The former Eagles’ Super Bowl-winning head coach led Jacksonville to a 4-13 season before learning his fate.
Emotions have been simmering all season, with players in Jacksonville appearing to have all but given up as the weeks went on, but things came to a head after their season finale, when the Jaguars announced they have fired Doug Pederson.
Jacksonville Jaguars fired Doug Pederson as their head coach, per source.
Pederson’s tenure in Jacksonville ends after three season and a 22-29 record, including 18 losses in the last 23 games. pic.twitter.com/MfAayhTcQz
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 6, 2025
After a “mutual” parting of ways between the Eagles and Doug Pederson, the Super Bowl-winning head coach took a year off to spend time with family and evaluate options for his next step. Pederson ended up landing with the Jacksonville Jaguars, and just as he did in Philly, he took a demoralized locker room and brought the group together to exceed early expectations.
Exceeding expectations in Year 1 is impressive, but unless that is sustained season-over-season, it ends up setting an unrealistic expectation for Year 3. And that’s where Pederson was following the worst loss in franchise history in Week 11, losing to the Lions 52-6. The head coach was already on the hot seat with a 2-9 record, and the six games that followed did little to change his fate.
It’ll be interesting to see what’s next for Pederson — he won a Super Bowl as a head coach, players seem to love playing for him, and he’s proven that he can take even the lowest ranked teams to new heights under his leadership. Still, he’s now had two opportunities as a head coach, and both ended after just a few years, and both ended with incredibly disappointing seasons.
He’ll drink for free in Philly for the rest of his life, but his options to lead another team as a head coach might be few and far between. Whether he would consider a job as an Offensive Coordinator is to be seen, but he’d probably get more interest if he does.
