Nobody Wants Doug Pederson

By now it's clear that what was the Philadelphia Eagles coaching search has culminated in the hiring of a Mr. Doug Pederson. Yes, that Doug Pederson. Former Eagles QB/coach and Andy Reid disciple. A climax that leaves many Eagle phans unaroused. For me personally the name Doug Pederson denotes mediocrity. An undrafted, career backup quarterback, who briefly held the fort down for the Eagles as we awaited the rookie debut of the highly touted Donovan McNabb. 

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"As much as Doug Pederson was my 4th, 5th, heck maybe 8th choice, it certainly seemed to be the same for Jeffrey Lurie and the search team."

When names began to surface about just who the Eagles brass would bring in for interviews, Doug Pederson was at the bottom of my list. For an owner who wanted a "head start" on the coaching search, the search seemed dysfunctional the whole way through. From Lurie's supposed number one guy, Adam Gase, turning down a second interview to go to Miami, and old man rivers, Tom Coughlin, feeling to far past his prime to work on this rebuild.  As much as Doug Pederson was my 4th, 5th, heck maybe 8th choice, it certainly seemed to be the same for Jeffrey Lurie and the search team. No other team looking for a head coach even requested an interview with Pederson, that scares me. 

Now we know how much Lurie loves Andy Reid and respects him as a coach. So without question when coach after coach fell through for the Birds Lurie did not hesitate to go to Andy for a recommendation. That recommendation resulted in Doug Pederson. So after what turned out to be a horrific post-Andy experience in Chip Kelly, Lurie went crawling back to the man who brought him a decade and a half of success. 

This may seem like the ultimate Doug Pederson bashing blog, the ultimate negadelphian piece, but it's just a gut reaction to a hire that is vitally important to a franchise in disarray. I don't hate the guy or wish his demise. Honestly he may end up being a heck of a football coach (insert cough) and may end up bringing a parade to South Philly. I hope he does! I'm confident in saying that most Philadelphians feel the same way, hence the name of this article. It certainly is not a sexy pick, and maybe that is just what we need right now. 

As much as the Chip Kelly ship seemed to be rapidly sinking with no life boats on board, I would have been fine with giving Kelly another year. I thought he deserved at least that. I'm sure I was in the minority. But yet with the hiring of Pederson the Chip haters have miraculously turned into Chip lovers arguing that even Chip Kelly would be the better choice to lead the 2016 Eagles than Doug Pederson. Hate it or love it Pederson is our guy. 

"Pederson is very organized and detailed, a great teacher of the QB position, and has a great understanding of the West Coast Offense."

As much as we harp on the negative of this hire, we honestly don't know much about Doug Pederson as a coach. From the talk around the league from individuals who have worked with him, we know that Pederson is very organized and detailed, a great teacher of the QB position, and has a great understanding of the West Coast Offense. Not a shocker that it sounds exactly like his mentor. Andy was just an unknown QB's coach in Green Bay when Jeffrey brought him to Philadelphia and the rest is history. A 14-year run in which the Eagles steadily remained one of the best teams in football, appearing in 5 NFC Championship games and winning six NFC East titles. So if we are going to take a protege of any coach, why not Andy, the winningest coach in Philadelphia Eagles history. ​​

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