ALAMEDA — Doug Marrone wasn’t sure what to expect when he went to see Al Davis
Marrone, head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars, was head coach at Syracuse from 2009 through 2012 and had been a Raiders sixth-round draft pick in 1986. He knew Davis, with whom he had maintained a relationship, was in failing health.
Davis immediately put Marrone on the defensive.
“Even near the end he was very, very sharp,” Marrone told Bay Area reporters Wednesday by conference call. “He was sharp enough that the first time I walked in he said, ‘If you’re looking for me to donate money, you’re in the wrong (expletive) place.