Five seldom-used freshmen poised for success at Alabama
Nick Saban appears set to add another former NFL head coach to his staff. According to reports, Alabama is close to hiring former Jacksonville Jaguars and Buffalo Bills head coach Doug Marrone as its next offensive line coach.
Marrone, who was fired by Jacksonville earlier this month, coached the Jaguars from 2017-20. He won his first game this season before losing his last 15 as the Jaguars finished bottom of the league. At Alabama, Marrone would replace Kyle Flood who is set to become the next offensive coordinator at Texas. He would also join former Houston Texans head coach Bill O'Brien, who replaced Steve Sarkisian as Alabama's offensive coordinator.
Marrone spent the past 11 seasons as a head coach. Prior to his four seasons with the Jaguars, he also led the Bills from 2013-14 and Syracuse from 2009-12. Before that, he served as the offensive coordinator and offensive line coach for the New Orleans Saints from 2006-08 after coaching working as the offensive line coach for the New York Jets from 2002-05.
Marrone also has experience coaching the offensive line at the college level at Tennesse (2001), Georgia (2000), Georgia Tech (1997-99), Northeastern (1994) and Coast Guard (1993). During his time at Georgia Tech, he worked alongside O’Brien who was coaching running backs.
