Takeaways from Doug Pederson’s first press conference with Jags
January 5, 2020; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Eagles Doug Pederson walks out for pregame warmups before the start of the NFC Wild Card playoff football game against the Seattle Seahawks at Lincoln Financial Field. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports
The Jags have understandably been criticized for the way their search has gone after taking a two-week head start and completing it in early February. Pederson was their first interview on December 30 and was also their last as her second interview was on February 1.
This put Pederson in a situation where his second interview did not take place until an entire month had passed. Despite this, however, Pederson said he didn’t mind and said he appreciated the thoroughness of the process.
“Like Shad [Khan] mentioned that the interview process was thorough,” Pederson said. “It was very exhaustive, even for us as candidates who went through the process, not really knowing what was going to happen. I can appreciate the diligence that the Khan family presented, what Trent presented and what they lived with Tony [Khan].
“The fact that they took such a long time to make this decision today makes me even more proud that, yes, I was the first candidate interviewed, and yes, I was the last candidate interviewed. And between the two, there were a lot of great candidates. A lot of great candidates could be sitting here today.
Pederson is right about the pool the Jags put together because it was a solid group that included Byron Leftwich, who deepened the talks with the Jags. However, he wanted to bring in his own general manager rather than Trent Baalke, who has survived three coaches brought in with him from his time in San Francisco.
Of course, this led to Leftwich removing his name from the team’s candidate pool, which helped speed up the process. However, that’s certainly not to knock Pederson on either, as he was a strong contender with accolades very similar to the Jags’ former first-round selection.
Thing is, the Jags are very lucky to get out of this process with Pederson, who belongs to the league as head coach, after how disorganized the search felt. And whether it’s the Jags reconsidering their front-office structure (more on that later), or Pederson’s patience and/or openness that helped it all come together, the organization has strength. fortunate to have averted the disasters, fans have seen the people at the top of the cause before.
