As the New England Patriots and Mike Vrabel continue to build out their staff, they’re bringing in a former NFL head coach to round out the offense.
According to ESPN’s Mike Reiss, New England is set to hire Doug Marrone—his position is yet to be determined. In 2024, Marrone served as a senior analyst for football strategy with Bill O’Brien at Boston College. His most recent NFL job was with the New Orleans Saints as their offensive line coach from 2022 to ’23.
Pats Pro (@PatsPro_21) was first to report the news on X this past weekend.
Across an NFL coaching career that began in 2002, Marrone has served as an offensive coordinator, offensive line coach, tight ends coach, and head coach over the past 20+ years. He most notably was the head coach of the Buffalo Bills from 2013 to ’14 and of the Jacksonville Jaguars from ’17 to ’20.
Marrone’s first season with Jacksonville was his biggest success—leading them to an AFC South title with a 10-6 record and making it to the AFC championship game before losing to the Patriots.
His experience working with the offensive line is noteworthy considering the Patriots’ struggles in that department of late. They allowed the highest pressure rate in the NFL in 2024 at 40.7% (h/t NFL Pro).
The 60-year-old Marrone joins a revamped Patriots coaching staff that looks like this on the offensive side of the ball:
ESPN’s Mike Reiss also reported on Sunday that Thomas Brown—who was with the Chicago Bears in various roles this season—is in talks to join New England’s staff in some capacity.
The Patriots went 4-13 in 2024 and fired Jerod Mayo just hours after their season finale.
Since the Cleveland Browns season ended, all the focus has been on the NFL draft and the quarterbacks among those prospects. There are a lot of “what ifs
Dean Blandino wants to assure NFL fans there is no conspiracy to favor the Kansas City Chiefs and give them extra calls. Even if it seems that way at times. Bla
The National Football League has a serious problem. Well, mathematically, it doesn't. The ever-increasing sports betting industry has propped up ratings in rec
NFL draft expert Daniel Jeremiah questions how Travis Hunter would hold up if he were to try and play both ways in the league. And Jeremiah has a