According to reports, the New York Jets have legitimate interest in recently-available head coach Doug Marrone. Marrone, 50, opted out of his contract with the Buffalo Bills Wednesday evening, making the coach free to sign with any team of his choosing. 

"I'm told that the Jets do have real interest in Doug Marrone," The New York Daily News' Manish Mehta said via twitter. "They anticipate bringing him in to interview for the head coaching job."


For the last two years, Marrone has been the head coach of the Bills and this season led the team to their first winning record since 2004. Marrone finished with a cumulative record of 15-17 in his two years with the team. 

RELATED: Live updates from the Jets coaching, general manager search

Prior to joining the Bills, Marrone served as the offensive coordinator for the New Orleans Saints from 2006-2008 before taking over as the head coach of Syracuse University in 2009. He remained with the program through the 2012 season. 

Jets owner Woody Johnson is familiar with Marrone from his time with the Jets organization from 2002-2005. Marrone was New York's offensive line coach, working underneath Herman Edwards. 

On Wednesday, the Jets interviewed running backs coach Anthony Lynn, which satisfied the team's need to follow the "Rooney Rule." The rule, implemented in 2003, requires an NFL team to interview an ethnic candidate before making any hire. With the interviewing of Lynn, the Jets are free to now sign a head coach.

 

Johnson has said that he'd prefer to hire a general manager before hiring a head coach, so that that hire could have a say in the team's new coach, but noted that it was not a requirement. 

To see a complete list of coaches the Jets have reached out to, check out the general manager, head coach tracker. New York will interview Seattle Seahawks defensive coordinator Dan Quinn on Friday. 

Connor Hughes is the New York Jets beat writer for About.com Sports. He can be reached on twitter: @Connor_J_Hughes, or via email: Connor_J_Hughes@yahoo.com