According to league sources, the Jacksonville Jaguars have hired Philadelphia Eagles head coach Doug Pederson as their new head coach.
The move comes 49 days after the Jaguars fired Urban Meyer and 35 days after Pederson initially spoke with the franchise.
Pederson did not play football in 2021, but he was the Jaguars’ first head-coaching candidate to be interviewed. On Dec. 30, the Jaguars brought him back for a second interview, which took place on Tuesday.
With five seasons in Philadelphia, Pederson was 42-37-1 with three postseason appearances (2016-20). The Eagles chose quarterback Carson Wentz second overall and went 7-9 in Pederson’s first season, then went 13-3 in 2017, survived Wentz’s injury late in the season when backup quarterback Nick Foles got hot, and won Super Bowl LII 41-33 over the New England Patriots.
In 2018 and 2019, Pederson guided the Eagles to two more playoff appearances. In 2020, Philadelphia finished 4-11-1, and Pederson was dismissed after benching Wentz at halftime of the team’s Week 13 loss to Green Bay in favour of rookie Jalen Hurts.
In a statement, Jaguars owner Shad Khan stated, “Doug Pederson four years ago won a Super Bowl as head coach of a franchise in pursuit of its first world championship.” “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 what our players have earned. Nothing less will suffice.
Pederson started his NFL coaching career with the Philadelphia Eagles, where he spent two years as an offensive quality control coach (2009-10) and two years as the quarterbacks coach (2011-12). After Andy Reid was sacked after the 2012 season, he followed Reid to Kansas City and spent three seasons as the Chiefs’ offensive coordinator until being appointed to succeed Chip Kelly as head coach in Philadelphia in 2016.
Pederson played in the NFL for 10 years, primarily as a backup quarterback for Miami, Green Bay, Philadelphia, and Cleveland, compiling a 3-14 record while completing 54.8 percent of his passes for 12 touchdowns and 19 interceptions.
Jaguars interim head coach Darrell Bevell, Tampa Bay defensive coordinator Todd Bowles, Tampa Bay offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich, Green Bay offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett, Indianapolis defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus, former Indianapolis and Detroit head coach Jim Caldwell, Dallas offensive coordinator Kellen Moore, former Las Vegas interim head coach Rich Bisaccia, and Alabama offensive coordinator and foe Nathaniel Hackett were among the nine candidates interviewed by the Jaguars.
Meyer was fired with cause by the Jaguars just before 1 a.m. ET on Dec. 16 after going 2-11 and making a series of embarrassing gaffes, including two viral videos of him acting inappropriately in a restaurant/bar with a woman who wasn’t his wife, reports of him berating his assistant coaches, and hiring a strength coach who was accused of making racist remarks and bullying Black players at Iowa.
Since 2007, the Jaguars have only had one winning season and have lost 10 or more games in ten of the previous 11 seasons. In 2021, the Jaguars went 3-14 and will have the first overall choice in the NFL draught again in 2022. Their cumulative record over the last two seasons is 4-29, including the NFL’s second-longest losing run of 20 games.