Doug Pederson, who won a Super Bowl with Philadelphia, has been hired as the new head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars, the team announced Thursday.
The hiring comes 49 days after the team fired Urban Meyer and 35 days after Pederson first interviewed with the Jaguars.
Pederson spent the 2021 season out of football, but he was the first head-coaching candidate the Jaguars interviewed. That was on Dec. 30, and the Jaguars brought him back for a second interview Tuesday.
Pederson went 42-37-1 and made three playoff appearances in five seasons in Philadelphia (2016-20). The Eagles drafted quarterback Carson Wentz second overall and went 7-9 in Pederson’s first season, but they went 13-3 in 2017, survived the loss of Wentz late in the season when backup QB Nick Foles got hot and beat the New England Patriots 41-33 in Super Bowl LII.
Pederson led the Eagles to two more playoff appearances in 2018 and 2019. Philadelphia went 4-11-1 in 2020, and Pederson, who benched Wentz at halftime of the team’s Week 13 loss to Green Bay for rookie Jalen Hurts, was fired after the season.
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“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.
“Combine this with his acumen on the offensive side of the ball, and you have why I am proud to name Doug Pederson the new head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars. I know our fans will warmly welcome Doug and his family to Duval and I personally look forward to having Doug as part of everything we envision for the team, downtown and community in the years ahead.”
Pederson began his NFL coaching career with Philadelphia and spent two years as an offensive quality control coach (2009-10) and two as quarterbacks coach (2011-12). He followed head coach Andy Reid to Kansas City after Reid was fired following the 2012 season and spent three seasons as the Chiefs’ offensive coordinator before being hired in 2016 to replace Chip Kelly as head coach in Philadelphia.
Pederson spent 10 years in the NFL, mainly as a backup quarterback for Miami, Green Bay, Philadelphia and Cleveland, compiling a 3-14 record and completing 54.8% of his passes with 12 touchdowns and 19 interceptions.
The Jaguars interviewed nine other candidates: Jaguars interim head coach Darrell Bevell, Tampa Bay defensive coordinator Todd Bowles, Tampa Bay offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich, Green Bay offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett (now the Broncos’ head coach), Indianapolis defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus (now the Bears’ head coach), 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 former Houston head coach Bill O’Brien.
Pederson replaces Meyer, whom the Jaguars fired with cause just before 1 a.m. ET on Dec. 16 because he went 2-11 and committed a string of embarrassing missteps that included two viral videos of him behaving 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.
The Jaguars have had just one winning season since 2007 and have lost 10 or more games in 10 of the past 11 seasons. The Jaguars finished 3-14 in 2021 and have the first pick in the NFL draft again in 2022. Their combined record in the past two seasons is 4-29, which includes a 20-game losing streak that is the second longest in NFL history.
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