Brandon’s World: Doug Pederson Should Be Given More Credit For Eagles Success
On Jan. 18, 2016, Philadelphia Eagles Owner Jeffrey Lurie announced Doug Pederson would become the team’s 21st full-time head coach in franchise history (and 23rd overall. Fred Bruney was the team’s interim head coach for the last game of the 1985 season following Marion Campbell’s firing, and Pat Shurmer was the team’s interim head coach for the last game of the 2015 season following Chip Kelly’s firing).
The decision was criticized across the league. ESPN ranked Pederson the worst coach heading into the 2016 season. Well-known die hard Eagles fan and Youtuber, EDP445, did not approve of the hire.
Before taking the job in Philly, Pederson was the quarterback’s coach under Andy Reid in Reid’s first season in Kansas City before becoming Reid’s offensive coordinator for his last two seasons under Reid’s coaching tree. Reid took the Kansas City job after being let go by Lurie after spending fourteen seasons as the head coach of the Eagles from 1999–2012. During Reid’s 14-year tenure, he went 130–93–1 in the regular-season and 10–9 in the postseason. Included in his postseason record is a trip to Super Bowl XXXIX in 2005, when the Eagles lost to the defending Super Bowl Champion New England Patriots 24–21. That Patriots team is the last team to date that has won back-to-back Lombardi Trophies.
Reid and Pederson go back to Reid’s days as the Green Bay Packers quarterback’s coach under Mike Holmgren in 1997, the year the Packers defeated the Patriots, then coached by Bill Parcells, 35–21 in Super Bowl XXXI. Pederson was the backup quarterback to Bret Farve and gained respect for Reid.
Pederson was the opening day starter for the Eagles in Reid’s head coaching debut, a 25–24 loss at home to the Arizona Cardinals. In the game, Pederson completed only 12 of 26 passes (46% completion percentage). He threw two touchdown passes and two interceptions.
Fast forward to 2009, and Pederson, now four years retired from the NFL, finds his way on Reid’s coaching staff in Philadelphia as the offensive quality control coach (the guy that breaks down the film for the offense). Reid promoted him to quarterback’s coach his last two years in Philadelphia (2011 and 2012).
Despite Pederson having seven full seasons of NFL coaching experience under Reid when he took the Eagles job, the biggest knock on Pederson from NFL experts was he wasn’t ready and he wasn’t a good coach. Pederson led the Chiefs offense that produced zero touchdown catches from wide receivers in 2014. Two days after Pederson was hired, NFL writer Scott Kascmar tweeted, “My first impression of Doug Pederson is I wonder who the Eagles will hire as head coach in 2017.”
Before the 2019 season, Lurie was interviewed by ProFootballTalk about how things went south with former head coach Chip Kelly in 2015, and what led him to hiring such an outside-the-box coach in Pederson. Lurie said, “What I saw in Doug was someone not just with expertise about football strategy and tactics, but a unique level of empathy for players as individuals — and real insight about how people work together as a team.”
He continued.
“That kind of leadership and the success it generates isn’t about sports. It’s about trust. To be sure, healthy competition can make us all perform better as individuals as we strive to improve. But when it comes to solving problems, study after study shows that the most effective organizations aren’t built on individual genius, but on diverse groups who trust and respect one another.”
After the Eagles Super Bowl victory in 2018, Pederson wrote a book, co-authored with Dan Pompei, a head NFL writer for The Athletic and one of 48 members on the Pro Football Hall of Fame selectors board, titled Fearless: How An Underdog Becomes A Champion. In the book, Pederson details how he won Lurie and Eagles management over during the interview process.
“”I talked about how we would practice, I talked about the type of culture I wanted, how we would cultivate it. I talked about how we were going to play a certain way and act a certain way as Philadelphia Eagles. I said I didn’t know what had happened in the past, but going forward, things would change. We would pay attention to little things. I talked about what I truly believed in. And the last thing I shared with the panel was the four things that apply to anything and everything we do.
“First we needed to create energy. Every day the players step into this building, they have to bring the juice. Every single day. I would, too.
“Second, eliminate distractions. What are those? It could be dealing with people asking you for tickets to a particular game, or hotel rooms. It could be the media pulling at you. It could be your contract weighing you down. Whatever the distractions are, we need to eliminate them once we are in season.
“Third, attack everything. We will attack the way we train. We will attack the way we practice, the way we eat, the way we sleep, the way we study. That needs to be in their mindset from day one.
“Fourth, fear nothing. Not our opponents, not failure, not anything in our lives.”
In Pederson’s first season with the Eagles, he started out 3–0, including trouncing the Eagles in-state rival, the Pittsburgh Steelers, 34–3 at home in Week 3. №2 pick in the 2016 NFL Draft Carson Wentz, who the Eagles traded up twice before the draft to take, looked like a stud, and the Eagles looked to be the surprise team in the NFL. However, after that game, Wentz only threw 11 touchdown passes compared to 14 interceptions, and the Eagles went 4–9 over the last 13 games to finish the season 7–9. After the season, former NFL Executive Michael Lombardi said, “Pederson doesn’t display traits of a great coach.”
Even though his team underachieved in his first season as head coach, Pederson knew year 2 would be different. Eagles General Manager Howie Roseman acquired a boatload of veteran talent in the offseason, surrounding Wentz and Pederson with the tools necessary to succeed. Roseman completely overhauled the receiving core, bringing in wide receivers Alshon Jeffrey from the Chicago Bears on a one-year prove-it deal and Torrey Smith from the San Francisco 49ers on a three-year contract. Roseman signed bruising running back LeGarette Blount, the former two-time Super Bowl Champion with the Patriots to a one-year deal.
On the defensive side of the ball, Roseman worked on improving the team’s front four and secondary. In the 2017 NFL Draft, He drafted defensive end Derek Barnett with the №14 overall pick. He moved down 25 picks in the third-round to acquire Timmy Jerigan from the Baltimore Ravens, pairing stud defensive tackle Fletcher Cox with another big body inside. He signed defensive end Chris Long, a former №2 overall pick in the 2008 NFL Draft by the then St. Louis Rams. Long came with Blount from New England.
On Day 2 of the draft, Roseman drafted two cornerbacks: Sidney Jones in the second-round and Rasual Douglas in the third. The latter ended up being a solid backup defensive back while the former did not play at all during the 2017 season as he was rehabbing from a torn achilles tendon he suffered at his pro day. Roseman also signed veteran defensive back Patrick Robinson to a one-year contract, a move that proved to be pivotal in the Eagles quest to hoist the Lombardi Trophy.
In August of 2017, two Chip Kelly draft picks were battling to be the team’s slot wide receiver: Former first-round pick Nelson Agholor, who was selected with the №20 overall pick in the 2015 NFL Draft and was considered by many in the NFL a bust, and Jordan Matthews, a former second-round pick in 2014. By the beginning of preseason, Agholor was clearly winning the battle as Roseman shifted Matthews and a third-round pick in the 2018 NFL Draft for defensive back Ronald Darby, who was selected by Buffalo in the second-round of the 2015 NFL Draft. With that move, the Eagles secondary, which was ranked the worst in the NFL in 2016 by Pro Football Focus, had been remade, essentially overnight. Darby and 2016 seventh-round pick Jalen Mills would be the starting outside corners, Robinson would be the team’s nickel defensive back and Douglas was the first backup off the bench.
With all the moves Roseman made heading into the postseason, the Eagles were poised to make a playoff run, but Pederson knew early on in training camp the 2017 Eagles could be a team the city of Philadelphia remembers, comparing the team to the 1997 Green Bay Packers. Yes, that same Packers team that beat the Patriots in the biggest game of the year.
“I feel like we have talent with the players on this roster,” Pederson said. “I don’t want to put us in a box and say we can’t do this or can’t do that. I’m excited about the guys we have, the new additions, the draft picks, the free agents. I think they’ve helped our roster. They’ve helped add talent around Carson.
“I’ve seen what it takes and I got to make sure we’re doing those same things here to eventually get us to that game. It takes a coaching staff. It takes leadership from the top. It takes egos (having) to be put aside, and, we have to come out here every single day and work hard.”
The Eagles opened up the 2017 campaign in Washington D.C., taking out the rival Redskins, a team that entering the game had beaten the birds five straight times. Pederson’s Eagles won the game 30–17. Wentz played a magical game to kick off what would be a magical season, throwing for 307 yards, two touchdowns and one interception.
The next week, Pederson and crew lost to Reid’s Chiefs in a close game, 27–20. In Week 3, the Eagles played their home opener against the New York Giants, another NFC East rival. The Eagles were up 14–0 in the fourth quarter before the Giants scored 21 unanswered. The Eagles would answer back, tying the score at 24 apiece with 51 seconds to go in the game.
The Eagles defense would force a quick stop before getting the ball back with just under 20 second left at their own 39-yard line. A 19-yard strike to Jeffrey by Wentz put the Eagles at the Giant 43 with one tick remaining on the clock. This is where Pederson made arguably the decision of the regular-season.
Instead of trying a hail mary, Pederson sent out kicker Jake Elliott to attempt a 61-yard game-winning field goal attempt. Elliott’s kick went through the uprights, and the Eagles won the game 27–24. The Eagles took that momentum and finished the season 11–2 to earn a 13–3 record, and the №1 seed in the NFC. However, that №1 seed did not come without drama.
The Eagles lost Wentz to a torn ACL in the fourth quarter of their Week 14 game against the Los Angeles Rams. Wentz scrambled towards the end zone on a passing play and as he dove towards the plane, two Ram defenders sandwiched him and crushed his left ACL. Wentz was an MVP candidate in only his second-year in the league, throwing 33 touchdowns to only seven interceptions at the time of the injury.
Taking Wentz’ place was Nick Foles, a former Eagle who threw for 27 touchdowns and only two interceptions in 2013 under Kelly. After Kelly traded Foles to the Rams in 2015 for former №1 overall pick in the 2010 NFL Draft Sam Bradford, Foles struggled and nearly retired if it wasn’t for Foles’ former coach and Pederson’s mentor: Reid. Roseman would bring Foles back in March of 2017 to backup Wentz.
Entering the divisional round of the playoffs against the Falcons, the Eagles became the first №1 seed in NFL history to be underdogs in a playoff game, largely due to Foles. Fox Sports 1 First Things First co-host Nick Wright said the Eagles had no shot to win a playoff game with Foles under center.
Foles struggled in the game, going 23–30 (76%), but the Eagles offense only scored 15 points. Luckily for Pederson, defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz had a great game plan, limiting the Falcons to only 10 points.
Then, something happened.
Lightning struck in a bottle!
Over the next two games, Pederson, offensive coordinator Frank Reich, quarterbacks coach John DeFlippo, Foles and the entire Eagles offense caught fire. In the NFC Championship Game against the Minnesota Vikings, Foles threw for 352 yards and three scores, leading the Eagles to a 38–7 route. In the Super Bowl against the Patriots, Foles and Pederson out dueled Bill Belichick and Tom Brady, something nobody saw coming. The Eagles offense put up 41 points on the Patriots’ head, and Pederson called arguably the guttiest play in the history of football, Philly Special.
In a year’s time, Pederson went from a coach nobody respected but his own team to a Super Bowl Champion, and in my opinion, one of the top head coaches in the NFL, and as All-Pro center Jason Kelece said in his speech at the Eagles Super Bowl parade, “WHEN DOUG PEDERSON WAS HIRED, HE WAS RATED AS THE WORST FREAKIN’ COACHING HIRE BY A LOT OF ANALYSIS IN THE MEDIA! THIS PAST OFFSEASON, SOME CLOWN NAMED MIKE LOMBARDI TOLD HIM THAT HE WAS THE LEAST QUALIFIED HEAD COACH IN THE NFL!
“YOU SAW A DRIVEN DOUG PEDERSON! A MAN WHO WENT FOR IT ON FOURTH DOWN! WENT FOR IT ON FOURTH AND DOWN IN THE SUPER BOWL WITH A TRICK PLAY! HE WASN’T PLAYING JUST TO BE MEDIOCRE! HE WAS PLAYING TO WIN A SUPER BOWL!”
Coming off the Super Bowl, the Eagles knew they were no longer the hunters; they were the hunted. Foles started the first two games as Wentz was not fully back yet from his torn ACL. The Eagles went 1–1 in those games, including a win on opening night against the Falcons in a playoff rematch.
When Wentz returned, he played well, throwing 21 touchdowns and seven interceptions, but the team struggled to handle the pressure of defending the Lombardi Trophy, and they had a plethora of injuries. Wentz went 5–6 as the starter before suffering a fractured back in Week 14 against the arch rival Dallas Cowboys. Foles was thrust back into action, and the Eagles and Pederson thrived with Foles under adversity again, winning their last three games against the Rams, Texans and Redskins, sneaking into the playoffs at 9–7.
In the wild card round, the Eagles traveled to Chicago to take on Matt Nagy and the Bears. Nagy and Pederson were on the same staff with Reid in Kansas City, so they knew each other well. The Eagles won the game 16–15 following a missed field goal attempt by Bears kicker Cody Parkey with five second left that NBC play-by-play and Hall of Fame announcer Al Michaels coined as the “double doink”. While Foles struggled in the game, going 25–40 (63%), 266 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions, he did throw the game winning score to Golden Tate in the fourth quarter.
The next week, the Eagles lost in the divisional round to the New Orleans Saints 20–14. The Eagles had the ball at the Saints 27 yard-line just before the two-minute warning in the fourth quarter when Foles took the snap from Kelece and fired a laser right into the hands of Jeffrey. The ball ricocheted off of Jeffrey and right into the hands of Saints star defensive back Marshon Lattimore.
Following such a grueling defeat, there was optimism in the Eagles organization that 2019 could end in another Super Bowl victory. Wentz was back healthy for the first time since 2017, and long-time Eagle and fan-favorite Desean Jackson was back after five years away after Kelly released him in 2014. The season did not go as planned.
By Week 14, the Eagles were once again fighting for their playoff lives. They were 5–7 and a team full of injuries. Their top three wide receivers (Jeffrey, Jackson and Agholor), starting running back (Jordan Howard) and top linebacker (Kamu Grugier-Hill) were done for the season and Zach Ertz, arguably the best tight end in the league, had a broken rib. Wentz and Pederson were using star rookie running back Myles Sanders, breakout second-year tight end Dallas Goedert and a cast of practice squad players that included the likes of Greg Ward and Boston Scott to win games.
Just like the end of the 2018 season, Pederson and the Eagles won their last four games to finish the campaign 9–7, earning the NFC East crown and a home playoff game against the Seattle Seahawks, a team the Eagles had lost to in Week 12. Three minutes into the game, Wentz became concussed after a questionable hit from behind by stud linebacker Jadeveon Clowney. Wentz’ backup, veteran journeyman Josh McCown, played the rest of the game, and he suffered a torn hamstring early in the second quarter (the Eagles had no other quarterback active). The Eagles lost the game 17–9.
As the Eagles head coach, Pederson’s record is 38–26 (0.594 winning percentage) in the regular-season and 4–2 (0.667) in the postseason. If you take out 2017 (the Super Bowl season) Pederson’s regular-season record is only 25–23 (0.521), and his postseason record is 1–2 (0.333). The NFL average winning percentage for a head coach is 0.396 according to Pro Football References’ top 500 head coaches in the history of the league (thanks Microsoft Excel for the easy average finder calculator!). That number does not include postseason victories.
By that stay, Pederson is an above average head coach any way you look at the numbers, but the fact that CBS Sports’ Sean Wagner ranked Doug Pederson ninth in his NFL head coaches list is absurd!
Now, I probably should disqualify myself because I have been a die-hard Eagles fan since I have started watching football in the mid 2000’s, but I can’t help myself!
Belichick is obviously №1, and he will forever will be. №2 is Reid because of the way he’s worked magic with Patrick Mahomes the last two years, and he finally got the Super Bowl he so deserved! The debate really starts at №3, and I agree with 94 WIP’s Eliot Shorr-Parks that it should be Pederson.
Shorr-Parks writes.
“Pederson’s tenure with the Eagles has not been perfect, but in his four seasons with the team, all he has done is win big games. Since 2017, Pederson is 11–3 in the month of December in meaningful games, and overall, is 15–5 including the playoffs. Both of his losses in the playoffs the last two seasons came with backup quarterbacks playing, and both would have likely been wins if 1) Alshon Jeffery catches an easy pass vs. New Orleans or 2) Carson Wentz doesn’t get knocked out with a concussion vs. Seattle. You can play the what-if game for every team, but the fact remains that when the games have been important, Pederson has not been the reason his team has lost. You can’t say the same for some of the playoff losses by Payton, Carroll or McVay.
“As a result of consistently winning big games, Pederson is one of only four head coaches to lead his team into the playoffs each of the last three seasons. That is extremely impressive considering how dramatically teams swing in the NFL and the injuries Pederson has had to deal with. The other three teams to do it — Patriots, Saints and Chiefs — all have their coaches in the top six, with Payton being the only one that falls outside of the top five. Payton gets knocked down a spot for three-straight years of disappointing losses in the playoffs. Belichick, Reid and Pederson, on the other hand, have all won a Super Bowl during that stretch.
“In fact, of all the coaches in both my top-10 list and Wagner’s, only Belichick has more playoff wins over the last three seasons than the four Pederson has won. The alone should put Pederson in the top five of any list.”
I couldn’t have said it better myself! Pederson has been in the NFL a long time, and deserves better from the national media! I’m glad he’s the coach of my football team for (hopefully) years to come!
Brandon Lewis is a columnist, radio show host and podcaster. Check out his podcast, Brandon’s World, here, and follow him on Twitter @real_bworld. Columns will be out every Friday!
