What Kind of Coach Is Doug Pederson? Ex-Eagles & Jaguars Tight End Weighs In
The excitement brewing inside of TIAA Bank Field over new Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson is already palpable. Not even yet a week on the job, and Pederson has already left a strong impression on fans, the organization and, most importantly, the locker room.
Why has it come so easy to Pederson since being named the Jaguars head coach? Why does the positive energy inside of the building seem genuine for the first time in a long time? Because, as former Philadelphia Eagles and Jaguars tight end Clay Harbor explained to Jaguar Report, that is the type of coach the Jaguars are getting in Pederson.
"Doug's one of those guys that you felt comfortable with. He would laugh, he would joke around with you. He was a what you call a player's coach," Harbor said. "You know, he would he wasn't a guy that's a stern leader.
"Doug was a guy that you'd love to play for. As a tight end, he would pull me aside if he saw something like, 'Hey, Clay, I love the route you just ran you know, maybe take it a step further, you give him a little nod, head nod and then you cut it in.'"
Harbor and Pederson spent several years together with the Eagles, with Harbor as a rookie tight end in 2010 as Pederson served as an offensive quality control coach. The two remained together for the following two seasons, with Pederson getting promoted to quarterbacks coach as Harbor continued his career as a tight end.
And while Pederson was never Harbor's position coach, he never had to be. He saw first-hand just how well Pederson could connect to a roster an entire offense, because he himself connected with the former Andy Reid assistant and Eagles head coach.
"He's a guy that would talk to all the players, he's coaching everybody. He doesn't look at one guy any better than the other one. And he knows his stuff," Harbor said.
That is what Pederson is bringing to Jacksonville, and that is what makes him so dramatically different from his predecessor Urban Meyer. After Meyer attempted to sell Jacksonville's base on a player-centric model that proved to be anything but, Pederson can genuinely bring that model.
The Jaguars' locker room was put through the wringer under Meyer, in large part because he was a tough coach to relate to -- especially with professional athletes. Pederson, however, is the exact opposite. Not only does he know how to relate and connect with professional athletes, but he automatically has credibility because his own playing career helped him experience the same situations many of his players find themselves in every single day.
"I think Doug can relate to a lot of different players because in his playing days, he's been in a lot of those positions that players have been in. He's played, he's started, he's been a backup, he's been a fringe guy," Harbor said. "And all those different things that he has done helps him to be able to relate and makes him more relatable to players. He seems like a normal dude.
"He's just a very normal guy you can go and talk to but he just -- he knows a lot about football. The guy's whole life is football and he is a genuine coach. I think that's why all the players that have played for him, they're gonna say nothing but good things about Doug Pederson."
Pederson ended up spending 13 years in the NFL, largely bouncing around the league as a backup quarterback but especially making his mark as Brett Favre's backup in Green Bay. It was then that Pederson began to truly develop his future coaching philosophy, with Pederson connecting with future Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid in Green Bay.
Eventually, Pederson got his first NFL job under Reid before working his way up to coordinator status for Reid in Kansas City. And both his experiences as a coach and player under Reid helped craft the kind of coach Pederson is today -- a coach Harbor thinks will be a positive influence on Trevor Lawrence.
"You know, he played in the league. He's a former quarterback, obviously with the Green Bay Packers, played for many years. The Old West Coast Offense, you know, he's an Andy Reid disciple," Harbor said. "He is a smart guy, knows the mechanics, you always see him coaching mechanics with quarterbacks. When he was coaching Vick, coaching Foles, you would see him focusing on mechanics."
"I think he's the perfect guy to bring along Trevor Lawrence for that reason, because he knows the position. He's played it. He knows how to avoid pressure. It is more relatable when a coach has actually played than when a coach hasn't."
And that, in essence, is why Pederson is seen as a smart hire for Lawrence. Last year's No. 1 overall pick struggled as the rest of the Jaguars' offense failed to find success under Meyer and offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell.
Unlike last season, Lawrence now has a coach who can relate to his on-field experiences with complete ease. Pederson has been in the quarterback room as a starting passer before. He has had to translate his college skill set to a faster and more intense NFL game, just like Lawrence has had to do.
It is because of that experience that Harbor thinks the Jaguars and owner Shad Khan got it right with the hire of Pederson. To Harbor, there was only one way to go with this year's hire, and was with a quarterback guru. To Harbor, he saw two great fits in Pederson and Tampa Bay offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich, fits he thinks will be a great resource to Lawrence.
"You can look at my tweets from on the Jaguars job opened up a couple months ago, I think it was. First thing I said, is I said Doug Peterson or Byron Leftwich," Harbor said. "Two guys who have played in this league, quarterback coaches and offensive coordinators that our offensive-minded guys that know the ins and out of the quarterback position, know how to play it, know what this guy's going through.
"But I think I think Doug is good because he can bring Trevor along. And I think that's the number one thing you need. If you think that Trevor Lawrence is the guy and is going to be your franchise quarterback, the number one overall pick, you had to hire a quarterback guy, a quarterback coach and offensive guy. You couldn't bring in a defensive coach and just hope that maybe he can hire or find someone on staff that can tutor and help Trevor become the guy. So I think Shad got that right, that he needed to bring in a true offensive-minded quarterback guy."
And that is why the Jaguars hired Pederson. Because for as much as the Jaguars needed an entire reset of their coaching staff to better give all 53 players a chance to succeed, it is Lawrence's development that will ultimately determine whether the Jaguars turn the corner in the foreseeable future.
Lawrence finished his rookie season with 12 touchdowns to 17 interceptions, a completion percentage below 60% and a lengthy streak of no passing touchdowns. Lawrence was a victim of his surroundings, but that doesn't change the fact that to develop the Jaguars as a whole, Pederson will first have to develop Lawrence.
"I think Trevor Lawrence has shown flashes of being a great quarterback, he just needs to get over that hump. I know he's still really young and he's impressionable right now in the league and I think this next year is going to be huge for him and for the Jaguars organization," Harbor said.
"You know if Trevor can come along and be that guy that can improve and can show that he can be a winning quarterback in this league, that's huge for the organization, the city and obviously, you know, Shad and the Jaguars.
Luckily for Lawrence and the rest of the Jaguars, they are getting a coach who Harbor says is firm in his beliefs. The belief in his system, passed down to him by Reid but tweaked with his own designs in recent years. The belief in who he is as a coach, a down-to-earth and genuine person who players have zero issues building relationships with.
"Absolutely. I mean, you see, Doug, you know, this guy's won a Super Bowl. He's been on some really good teams and he's been on some teams that underachieved and you know, Doug's demeanor never changes," Harbor said. "He believes in his process."
"They believe in their system and it's shown to work. You see some of the guys coming from that system, obviously, all the success Andy Reid has had in Kansas City, and some of the other guys on those staffs as well. You know, it's, it's easy to see why these guys are so successful with the kind of system they have and how they treat the players."
How quickly can Pederson turn the Jaguars around? For a franchise that is 4-29 in the last two seasons, their mountain back to relevancy is a steep one to climb. But to Harbor, they do have a coach who can make it work when given enough time.
For example, look at Pederson's tenure with the Eagles. He took over an Eagles team in 2016 that was still reeling from the Chip Kelly era, going 7-9 in his first season. A year later, the Eagles went 13-3, won their division and ultimately won the Super Bowl. It took time and patience, but Pederson made it happen. Can he do the same with the Jaguars?
"I don't know if he's gonna be able to come in and then wave a magic wand and the Jaguars are automatically a playoff team, but I think you'll see some improvement. I think the players are gonna like the fact you got a player coach in there and a guy that you can really pull for and you work hard for," Harbor said. "And I think that, you know, they're going to go as far as you know, Trevor can take them.
"I think that you'll see some improvement. I don't think it's gonna be you know, one of the magic wands and the Jaguars are in the playoffs or going deep in the playoffs, I think that Doug can and will improve this team and organization, but I think it might, it's gonna take time."
