Jaguars Rumors: Ex-Eagles HC Doug Pederson to Have 2nd Interview amid Saints Buzz
January 31, 2022
The Jacksonville Jaguars have never won a Super Bowl in franchise history, but they may look to bring in someone who has in an effort to change that.
According to Mike Garafolo of NFL Network, the Jaguars plan on interviewing former Philadelphia Eagles head coach Doug Pederson for the second time. This comes after NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reported the New Orleans Saints also interviewed Pederson as they search for Sean Payton's replacement.
That the Jaguars will interview Pederson a second time is particularly notable since Albert Breer of The MMQB reported he "had trepidation over the setup in Jacksonville."
The organization is certainly a question mark, and it reached the point some fans dressed like clowns for the season finale in protest of owner Shad Khan and general manager Trent Baalke. The AFC South club hired Baalke as the director of player personnel in February 2020, and he moved into the GM role in November 2020.
Jacksonville finished with the worst record in the NFL for the second straight season, this time going 3-14 in a campaign that was largely overshadowed by the hiring and eventual firing of Urban Meyer as the head coach.
Meyer made plenty of headlines off the field and failed to win on it, which has left the team in position to interview candidates such as Pederson this offseason.
The Jaguars have just one winning season since the 2007 campaign, although quarterback Trevor Lawrence provides some hope after they chose him with the No. 1 pick in the 2021 NFL draft. He struggled to establish much consistency as a rookie with 12 touchdown passes to a league-worst 17 interceptions, but he wasn't exactly surrounded by top-notch talent.
Pederson has maximized talent in the past and led the Eagles to the Super Bowl title during the 2017 season even after starting quarterback Carson Wentz was lost for the year to injury.
He coached in Philadelphia from 2016 until he was fired in 2020 and finished with a 42-37-1 record while leading the team to the playoffs in three of his five years. By comparison, the Jaguars have been to the playoffs three times in the last 22 seasons.