John DeFilippo's hiring as a defensive coordinator for the Jacksonville Jaguars has led to a lot of speculation and dot-connecting between DeFilippo and quarterback Nick Foles, but coach Doug Marrone insists that this speculation is a foolhardy venture.
“Zero. Zero at all. I mean zero,” Marrone said per Kevin Patra of NFL.com. “Don't get me wrong, everyone we brought in we tried to get information from…but (the hire) didn't have anything to do with (a relationship with Foles).”
Marrone shouldn't be surprised that sports commentators are connecting the dots in such a way, especially since the defensive coordinator has a relationship with the Eagles quarterback. This is especially true when one considered that the Jaguars are rumored to be “chasing” the Eagles star.
But Marrone says that the hiring of a coach has more to do with the sum totality of a team, and less to do with one player or another — even if the player in question is Nick Foles.
“What did come into play is someone that has ability, has been around veteran quarterbacks, has been around rookie quarterbacks, has been around a quarterback that came up and went on to do things well. So when you look at John, he had (Carson) Wentz, Foles as the quarterback's coach, then you have someone (Kirk) Cousins that comes along, Derek Carr. So there was a lot of good variety in the types of players that he's had and the types of players that he looked at. So for him, along with (QB coach) Scott Milanovich, obviously you feel good about the evaluation coming from the coaching side on the quarterbacks.”
Regardless of whether or not Marrone is telling the truth about DeFilippo, the fact of the matter is the Jaguars still need a quarterback. And with Foles arguably the best one available this offseason, there's a decent chance he finds his way to Jacksonville to reunite with his former Eagles QB coach.