-oriented and driven to be able to
coach each player into becoming the best possible player they could be. On a personal level, I just really appreciate
everything he did for me along the way and I know I’m a much better player because of his leadership than if our
paths had never crossed.
“I think everything that Doug did was calculated and planned. When he was looking at the Syracuse job, he
had a notebook full of things detailing how he wanted to coach and improve the program. He’s very detail-oriented
and passionate. With the combination of those qualities, I expect Buffalo to be successful under his leadership.”
-- Jon Stinchcomb, Former Saints Offensive Lineman (2003-10)
“I would be really excited if I was a Bills fan. This is a guy I have been studying for a long time. I competed against
him when he was the offensive coordinator for the Saints. He is a tough, hard-nosed and detailed coach. Really has a good
command for the game and is really good teaching the game. What he did at Syracuse speaks for itself. He turned that
program around.
“I think he is on the cutting edge offensively. He has a vast football background if you just check where he comes
from and the kind of people he is able to acquire in terms of his staff. I think he did an excellent job at Syracuse of developing
young coaches and surrounding himself with a really good brain trust. I expect him to do the same in Buffalo. I think it is a
great hire.
“I think he is going to win. I think he is going to get the Bills back in the playoffs soon. Obviously I think Buffalo is on
the right track. Buddy Nix did an excellent job acquiring players. I think they are on the right track, but I think Coach Marrone
is the kind of coach that can push you over the top. He has won everywhere he has been. I think he is going to continue to do
that. He will find a way to get it done.”
-- Jon Gruden, ESPN Analyst
“I think the Buffalo Bills made a great hire. I think from the time that Sean (Payton) first hired Doug Marrone, as
our offensive coordinator and offensive line coach, it was pretty clear that he was destined to be a head coach. We were
proud of the fact that people quickly noticed the tremendous job he did as part of our coaching staff and identified him
as a capable head coaching candidate. He proved that in a relatively short amount of time at Syracuse. He has all the
requisite skills. I don’t expect anything but great results in Buffalo.”
-- Mickey Loomis, New Orleans Saints Executive Vice President/General Manager
“ I am big fan of the combination of having a good football IQ—it is demonstrated through success at other places.
I think what Curtis Martin was able to accomplish when (Marrone) was with the Jets says a lot about his knowledge of the
run game. Then you also have to take a look at how he functioned in New Orleans with an offense that was…everybody
thinks of them as a pass-first team but I think the impact and the foundation that Doug laid down there is one of the
reasons that they have been quietly successful running the football. And then the opportunity to go to Syracuse and learn
all of the other things that come with being a head coach.”
-- Daryl Johnston, FOX Sports Analyst/Former College Teammate
DOUG MARRONE
HEAD COACH
8TH YEAR IN NFL/1ST WITH BILLS
Doug Marrone enters his first season as Buffalo’s head coach and his eighth season in the NFL
coaching ranks.
Marrone spent the previous four years as the head coach of his alma mater’s football program
at Syracuse University from 2009-12 and led the program to a 21-17 record in the last three
seasons. He guided the Orange to an 8-5 mark in 2010 and 2012 – with both campaigns
culminating in a New Era Pinstripe Bowl Championship.
Syracuse’s offense set several program records in 2012 for total yards (5,681), passing yards
(3,619) and first downs (300).
In 2011, the Orange had a school-record and league-leading 28 student athletes named to the
BIG EAST All-Academic Team. After guiding Syracuse to the inaugural New Era Pinstripe Bowl
Championship, Marrone was tabbed the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA)
Region 1 Coach of the Year and was a finalist for the Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year Award.
Prior to his Syracuse tenure, Marrone spent seven years in the NFL. From 2006-08 he served
as the offensive coordinator of the New Orleans Saints after a four-year span as the offensive
line coach of the New York Jets (2002-05).
The Saints led the NFL in total offense and passing yards per game in 2006 (391.5 total
yards/game and 281.4 passing yards/game) and 2008 (410.7 total yards/game and 311.1
passing yards/game).
Prior to his arrival in New Orleans, the franchise never had a 4,000-yard passer or posted more
than 5,700 yards of offense. Quarterback Drew Brees eclipsed 4,000 passing yards and the
offense tallied more than 5,700 yards in each of Marrone’s three years with the Saints.
The Saints set a team record with an NFL-best 6,264 yards of offense in 2006, 5,780 in 2007
(4th in the NFL) and led the league once again in 2008 with 6,571 yards.
In his first season as an NFL offensive coordinator in 2006, the Saints set franchise records for
first downs (330), average yards per play (5.8) and passing yards (4,503). Left tackle Jammal
Brown was voted All-Pro and to the Pro Bowl in his first year at the position, while Guard Jahri
Evans was a unanimous All-Rookie selection.
The Saints’ offense finished fourth in the NFL in 2007 and led the league in red zone touchdown
percentage (.720, 36 of 50) while posting an NFC-best 46.3 third-down conversion mark. New
Orleans also broke the team’s previous season’s first down record (346) while setting an NFL
record for completions (440) and franchise bests for passing first downs (222), attempts (652),
touchdown passes (28) and completion percentage (67.5).
The Saints led the NFL in total offense for the second time in three years in 2008 while setting
team records for points (463), total yards (6,571), net passing yards (4,977), touchdowns (57)
and first downs (354).
The Saints’ offense line was instrumental in the team’s success under Marrone’s guidance. The
offensive front held their opponents to the fewest sacks allowed in 2006 (16) and tied for the
fewest sacks yielded from 2006-08 with 52 despite throwing the ball 1,868 times – most
attempts in the three-year span.
Quarterback Drew Brees captured the NFL passing title in 2006 (4,418) and 2008 (5,069). He
became just the second passer in NFL history to reach the 5,000-yard milestone in league
record books (Dan Marino – 1984). In 2008, Brees was tabbed the Associated Press Offensive
Player of the Year. From 2006-08, Brees led the NFL with 13,910 passing yards and 1,209
completions.
During his time with the New York Jets from 2002-05, the team made two postseason
appearances (2002 and 2004).
In 2004, the Jets’ offensive line paved the way for the league’s third-best rushing offense (149.3
rushing yards/game) while tallying the second-most rushing first downs (135). Running Back
Curtis Martin led the NFL with 1,697 rushing yards and posted nine 100-yard games.
The Jets’ offensive line helped the offense post an average of 5.3 yards per play and a 4.0
yards gain per rushing attempt in 2003. In his first season with the Jets in 2002, despite having
two new starters along the offensive line, the rushing offense totaled 1,618 yards.
Before arriving in New York, Marrone coached the tight ends and tackles at the University of
Tennessee in 2001. He spent the 2000 season at the University of Georgia as the program’s
offensive line coach after spending the previous five years at Georgia Tech. In 1995, Marrone
was the director of football operations before coaching the tight ends in 1996 and offensive line
from 1997-99.
In 1999, the Yellow Jackets led the nation in total offense (509.4 yards/game) and points per
game (40.7). Marrone was part of a coaching staff that helped guide the school to a bowl game
in three consecutive years (1997-99).
Marrone’s coaching career began in 1992 at Cortland (N.Y.) State as the school’s tight ends
coach before stints as the offensive line coach at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy (1993) and
Northeastern University in 1994.
Marrone, a Bronx, N.Y. native, was drafted in the sixth-round of the 1986 NFL draft by the Los
Angeles Raiders and played two years in the NFL, first with the Miami Dolphins in 1987 and
then with the Saints in 1989. He also had playing stints with Pittsburgh, Dallas and Minnesota
before closing his career with the NFLE London Monarchs (1991-92).
A three-year letterman at Syracuse along the offensive line, Marrone earned Associated Press
All-East accolades as a senior and second time honors as a junior. He was tabbed AP All-East
Honorable mention in his sophomore year. During his time with the first string offense, the
Orange compiled a 19-15 record and made their first bowl game appearance in six years.
Marrone and his teammates, including All-American Tim Green, helped lay the foundation that
resulted in the program’s 1987 undefeated season.
Marrone returned to Syracuse and graduated in 1991 with a degree in liberal arts. He and his
wife, Helen, have two daughters, Madeline and Anne, and a son, Mack.
Marrone as an NFL
Offensive Coordinator
YEAR
2006
2007
2008
TEAM
New Orleans
New Orleans
New Orleans
NFL RANK
TOTAL RUSH
1st
T-18th
4th
28th
1st
28th
PASS
1st
3rd
1st
TOTAL
1st
3rd
1st
NFC RANK
RUSH
PASS
11th
1st
13th
2nd
14th
1st
DOUG MARRONE COACHING HISTORY:
YEAR
1992
1993
1994
2001
LOCATION
Cortland (Tight Ends)
U.S. Coast Guard Academy (Offensive Line)
Northeastern (Offensive Line)
Georgia Tech (Director of Football
Operations)
Georgia Tech (Tight Ends)
Georgia Tech (Offensive Line)
Georgia Tech (Offensive Line)
Georgia Tech (Offensive Line)
University of Georgia (Offensive Line)
University of Tennessee (Tight
Ends/Tackles)
2002
2003
New York Jets (Offensive Line)
New York Jets (Offensive Line)
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
New York Jets (Offensive Line)
New York Jets (Offensive Line)
New Orleans Saints (Offensive Coordinator)
New Orleans Saints (Offensive Coordinator)
New Orleans Saints (Offensive Coordinator)
Syracuse University (Head Coach)
Syracuse University (Head Coach)
Syracuse University (Head Coach)
Syracuse University (Head Coach)
RECORD
7-4
4-5
2-9
6-5
5-6
7-5
10-2
8-4
8-4
11-2
9-7
6-10
10-6
4-12
10-6
7-9
8-8
4-8
8-5
5-7
8-5
ACHIEVEMENTS
Carquest Bowl Champions
Gator Bowl Champions
Gator Bowl Appearance
Oahu Bowl Champions
Citrus Bowl Champions
1st AFC East – Lost 2nd Round
Playoffs
2nd AFC East - Lost 2nd Round
Playoffs
1st NFC South – Lost NFC
Championship
New Era Pinstripe Bowl Champions
New Era Pinstripe Bowl Champions
New Orleans Saints Coach Sean Payton on new Buffalo Bills Coach
Doug Marrone: 'He's ready'
Former Saints offensive coordinator and Syracuse Coach Doug Marrone reportedly accepted the Buffalo
Bills head-coaching job Sunday. Mark J. Terrill/The Associated Press
By Larry Holder, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune
on January 06, 2013 at 4:44 PM, updated January 06, 2013 at 10:51 PM
Sean Payton's coaching tree saw one branch strengthen Sunday as former New
Orleans Saints offensive coordinator/offensive line coach Doug Marrone reportedly
accepted the Buffalo Bills head-coaching job.
And being the elder statesman of his family coaching tree, Payton said he gave
Marrone as much advice as he could as Marrone reportedly drew interest from a couple
of other teams before deciding on Buffalo.
Payton said he spoke with Marrone two or three times during the last couple of weeks to
help him sort out the process of interviewing for an NFL head coaching job and briefly
helped sort out which position would be best for him.
"Really, he had a couple of specific questions and the one thing that I can recall our
conversations centering around was the comfort level (with the team)," Payton said
Sunday. "There's somebody you're going to meet in the process that you're going to
work with and turn the program around. Any of these job openings, they all have
weaknesses because they wouldn't be open if they didn't.
"I kind of really equated it to the process I went through and having a chance to meet
and get to know Mickey (Loomis) and Mr. (Tom) Benson. There are a lot of thing you
could find wrong with certain jobs, but you have to find that certain person or two and
the ownership you feel that can really help you. I felt that way, and I think in Doug's
case, I went back to that experience with him. The interaction you have with your
general manager and your owner is going to be not just occasional. It's going to be
daily. You've got to have a comfort level."
Payton called Marrone "a great leader" and "a great teacher."
"I think he's certainly someone the players will respond to, and I think he's ready,"
Payton said.
Marrone joined Oakland Raiders Coach Dennis Allen as the second assistant coach
from Payton's original 2006 Saints staff to become an NFL head coach. Curtis Johnson
gives Payton a third head coach in his tree as the former Saints wide receiver coach
became Tulane's head coach last year.
Payton hired Marrone in 2006 after Marrone served as offensive line coach with the Jets
for the previous four seasons. Marrone accepted the Syracuse job toward the end of the
2008 Saints season, and Payton gave his blessing for Marrone to leave before the end
of the season. Aaron Kromer took over for Marrone.
Payton said he absolutely saw qualities in Marrone when he hired him in 2006 that
would translate into Marrone becoming an NFL head coach at some point. Payton said
it was only a matter of when.
"He was someone that was on that original staff when you look at Dennis Allen who's
out at Oakland now, and Doug Marrone, these guys came back in '06 after Katrina. ...
When his opportunity came at Syracuse, it was his alma mater and he was able to get
that program turned around," Payton said. "I think he'll do a great job. I really do. I know
he had a handful of options this offseason with some of these pro teams. I'm excited to
see him get this opportunity. He deserves it."
Former Saints offensive lineman Jon Stinchcomb said it's fun to watch all of the former
Saints assistants move on to bigger jobs and said Payton is steadily building a coaching
tree like Bill Walsh and Bill Belichick. "When you win a Super Bowl, those doors open
down the road," Stinchcomb said.
Stinchcomb's relationship with Marrone goes back to their days at Georgia where
Marrone coached Stinchcomb and the Bulldogs' offensive line in 2000. Stinchcomb said
Marrone is an "unbelievable coach."
"Our paths crossed twice and I'm grateful for it," Stinchcomb said. "He is, in my opinion,
the best position coach that I got to play for and got to be on a team with. He's just a
very detail-oriented guy that's extremely driven and loves and respects the game of
football. He was a huge influence on my career."
Stinchcomb said Marrone took over a "rag-tag group" with Jammal Brown moving to left
tackle, Stinchcomb had never started an NFL game, Jeff Faine was a new center,
Jamar Nesbit was a utility lineman and an unknown rookie from Division II Bloomsburg
named Jahri Evans.
"You put all of that together and you just think, 'What?' He's just a special coach, and
I'm excited for him. I like him as a person," Stinchcomb said.
Former Saints and current 49ers center Jonathan Goodwin added: "(I'm) Happy for him.
He's a great coach who's an extremely hard worker. I think he will do a great job in
Buffalo just like he did at Syracuse."
Bills pick Marrone to forge turnaround
Syracuse coach Marrone selected to add spark that will end run of losing seasons
BY: Mark Gaughan / News NFL Columnist | @gggaughan ,
Mark Gaughan / The Buffalo News | @gggaughan ,
Tim Graham / News Sports Reporter | @ByTimGraham
Coach Doug Marrone brought the New Orleans offense to Syracuse and developed
quarterback Ryan Nassib into a winner. Associated Press
The Buffalo Bills worked into Sunday night on a contract for Syracuse’s Doug Marrone
to become the team’s next head coach.
A Bills source, speaking on condition of anonymity, informed The Buffalo News the
team and Marrone had agreed in principle Sunday morning and that an announcement
was expected today.
The Bills declined to comment officially on Marrone’s status Sunday night. ESPN
reported Sunday night the contract would be for four years.
While Marrone didn’t create the same splash as other candidates would have, news of
his hiring was well-received in the NFL community. Marrone is viewed as a solid and
respectable choice for a woebegone franchise that was last competitive when cell
phones had antennas.
The decision likely will define whether Russ Brandon is considered successful as Bills
president. Brandon took over the title from owner Ralph Wilson one week ago.
“They don’t know [Marrone],” said ESPN analyst Herm Edwards, who as New York Jets
coach hired Marrone as an offensive line assistant in 2002. “He’s one of those guys
where everybody’s going to be saying, ‘Who? Wha? Huh?’
“He doesn’t have that name when you think about offensive guys. But Doug did a good
job at Syracuse, got them back to respectability. He built a program.”
Rather than hire someone who has been an NFL head coach before, the Bills chose an
up-and-comer they hope will spark a team that has missed the playoffs 13 straight
seasons.
“That’s a great hire by the Bills because he brings together that pedigree that is popular
now: a substantial pro background with that mix of college,” former head coach and NFL
Network analyst Brian Billick said.
Marrone, 48, took on a culture of losing at Syracuse and turned it around. The Bronx
native will try to do the same thing with the Bills.
In picking Marrone, the Bills are going with an offensive-minded coach with a reputation
for being a disciplinarian.
Head-coaching experience was important to the Bills, but they opted for a candidate
with college experience over two other interviewees – former Arizona Cardinals coach
Ken Whisenhunt and former Chicago Bears coach Lovie Smith – who took their teams
to Super Bowls.
The Bills also interviewed Cardinals defensive coordinator Ray Horton and Oregon
Ducks head coach Chip Kelly. A scheduled interview with Denver Broncos offensive
coordinator Mike McCoy was canceled Saturday.
The Bills never have hired a head coach directly from college, but Marrone has NFL
credentials.
Marrone was the New Orleans Saints’ offensive coordinator under Sean Payton from
2006 to 2008, although Payton called the plays on game day. Payton is one of the most
highly regarded offensive minds in the league.
“I think he’s certainly someone the players will respond to, and I think he’s ready,”
Payton told the New Orleans Times-Picayune on Sunday.
Before joining the Saints, Marrone coached the Jets’ offensive line for four years. He
oversaw a rugged unit that paved the way for future Hall of Fame running back Curtis
Martin.
“He’s a detail guy,” Edwards said. “He’s very organized. He understands the importance
of fundamentals and technique. He will stress that. He will make sure the assistant
coaches teach that.
“His strongest traits will be putting players into position to have success, and he’s about
developing players. He’ll be very good offensively. He understands a skill set of players.
The offensive line along with the quarterback probably will be his focal point.”
But Syracuse is where Marrone showed his full abilities as a leader.
Marrone took over a program that went 10-37 the previous four years and had gone
seven straight seasons without a winning record.
Marrone went 25-25 in four seasons with the Orange. He went 4-8 in 2009, improving
by one win over the previous season. Syracuse then posted records of 8-5, 4-7 and 8-5.
Syracuse won the Pinstripe Bowl over Kansas State in 2010 and over West Virginia last
week.
“When his opportunity came at Syracuse, it was his alma mater, and he was able to get
that program turned around,” Payton said. “I think he’ll do a great job. I really do.
“I know he had a handful of options this offseason with some of these pro teams. I’m
excited to see him get this opportunity. He deserves it.”
Marrone played for Syracuse as an offensive lineman and was a captain.
Upon arriving at Syracuse, Marrone was committed to eradicating a losing attitude. A
couple dozen players wound up leaving the program over the next two seasons.
“He came in with rules, and the people who didn’t want to follow the rules are gone, and
those who did want to follow stayed,” linebacker Derrell Smith told reporters in 2010.
Early in Marrone’s first season, he gathered the players in the locker room one morning
and had them clean the room so they could take more pride in where they spent their
day.
He required players to dress in a suit and tie instead of sweat suits on game days. He
required they sing the Syracuse alma mater before leaving the field after a game. If
players were late to class, he would post photos on TV monitors in the weight room.
On the field in Syracuse, Marrone ran the Saints’ offense, more or less. It’s a pro-style
attack that has its roots in the West Coast offense. It relies on the quarterback getting
the ball out of his hands quickly and hitting receivers in stride. It uses tight ends and a
fullback in situational roles.
In New Orleans, Marrone worked with one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL, Drew
Brees.
At Syracuse, he developed Ryan Nassib into a winner. Nassib will enter the NFL draft in
April and could be a prime target of Marrone and the Bills.
Poliquin: The New York Jets' Brandon Moore won't soon
forget his long-ago coach . . . Doug Marrone
By Bud Poliquin, Post-Standard columnist
on July 28, 2012 at 5:20 PM, updated July 28, 2012 at 6:24 PM
Cortland, N.Y. -- He was the fella who was never supposed to have been grunting in
Saturday morning’s monsoon, who was ignored by all 32 clubs during the 2002 NFL
Draft, who had to defect from one side of the ball and enlist with the other before finally
inspiring a free-agent sniff.
But no matter. There was Brandon Moore, one of 89 Jets slogging about on the soaked
Cortland State turf during the New York squad’s second day of preseason camp. There
was Brandon Moore, needing a good wringing-out but feeling not at all like the greenand-white antique -- albeit, the greatly admired one -- that he’s become.
“I feel good,” said Moore, the Jets’ rock who has crafted a string of 130 consecutive
starts, regular season and playoff, along New York’s offensive line. “You look at these
young guys. They’re in just as much pain as I am. They get dehydrated just like me. I
wake up in the morning a little tight, a little sore. But everybody does. You just push
through it.”
He’s 32 and despite being an undrafted free agent once upon a time (as a defensive
tackle, yet), he is about to begin his 10th campaign with the Jets. And as Moore, a
guard, gazed about the soggy grounds on Saturday he had to have known that only one
other athlete -- linebacker Bryan Thomas -- had been on the New York roster longer
than he’d been.
One. Out of 89.
That, folks, is staying power.
“I’ve put in a lot of work,” Moore explained. “I’ve tried to improve my craft. I try to get
better from game to game and from year to year. And I’ve still got some time ahead of
me. I'm having fun. I’ll be around for a while.”
Now, this 6-foot-3, 305-pounder out the University of Illinois was not the most intriguing
story at Saturday’s misty camp. And never mind that Moore is an English major-turnedWharton School of Business whizbang-turned-Pro Bowler. Nah, the reason why nearly
3,000 fans and some 100 media types huddled in the rain was to peek at:
(1) Tim Tebow, the colossus of a backup quarterback who went all David Hasselhoff on
the masses at the end of the wet workout by doffing his top and running bare-chested,
“Baywatch” style, from the field. And,
(2) The Thin Man, a.k.a., Rex Ryan, the Jets’ chatty head coach who has lost roughly
100 pounds and a couple of chins and no longer resembles either his beefy twin
brother, Rob, or William Howard Taft.
But Moore could have won the bronze medal on Saturday because . . . well, because
there just aren’t too many of his types -- the coming-out-of-just-this-side-of-nowhere
ones -- strapping on helmets for a decade in The League.
And who was his champion, if not his savior?
Doug Marrone. The one and the same.
“He was my first O-line coach after I switched over from D-tackle,” recalled Moore of the
Syracuse University ramrod who served as a Jets staffer between 2002-’05. “He was
the one who got me started. If it wasn’t for Doug whipping me into shape and doing all
of that extra stuff after practice . . . ”
It seems that back in the day, Marrone would regularly skip his lunch, no small sacrifice
for him, and stay on the field with Moore, forcing the kid to push the blocking sled
distances beyond which a blocking sled should ever be pushed. And look at Moore now:
Once an oversight from the Midwest, he’s now a New York dean pulling down close to
$3 million from a Jets outfit with Super Bowl aspirations.
“Doug was never really a drill-sergeant kind of coach,” remembered Moore, who has
blocked for Chad Pennington and Mark Sanchez, for Curtis Martin and Shonn Greene .
. . and now awaits whatever duties surface in front of Tebow. “Even the rookies could
talk with him.
“He could be a little intimidating, but Doug wasn’t a yeller and screamer. You didn’t look
at him like, ‘Oh, the guy’s a jerk.’ The fact is, he took the time out of his schedule -because, you know, he didn’t have to do it -- to work with me. I know I owe him a lot.”
And that would include what remains due on those benefits gained from a certain manto-man that Moore will likely never forget.
“I was up and down about whether I was going to make the team,” he said. “I wasn’t
practicing well. I was feeling sorry for myself. And Doug pulled me aside one day and he
told me, ‘Listen, you don’t want to be like me. You don’t want to have regrets. You don’t
want to leave this game with the idea that you didn’t give it your all.’ Every time I’m a
little down, I always think about that conversation.”
It was held a good 10 years ago. And, likely, on a drier day than Saturday. And who
knows? Without it, Brandon Moore, delighted all this time later to have lived a football
life long enough to have become something of an antique, might have been somewhere
in the real world in no need of a good wringing-out. And where would have been the fun
in that?
SPORTS OF THE TIMES
Some Northern Flair for a Pinstripe Affair
By GEORGE VECSEY
Published: December 29, 2010
Doug Marrone always wanted to play in Yankee Stadium. It wasn’t that far from his
home in the East Bronx, measured by nine miles or a lot of money for tickets, even back
in the ’70’s.
He will take the field of the new Yankee Stadium on Thursday, but the run and hit signs
on the scoreboard have been replaced by down and to go.
Marrone is the coach of the Syracuse football team, which will take on Kansas State in
something called the Pinstripe Bowl, matching two teams with 7-5 records. The
conditions are even worse than anything the Yankees have ever foisted upon their fans,
even with baseball’s long march toward Thanksgiving.
Aren’t bowl games supposed to be sunny and warm and festive? That was always the
appeal of the Orange Bowl and the Rose Bowl, making people jealous of the benign
weather. Instead, Syracuse and Kansas State get to play in the Pinstripe Bowl in snowclogged New York, with ice floes in the never-more-aptly-named River Avenue.
Nevertheless, the site is still Yankee Stadium and the game offers a chance for both
universities to show off their “programs.”
In reality, the only bowl game that means anything is the Bowl Championship Series
matchup between Oregon and Auburn on Jan. 10 in Glendale, Ariz. Everything else is
for television dollars and the merriment of boosters and keeping fans safe and warm up
north.
For Marrone, the Pinstripe Bowl is a homecoming. He is a big man, a former offensive
lineman for Syracuse who spent two years in the N.F.L. and has been coaching since
1992. He remains enough of a kid to clearly relish being in the Big Ice House in the
Bronx, as Red Barber never called it.
“It took me 46 years,” he said.
The football coach has a personal tie to the Yankees. His grandfather Robert Thompson
was an usher at the Stadium for nearly 20 years, often bringing home splintered bats
and wayward baseballs and other souvenirs. He died when Doug was 5 years old, but
the contact with the Yankees endures — longer than the mementos did.
“My mom put them in a box,” Marrone said, as other sports junkies in his audience
shook their heads, knowing what was coming next. “They got all brown,” he added,
noting that he could have gone to a major collector and cashed them in. But he’s not
complaining. Not much, anyway.
Marrone and his counterpart, Bill Snyder, were sitting in the conference room in the
corridor between the two clubhouses. It was easy to anticipate Joe Girardi, the
Yankees’ manager, flitting in from his office to say, no, he was not considering giving
Joba a start, and yes, he did expect Burnett to pitch better this season.
In fact, Marrone was using Girardi’s office in the Yankees’ clubhouse, but he was more
voluble than Girardi usually is, maybe because he was in his home borough. In a sport
with rural and Southern overtones, there are not many coaches from the city. But
Marrone got his start at Lehman High School, imagining himself a Yankee.
His earliest memory is of Chris Chambliss’s home run to win the 1976 American League
pennant, but he was not there. He saw his first World Series game a year later, and
developed a feel for baseball from a distance. He still prefers the bleachers and the
upper deck, in homage to his childhood, admiring Graig Nettles, the clutch third
baseman.
“I could probably get up here and show you the batting stances of all the Yankees,” he
said. Alas, nobody coaxed him. Snyder seemed like a reasonable guy who would have
enjoyed a little show, but time was short. Too bad.
Anyway, Marrone went away to Syracuse, played on some pretty good teams under
Dick MacPherson, and then played for the Dolphins in 1987 and the Saints in 1989 and
then in London in the experimental European league.
He has worked up the ladder and was an assistant on Long Island with the Jets from
2002 through 2005 under Herman Edwards, who used to joke that Marrone worried
more about the Yankees than he did about the Jets.
After that staff was blown up, Marrone went to New Orleans, and then he came home to
Syracuse, which had sent Jim Brown and Ernie Davis and Floyd Little to major bowls,
bowls named after citrus and flowers.
“This is our first bowl game since 2004, and our first winning season since 2001,”
Marrone said proudly.
So nobody asked him how it felt to be playing in a nouveau bowl game in a city and a
region that is not too good at digging out from snowstorms. Now the gunk is melting,
causing major slush under the elevated train, but the plaza alongside the stadium is
cleared.
The playing field, which had been covered during the storm, was not tundra-hard at
midday on Wednesday, between the practices by the two teams. There was snow in
some sections of the stands, but workers were heaving it toward the piles on the
sidelines, where it was being trucked away.
It is a safe bet the stands will be dry and there will be no snowballs. For a new bowl
game being held in a snowbound city, that is something.
E-mail: [email protected]
Doug Marrone's big day has arrived ... and with it might come
a full house
By Bud Poliquin, Post-Standard columnist
on September 05, 2009 at 6:41 AM, updated September 05, 2009 at 7:46 AM
Syracuse, N.Y. -- A week or so ago when he was asked to forecast how he was going
to handle the most emotional Friday night of his professional career, Doug Marrone,
who can shake off a question as if he was standing on a mound looking in at a stubborn
catcher, all but scoffed.
Why, he'd partake of his guilty pleasure of choice -- either cookies or ice cream ...
maybe both -- and then fall into bed where he'd sleep like the proverbial baby.
And the game that would follow? The first one of his career as the head football coach
of his beloved alma mater? There would be no nerves. None. He'd be ready, Marrone
promised. And his Syracuse University outfit would be prepared. And the club on the
other side, Minnesota, would have its hands full.
There was, though, an issue for Doug as he anticipated his Orange debut. He was
concerned about the number of folks who'd ultimately be in the Carrier Dome seats this
afternoon to greet both his athletes and those Golden Gophers from the Big Eleven.
"I've never asked the fans for money," Marrone declared. "I've never said, 'Give 20
bucks to the program, will you?' But everywhere I've gone since I got this job I have
asked the fans to come out to watch this team play. All I've asked is that they give us a
chance."
With that, this so-very-earnest man paused. On the SU bridge for 8 1/2 months,
Marrone had been equal parts coach and barker since leaving New Orleans and his
cushy NFL gig as the Saints' offensive coordinator to rescue his old school. And there
was an ache.
"If we don't get 40,000," said Doug, "that would kill me."
The good news is that Marrone should survive this historic day -- unless, of course, his
offense or defense or special teams does him in -- because a near-sellout crowd is
expected inside the Dome this afternoon when the Orange will begin its 2009 season of
redemption.
It's been almost nine months now since Doug Marrone first stood before the public as
Syracuse University's head football coach. As he faces his opener today against
Minnesota, a big crowd will gather at the Carrier Dome to take a look.
The spectacular weather? The State Fair? All those yawning fairways and water-side
lounge chairs and backyard barbecue pits? As the announced number of tickets
distributed stood at 45,645 as of late Friday afternoon (leaving only 3,617 officially
available for purchase), many of the usual Labor Day weekend temptations seem ready
to be ignored this afternoon by a fair amount of our citizens.
Thus, Marrone, the 45-year-old former lineman who has pledged to restore football
excellence around here, appears on the verge of getting his wish. His bunch will,
indeed, be saluted today by a nearly-packed house of believers who wish to be
deloused, finally, of the Greg Robinson Era.
"Win," Derrell Smith, the senior middle linebacker, said the other day. "That's what we're
going to do this year. Win. This is the year of aggression for us. I don't know if it was a
'scared' thing last year. Maybe it was just a lack of 'knowing.' Whatever it was, it's gone.
I don't want to put a number on anything. I'm just telling you that we're going to win."
That challenge begins at noon today when the Orange plays the first of its remarkable
eight home contests against a Minnesota squad, whose five-game losing streak to end
the 2008 campaign has not deterred the wise guys from establishing it as a seven-point
favorite. And those near-100,000 eyes will have all kinds of things to study.
There will be Marrone, whose sideline demeanor had better be more forbidding than
that of his predecessor, Robinson, who beseeched more than he demanded. There will
be the offensive line, which has for too long been worthy of the snide remarks it has
heard. There will be the linebackers, who, after Smith, look like so many green
bananas.
Oh, and there will be the quarterback. The new kid. The first hometowner to run the
Syracuse huddle since Dick Easterly, out of our burg's old North High School, crouched
over center nearly 50 years ago.
This Greg Paulus experiment, the one that will take the CBA product directly from the
basketball court at Duke to the football field in Syracuse, may not work ... even if
Marrone, who has more credibility than any of those nameless cyberspace mopes,
insists otherwise. But, one way or the other, Paulus' great adventure will be watched.
Like a guy on a tightrope, it will be watched.
The contributions of Delone Carter, Arthur Jones, Mike Williams, Mike Holmes and
Antwon Bailey (and there needs to be many) will not go unnoticed. Nor will the play of
all those others, too many of whom are too untested to inspire a whole lot of confidence
on this morning. But Paulus' fingertips are the ones that will need to be as obvious on
this group as those of Marrone if Smith is to be a seer.
"If you asked me," said Jones, who just might be the Orange's finest player, "I'd have
told you that Greg Paulus, not me, was the face of this team. It's amazing to me that he
can just jump in from basketball and learn everything like he has.
"He's on point. He improves every single day. He's going to shock a lot of people. If I
didn't know it myself, or read any of the media things, I would have thought he's been a
college-football quarterback for three or four years. It's exciting. It's unbelievable."
And now, with the foreword written, the story begins. This, in front of a toasty Dome
throng that may make a run at 47,000 ... 48,000 ... perhaps even 49,000 bodies.
Marrone, after all, will coach his first-ever college game only once. And Paulus, the
whiz-bang returned, will toss his first-ever college pass only once.
And more than a view of us want to be witnesses.
All in all, then, the assumption is that Big Doug will report to the Dome today after a
good night's sleep.
Doug Marrone ready for rebuilding project as Syracuse looks
to get back to respectability
Published: Tuesday, August 04, 2009, 10:16 PM Updated: Tuesday, August 04,
2009, 10:22 PM
By Bridget Wentworth/The Star-Ledger
NEWPORT, R.I. -- Doug Marrone has the look an ex-football player, complete with the
big body and broad shoulders. He has the sound of an ex-football player, complete with
the gruff twang that resonates in his voice. He has the knowledge of an ex-football
player, right down to where the right guard's feet have to be during a pass-protection
scheme.
All of that would have made him abundantly qualified to be Syracuse's new head coach.
Heck, after the four years the program had just endured under Greg Robinson's watch,
Marrone could have just been an ex-football player, and he could have won the job.
But he had the one intangible that no one else had: He knew Syracuse football because
he was a part of Syracuse football.
"I don't sell," Marrone said bluntly in the ballroom at the Viking Hotel in downtown
Newport Tuesday morning. "I just tell them what I am and what I believe in. I think the
difference between myself and someone else that might have gotten the job is I played
there. I went to school there. When they leave, they're going to be an alumnus and a
letterman just like I was."
Marrone's new job as the coach of Syracuse is certainly a tough task but one he is
diving into headfirst. Erasing the tumultuous and disastrous four-year tenure of
Robinson won't come with a few Big East wins or even one good season.
When a program like Syracuse goes from nine bowl game appearances under the
previous regime of Paul Pasqualoni to only 10 wins in four years under Robinson, it
leaves deep scars. Marrone, a former Orange offensive lineman who spent the past six
years in the NFL -- first as an offensive line coach with the Jets and most recently as the
New Orleans Saints' offensive coordinator -- comes back with an impressive pedigree.
Then again, his predecessor's pedigree was just as impressive. But that's where the
similarities end.
"When people take over a program, the first thing you have to do is ask yourself the
question: 'Why were they not successful?'" he said. "The first thing that we had to do in
December was to go out and recruit. It's a little bit easier for me that I've always wanted
this job, so I've been able to do a lot of research on the school and the demographics of
where we've gotten kids before that enabled us to be successful."
Recruiting, though, is only a small part of the equation. In four years, Syracuse has
seen its football reputation sullied, as it's become the doormat of the Big East
Conference with two 10-loss seasons.
Changing that in the minds of fans, recruits and players won't happen immediately. It
has to be built from the ground up.
"The administration and the people have to be patient with him," said Pittsburgh coach
Dave Wannstedt, a fellow Big East coach at his alma mater. "It's going to take time. You
cannot turn things around as fast as you could in the past. It takes more time
nowadays to build a program. The No. 1 thing they have to do with Doug, is be patient
with him and give him a chance."
In just eight months, Marrone has begun the process of bringing some of the traditions
back to Syracuse that were lost under Robinson. One, "The Burning of the Shoe" -where seniors throw their shoes over their shoulders following the final practice -- has
made a comeback. Even 79-year-old former Orange coach Dick MacPherson showed
up to the event at the conclusion of last season.
"They're bringing back a lot of the tradition," senior defensive tackle Arthur Jones said.
"The Burning of the Shoe, a lot of things. That had been lost the last couple years and
it's a beautiful thing. It's cool."
Marrone though knows that the bottom line for his alma mater won't be measured in
shoe burnings or warm feelings, it will be in wins and losses. And if the wins column isn't
vastly improved from Robinson's four years, no one will care that he's a former
Syracuse player.
Which is why he knows he's in the right place. The fact that he didn't have to sell himself
to his team says that. For now and at the point where Syracuse's program has fallen,
Marrone feels that a little burst of energy and fire might be just what his old stomping
grounds need.
"The relationship from when I first walked into that first team meeting was special,"
Marrone said. "To be able to say, 'I sat in that seat. I worked in that weight room. I've
been on that field. I sweat and bled on that field.' Here I am. I've come back to get our
school back to something that we're proud of."