Patriots coach Bill Belichick and Jaguars coach Doug Marrone will be on opposite sidelines during the AFC Championship Game on Sunday, but Belichick was in Marrone’s corner this time a year ago.
Albert Breer of SI.com reports that Belichick spoke to Tony Khan, who is both the Jaguars senior vice president of football administration and technology and the son of Jaguars owner Shad Khan, last year before the Jaguars decided to move Marrone from interim to permanent head coach. Per the report, Belichick told Khan that “you’ve already got your guy” and that Marrone had his Bills teams playing harder than any other coach during Belichick’s tenure in New England.
It was the second time that Belichick reached out to Jacksonville to give Marrone an endorsement. He also gave Marrone a thumbs up when he joined then-coach Gus Bradley’s staff before the 2016 season.
Taking Belichick’s advice worked out well for the Jaguars, although the Patriots coach would surely prefer that they take a break from proving him right on Sunday afternoon.