Doug Pederson is an NFL head coach once again.
On Thursday, just over a year after the Eagles fired him, Pederson has been hired as the new head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Pederson replaces Urban Meyer, who was fired by the Jaguars on Dec. 16, just 13 games into his first season with the team. Darrell Bevell finished the year as the Jaguars’ interim coach.
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Pederson sat out the 2021 season after spending five years with the Eagles, leading them to the playoffs three straight years and delivering the first Super Bowl championship in franchise history to Philadelphia four years ago tomorrow.
He takes over a Jaguars team that has won an NFL-low 15 games the last four seasons and has reached the postseason just once in the last 14 years.
"Doug Pederson four years ago won a Super Bowl as head coach of a franchise in pursuit of its first world championship," Jaguars owner Shad Khan said in a statement. "I hope Doug can replicate that magic here in Jacksonville, but what is certain is his proven leadership and experience as a winning head coach in the National Football League. It's exactly what our players deserve. Nothing less."
The Jaguars do have a promising young quarterback in Trevor Lawrence, the 1st pick in the 2021 draft out of Clemson. Lawrence was up and down this year – 12 TDs, 17 – but Pederson’s success with quarterbacks – from Michael Vick in Philadelphia to Alex Smith in Kansas City to Carson Wentz and Nick Foles back in Philadelphia – was a huge selling point.
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Schefter tweeted that Pederson and Lawrence spoke on the phone before Pederson accepted the job.
Pederson initially interviewed with the Jaguars on Jan. 5 and again this past Monday.
He also interviewed with the Bears on Jan. 12 and the Saints on Jan. 30. The Bears then hired Colts defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus as head coach to replace Matt Nagy, who worked with Pederson with both the Eagles and Chiefs. The Saints haven’t yet announced a replacement for Sean Payton, who like Pederson is a former Eagles quarterbacks coach.
Pederson was one of 11 known candidates for the Jaguars coaching vacancy. Eberflus, Packers offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett and Buccaneers offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich also had two interviews with Jacksonville. But with Eberflus going to the Bears, Hackett to the Broncos and Leftwich withdrawing from consideration, Pederson became the favorite.
The Jaguars’ other known candidates were Raiders interim coach Rich Bisaccia, Bucs defensive coordinator Todd Bowles, former Lions head coach Jim Caldwell, Cowboys offensive coordinator Kellen Moore and former Texans head coach Bill O’Brien.
The Jaguars also expressed interest in Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn, who returned to Dallas, and Rams offensive coordinator Kevin O’Connell, who they weren’t allowed to interview between the NFC Championship Game and Super Bowl because they never gave him a first interview.
Pederson was one of five known candidates for the Saints' opening, along with Saints defensive coordinator Dennis Allen, former Dolphins head coach Brian Flores, Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn and Leftwich.
With Pederson getting the Jaguars job, that means the last nine Eagles head coaches - Mike McCormack, Dick Vermeil, Marion Campbell, Buddy Ryan, Rich Kotite, Ray Rhodes, Andy Reid and Chip Kelly -- all got another head coaching job after leaving the Eagles. The last one who didn’t was Ed Khayat, who was Eagles head coach in 1971 and 1972.
Pederson is the seventh coach in Jaguars history. The only one with a winning record is Tom Coughlin, their first coach. Coughlin went 68-60 from 1995 through 2002.
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Pederson, 54, spent most of the 15-year period from 1991 through 2004 in the NFL as a backup quarterback. He started out backing up Dan Marino in Miami, had two stints backing up Brett Favre in Green Bay and was Andy Reid’s opening-day quarterback in his first year as Eagles head coach in 1999.
He had a 3-14 career record as a quarterback with 12 touchdowns and 19 interceptions. He was 2-7 for the Eagles in 1999 before giving way to Donovan McNabb.
After coaching at Calvary Baptist Academy in Shreveport, La., from 2005 through 2008, he began his NFL coaching career in 2009 as an offensive quality control coach with the Eagles under Reid. He was promoted to quarterbacks coach in 2011, replacing James Urban (who’s now the Ravens’ quarterbacks coach), and after the 2012 season accompanied Reid to Kansas City, where he was offensive coordinator from 2013 through 2015 before replacing Chip Kelly as Eagles head coach in 2016.
Pederson’s four postseason wins with the Eagles are 2nd-most in franchise history, behind only Reid’s 10. Greasy Neale and Dick Vermeil won three apiece.