Doug Marrone has fond memories of Al Davis, the Coliseum
ALAMEDA, Calif. — Doug Marrone is the head coach of the Jaguars now, but he has plenty of history with the Raiders organization.
In 1986, the Raiders drafted him in the sixth round. While he didn’t make the roster, he has positive impressions from his time with the organization and the team’s late owner, Al Davis.
“Mr. Davis had a great relationship with all the players,” Marrone said. “Didn’t matter whether you were from top or bottom of the roster.”
Marrone and Davis also had Syracuse in common as an alma mater. So when Marrone became the Syracuse head coach in 2009, the two reconnected.
“I would go up to Oakland and meet with him once a year and those memories — that’s something I would share with my son and I’m sure my son will share with his children and on and on and on. Because I think he’s one of the greatest men that I’ve ever met and I think he’s had one of the greatest influences on our game,” Marrone said. “Just a really, really special guy and a real caring guy. H took care of a lot of people. He was always good to me.”
Even when Marrone wasn’t necessarily visiting with Davis just to say hello.
“Even near the end, obviously, he was very, very sharp. He was sharp enough that the first time I walked in, he said, ‘If you’re coming here and looking for me to donate money, you’re in the wrong (expletive) place,’” Marrone said with a laugh. “That was exactly what my intention was, so right off the bat he just threw it right out there.”
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