DOUG PEDERSON COMES BACK TO PHILLY FOR JAGS-EAGLES!
By Max Harper
Doug Pederson was fired as Eagles coach in January 2021, not quite three years after he led the team to its first Super Bowl victory.
What have you done for us lately, indeed!
And this Sunday he leads the Jacksonville Jaguars back his AFC South-leading team into the Linc to play the 3-0 Eagles.
So, Dougie P, are you looking forward to it?
“My wife and I, our family, we’ve got a lot of great memories back there,” Pederson said to reporters in Jacksonville on Monday afternoon.
“I spent 8 or 9 years there, once with Coach (Andy) Reid and then obviously as the head coach. I brought that city a championship and (that is) something to be proud of obviously.”
“I’m really looking forward to getting back there,” Pederson continued.
“I understand that city, I understand the passion for football. But now I’m on the other side. It’s still a long way away. It’s seven days away or six days away. But we’ve got to prepare this week like we have these last couple of weeks. I’m looking forward to it, getting back up there. It’s been a great place. We did a lot of good things there. Looking forward to the welcome.”
What kind of reception is Pederson expecting?
“I don’t know. It could be mixed,” Pederson said. “Listen, I gotta get this team here ready to go. I’m not going to be concerned with that. You hope it’s a good one obviously for the things you did there. But I also know that crowd and they can be a little hostile. Looking forward to that too.”
Pederson was out of coaching during the 2021 season and he seems refreshed now that he’s back in the head coach’s chair. He has his Jaguars off to an impressive 2-1 start after beating the Chargers on Sunday.
While Pederson reached the ultimate peak during his time as the Eagles’ head coach, things ended poorly when he was fired by owner Jeff Lurie after the 2020 season, citing different visions for the future. Lurie then hired Nick Sirianni, who got the Eagles into the playoffs in Year 1 and has them undefeated through three weeks in Year 2.
Sirianni was the offensive coordinator in Indianapolis under Frank Reich, who was once the offensive coordinator under Pederson in Philly. So Sirianni and Pederson don’t even know each other, but Sirianni said he has never heard a bad word spoken about his predecessor.
“I got a ton of respect for him,” Sirianni said.
