Doug Pederson Discusses End of Relationship with Eagles, Carson Wentz

PHILADELPHIA - Doug Pederson would have liked an opportunity to turn around the franchise he piloted to its first and only Super Bowl championship.

That was the message in the former Eagles coach's first public remarks since a rift with owner Jeffrey Lurie resulted in a coaching change less than three calendar years after the Super Bowl LII win over New England in Minneapolis.

Pederson and his son Josh, who will be entering April's draft as a tight end out of Louisiana-Monroe, were guests of NBC Sports Philadelphia's John Clark on the first episode of Clark's new podcast, "Takeoff with John Clark."

Doug Pederson opens up for first time about being let go by Eagles

His son Josh is trying to get drafted into NFL next month and follow in his dad’s footsteps

Josh has spoken with Eagles 🤔

Check out my new podcast that just dropped 🎙 🔽https://t.co/DyiRavBQKm pic.twitter.com/81WFk8qYUT
— John Clark (@JClarkNBCS) March 16, 2021

Pederson joined via Zoom from South Florida to discuss his son's future in advance of the Louisiana-Monroe Pro Day on Thursday.

The coach also discussed his five-year tenure as Eagles' head coach, which produced three playoff appearances and the Lombardi Trophy after the 2017 season sandwiched between two losing seasons: Carson Wentz's rookie campaign as the No. 2 overall pick in the 2016 draft and Wentz's dismal 2020 campaign, which resulted in a pending trade to Indianapolis, something that will be made official on Wednesday.

“I would have loved to have had an opportunity to really kind of fix the season last year and get the season back on track and really turn that thing around,” said Pederson. “I feel like that’s something that I really could have done. I understand where [Lurie was] coming from and obviously the situation moving forward."

The breaking point with Lurie, according to team sources, was greater autonomy with the coaching staff.

Pederson wasn't happy he was forced to fire offensive coordinator Mike Groh and wide receivers coach Carson Walch after the 2019 season and was again flummoxed when his plan of elevating Press Taylor to OC and Matt Burke to defensive coordinator in the wake of Jim Schwartz stepping away was met with resistance by Lurie.

Pederson stood his ground this time and Lurie changed his mind after initially planning to move forward with Pederson in 2021.

Ultimately, the Eagles hired Nick Sirianni to be the new head coach after an exhaustive search. Sirianni was the OC for Frank Reich, Pederson's former right-hand man with the Eagles from 2106 through Super Bowl LII.

“It’s water under the bridge,” said Pederson.

Pederson did admit, however, he did "stand up for the guys."

“I’ve done that in my time there and obviously I’m going to always continue to stand up for the guys that I want to surround myself with and try to put my best foot forward,” he said. “I feel like as the head coach, you should have that opportunity to have the guys around you. Because then it’s on me, then it’s my decision. If it goes south at that point, then that’s something I have to live with."

Ironically, back in 2016 after a 7-9 season, Lurie wanted Pederson to replace Reich as OC with then-quarterbacks coach John DeFilippo, who was getting interest from the New York Jets to be their OC.

“I’m always going to stand up for those guys, whether they’re coaches, whether they’re players, front office people," said Pederson. "Because you want to surround yourself with guys that are loyal, guys that are going to have your back and guys that are going to stand up for you because I’m going to stand up for every one of those players in that locker room, which I did for five years. And obviously, my coaches are the same.”

As for the much-discussed fractured relationship with Wentz, which turned into a text-only one after the quarterback's benching at Green Bay on Dec. 6, Pederson claimed he understood why the former face of the franchise was upset.

"The only thing I will say, and I understand where Carson is coming from because it's difficult when you're the starter and things like that happen and you basically get benched," said Pederson. "Our season wasn't going the way we wanted it to go and it's difficult. It's difficult for any player to go through that.

"I did it with Nelson Agholor my first year, obviously a different position and all that, but you've got to have the conversations, and you've got to have an open-door policy, and you've got to communicate, and I felt we did that.

"I do believe there's a little misnomer out there where Carson and I were on such bad terms, and I've never felt that way."

Like many others, Pederson believes a change in scenery will help Wentz.

"I'm excited to see what he does with the Colts now," he said. "And he has a fresh start, too. I think that's something that players go through in their careers. They get opportunities to go to other places through free agency or trades.

"You get cut one place, you get picked up in another. It's another opportunity, and I know that's what he is looking forward to and I'm excited to watch his career moving forward."

Pederson plans to get back into coaching at some point and is focusing on all the good moments in had in the Delaware Valley.

“From a closure standpoint, I just think about those great times, great moments I had in the five years,” he said. “Obviously, we had a rough season this past year and things didn’t go our way and the injuries and whatnot. But I don’t focus on that.

"I focus on the good times, the good things, the people I’ve met, the relationships that I have and still hold dear to my heart. That, to me, gives me closure on any decision that was made. Because I know that I can obviously hold my head up high. Very proud of what I did in the five years in Philadelphia, obviously bringing that organization and that city a championship.”

John McMullen contributes Eagles coverage for SI.com's EagleMaven and is the NFL Insider for JAKIB Media. You can listen to John every Monday and Thursday on The Middle with Eytan Shander, Harry Mayes, former Eagles OT Barrett Brooks streaming live on both PhillyVoice.com and SportsMap Radio. John is also the host of his own show "Extending the Play" on AM1490 in South Jersey. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen

Ed Kracz is the publisher of SI.com’s EagleMaven. Check out the latest Eagles news at www.SI.com/NFL/Eagles and please follow him on Twitter: @kracze.