Jaguars' Doug Pederson Lands at No. 10 in PFT's HC Rankings

It seems consensus at this point -- the Jacksonville Jaguars, at last, have one of the 10 best head coaches in the NFL.

Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson has consistently seen his name in top-10 lists this offseason, with the latest being a spot on Mike Florio's top-10 head coach list at ProFootballTalk.

Coming in behind Mike Vrabel, Kyle Shanahan, and Sean McVay, Pederson was ranked No. 10. He came in ahead of other options such as Dallas Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy and Green Bay Packers head coach Matt LaFleur.

Pederson has a Super Bowl win, an unlikely championship with Nick Foles under center in place of Carson Wentz. That feat becomes more amazing as time goes by. After Pederson was surprisingly fired and sat our the 2021 season, he became the perfect chaser for Urban Meyer, a one-year disaster who transformed the Jags into an expansion team all over again," Florio said. "Pederson guided the Jags to a division title and a memorable comeback win in the wild-card round against the Chargers. The Jaguars also gave the Chiefs a good game, and Jacksonville enters 2023 with higher expectations than the team has had in years.

"Coaches who have won a Super Bowl with one team and are now coaching another team are keenly aware of the fact that no coach has won a Super Bowl with two different teams. McCarthy, Sean Payton, and Doug Pederson are the three who currently have a chance to do it. And Pederson, given the quality of his roster, could be in the best position of that trio to pull it off. If he does, he’ll be higher on this list, if we do it again next year."

Jacksonville finished 9-8 in the regular season, recovering from a 3-7 record and winning the AFC South in Week 18 before defeating the Los Angeles Chargers in the Wild Card Round.

The Jaguars increased their win total by six wins (from three to nine) this season, tying Detroit for the largest improvement in wins in 2022. Jacksonville’s six-win increase was the highest by any team with a new head coach.

“There’s a lot of things to point to, but I don’t think you point to anything greater than Doug’s (Head Coach Doug Pederson) influence as a leader,” Jaguars general manager Trent Baalke said after the season when asked why the Jaguars turned their fortunes around.

“When you have someone at the top that’s as steady as Doug is, as fearless as he is, and really as authentic. Those are three things I think of when I think of the way Doug’s led this organization and this football team that really stand out, and people get behind that. When you’re authentic, you’re the same guy every day, and you’re fearless as a leader, people—players, staff, fan bases—it’s encouraging, and it’s engaging.”