Washington, United States—The Jacksonville Jaguars and the Los Angeles Chargers fired their coaches on Monday, hours after the end of a NFL regular season in which the two teams won just four games after being eliminated from playoff contention.
Jaguars owner Shad Khan dumped Doug Marrone after a 1-15 campaign that left Jacksonville with the top pick in the 2021 NFL Draft while the Chargers axed Anthony Lynn despite his 33-31 overall record in the post.
The fired coaches joined New York Jets coach Adam Gase, dropped Sunday after a 2-14 season, in leaving a total of six NFL coaching vacancies, with Detroit, Atlanta and Houston having finished the year under interim guidance.
Marrone, 56, took over as an interim coach for the final two games of the 2016 season and guided the Jaguars into the 2017 AFC Championship, but departs with an overall 23-43 record.
“I am committed and determined to deliver winning football to the city of Jacksonville,” Khan said in a statement. “Realizing that goal requires a fresh start throughout our football operations.
“I’ll always appreciate Doug’s passion, grit and class, and I’m confident he will enjoy success in the next chapter of his career.”
The Jaguars also fired general manager Dave Caldwell in November after a 1-10 start.
“As the search for our new general manager continues, now the quest begins to find a head coach who shares my ambition for the Jacksonville Jaguars and our fans, whose loyalty and faith are overdue to be rewarded,” Khan said.
Khan said the team has lacked a star quarterback but the new coach and executive will be in position to change that with several top college prospects available in the draft.
“We are in a better position today than we were a year ago,” Khan said.
Lynn, 52, was axed after a 7-9 season that ended with a four-game win streak.
The Chargers went 12-4 in 2018 but slid to 5-11 in an injury-hit 2019 campaign and lost seven games this season by eight points or less, dropping three by three points or less.
“This morning I informed Anthony Lynn that we have made the decision to part ways with him as our head coach,” Chargers owner Dean Spanos said.
“This is a results-driven business and, simply put, the results of the past two years have fallen short of expectations.
“Moving forward, we will redouble our efforts to both build and maintain a championship-caliber program.”