Former Eagles quarterback Ron Jaworski was part of the process in selecting Doug Pederson to be the team's head coach.
Jaworski spoke with Les Bowen of The Daily News on Friday. Here are some takeaways from the interview:
• Jaworski was a "special adviser" to Jeffrey Lurie, Howie Roseman and Don Smolenski. He notes that Hall of Fame executive Bill Polian was also consulted. Jaworski and Polian are both analysts for ESPN.
Polian did not, however, sit in on any interviews. Jaworski sat in for interviews with Adam Gase and Ben McAdoo.
"We weren't hiring a line cook at a restaurant here - we were hiring a head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles," Jaworski said. "The interviews with Adam Gase and Ben McAdoo were eight, nine hours. They were intense . . . everybody was focused, everyone stayed the course."
Gase was hired by the Miami Dolphins and Ben McAdoo was hired by the New York Giants.
• In all, Jaworski said they spent time on 20-25 candidates but narrowed it down to six interviews: Duce Staley, Pat Shurmur, Gase, McAdoo, former Giants coach Tom Coughlin and Pederson.
• There seems to be a trend around the league with teams hiring offensive-minded coaches. Jaworski said there was not a conscious effort by the Eagles to hire an "offensive guy." They were just looking for the best candidate.
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"The goal was - this came right from Jeffrey Lurie, when we first got together (on the Saturday after Chip Kelly's firing) - 'I don't care if it's an offensive guy, a defensive guy, a special-teams guy, I want the best coach for the Philadelphia Eagles' . . . I think we got the best guy for the Philadelphia Eagles in Doug Pederson."
• Jaworski gave Pederson a glowing endorsement, dismissing his lack of experience as a coach. He also noted that he checked off an important box in Lurie's qualifications for his next coach.
"Doug has incredible character," Jaworski said. "I've known Doug back from his playing days . . . Certainly, he had a knowledge of Philadelphia."
"From a coaching perspective, he's done it all except be the head coach. But by the way, the Ben McAdoos, the Adam Gases, they weren't head coaches either."
• There were those who believe Pederson was a "fallback" choice for the Eagles after missing out on guys like Gase, McAdoo and Coughlin. Jaworski refuted that.
"There never was a 'No. 1 choice,' " Jaworski said. "It was wide open. Jeffrey instructed us that way at the very first meeting."
"We were going to stick to the process. It's hard."