Doug Marrone hired as Alabama OL Coach - ex Jags head coach

quote:

---

Matt Zenitz
@mzenitz

Source: Alabama is hiring Doug Marrone as offensive line coach.

Is already now in town in Tuscaloosa.

Comes to Alabama after four seasons as the head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars.

---

quote:

---

The two coaching colleagues stayed in frequent contact using one another as sounding boards through each step of their coaching careers. The experience Marrone gained in taking on a struggling program at Syracuse undoubtedly had an impact on O'Brien when he decided to take on the challenge of being the next head coach at Penn State in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky scandal and dismissal of Joe Paterno.

"I think with what we have both gone through we've learned a lot from each other," said Marrone. "I think it goes back to the genesis of the coaching being the same. We both worked extremely hard and we both paid our dues and there's an appreciation for that and we both have similar philosophies on what we believe in. We're friends and we trust each other."

"We've known each other for a long time," said O'Brien. "Doug and I speak weekly (except for this week). He is one of my best friends. He is a great football coach but most importantly, he is an outstanding person. We talk about many things outside of football and of course, we talk football at times. We trust and respect each other."

---

quote:

---

"You'd always see those two together on campus," said Burns. "Out of the whole coaching staff, I think those two were probably the closest because they worked together all the time. Really dear friends."

"He is one of my closest friends," said O'Brien of Marrone. "He's a guy that helped me really break into this profession at Georgia Tech. We carpooled to work together."

Even their wives were close having been college roommates at Boston College. In fact it was Marrone and his wife Helen, who introduced her friend Colleen, to O'Brien after an overtime win over North Carolina while both were coaching at Tech. The new couple eventually married.

---