Newly hired Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel reportedly has added former Bills and Jaguars head coach Doug Marrone to his offensive coaching staff
According to ESPN’s Mike Reiss, Marrone’s specific role is “TBA,” saying “his history/background with offensive line play is notable.”
This reported hire comes one week after the Bengals announced the hiring of former Patriots offensive line coach Scott Peters, making 2024 his lone season in that role for New England. With Marrone reportedly joining Vrabel’s coaching staff, it would only make sense that the 60-year-old would be a part of the leadership of that unit in some capacity in 2025.
The offensive line will need all the help it can get from Marrone this fall, as the group had one of its worst seasons in franchise history while protecting the future of the franchise in Drake Maye during his rookie season.
Here’s the individual rankings for each of the five Patriots linemen who started a majority of the games in 2024:
- OT Demontrey Jacobs, 81st out of 81
- OT Vederian Lowe, 69th out of 81
- G Layden Robinson, 74th out of 77
- G Mike Onwenu, 33rd out of 77
- C Ben Brown, 39th out of 40
Marrone spent the 2024 season working with Bill O’Brien at Boston College, serving in the role of senior analyst for football strategy. O’Brien has referred to Marrone in numerous interviews as one of his best friends, with their wives being roommates at Boston College together almost 30 years ago.
With Vrabel speaking openly about his affection for O’Brien during both his introductory press conference and on The Greg Hill Show the following day - having served as his assistant coach and defensive coordinator during their time together in Houston - it makes sense that Vrabel would add Marrone to his coaching staff.
Here’s a look at Marrone’s extensive resume as a coach, twice serving as head coach at the professional level:
1992: Cortland State Tight Ends Coach
1993: Coast Guard Offensive Line Coach
1994: Northeastern Offensive Line Coach
1995: Georgia Tech Director of Football Operations
1996: Georgia Tech Tight Ends Coach
1997-99: Georgia Tech Offensive Line Coach
2000: Georgia Offensive Line Coach
2001: Tennessee Tight Ends/Offensive Line Coach
2002-05: New York Jets Offensive Line Coach
2006-08: New Orleans Saints Offensive Coordinator/Offensive Line Coach
2009-12: Syracuse Head Football Coach
2013-14: Buffalo Bills Head Coach
2015-16: Jacksonville Jaguars Assistant Head Coach/Offensive Line Coach
2016: Jaguars Interim Head Coach
2017-20: Jaguars Head Coach
2021: Alabama Offensive Line Coach
2022-23: Saints Offensive Line Coach
2024: Boston College Senior Analyst for Football Strategy
Before entering the coaching ranks, Marrone was an offensive lineman in his own right, lettering three seasons for Syracuse from 1983 to 1985. After being drafted in the sixth round of the 1986 NFL Draft by the Raiders, Marrone had a journeyman career trying to find a home at the pro level. From 1986 to 1991, Marrone bounced between the training camps and practice squads of the Raiders, Dolphins, Cowboys, Saints, Vikings and Steelers, only managing to appear in five games over those six seasons. Marrone ended up signing with the London Monarchs of the World League of American Football, where he played for two seasons (1991-92).
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