In recent years there have been about six head coaches fired from their team on a perennial basis. The prime candidates for that to be case after the 2025 season would be the Miami Dolphins, the New York Jets, and the Tennessee Titans, and perhaps a few others such as the Arizona Cardinals. Although he has been terminated as a head coach on two separate occasions, former Super Bowl winning head coach Doug Pederson would be my top head coaching candidate to pursue. He was unfairly terminated by both the Eagles and the Jaguars in my estimation, his high points as a head coach parallel that of any head coach ever, and his low points are certainly understandable with other renown head coaches possessing similar low points as well.
Doug Pederson after serving as one of the lead offensive assistants under Andy Reid with both the Eagles and Chiefs for seven seasons landed his first head coaching gig with the Eagles before the 2016 season. Pederson had a decent caliber rookie head coach season amassing a 7-9 record with rookie QB Carson Wentz at the helm. Pederson in year two as the head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles won the Super Bowl despite losing starting QB Carson Wentz to a season ending injury who was on pace to win league MVP honors before getting injured. Pederson’s coaching job during that campaign winning the Super Bowl with a backup QB was remarkable. I personally view the coaching job of Doug Pederson during that Super Bowl run as amongst the greatest coaching jobs in sports history.
My rationale for viewing Pederson’s coaching job during the 2017 Super Bowl run to be amongst the greatest coaching jobs in not just football history but in sports history is the following. The Eagles during that season are one of only 9 teams ever to win a Super Bowl while being on a backup QB. However, the remaining teams who pulled off the feat had a QB who ultimately ended up being a hall of fame caliber QB or the team won primarily through defense. For instance, Kurt Warner won the Super Bowl as a backup QB but put together a hall of fame career in totality outside of that one run. While Trent Dilfer won the Super Bowl as a backup QB but the Ravens with him at the helm won primarily with defense. While Tom Brady as a backup QB put together a hall of fame career and the Patriots with him winning as a backup were mostly led by the defensive side of the ball. This is important when assessing the remarkability of Pederson’s coaching job during the 2017 season for the following reasons. It’s not as if the Eagles won with a backup QB primarily with defense as the Eagles scored over 70 points in the conference championship and Super Bowl vs two top five scoring defenses that year. It is also not as if backup QB Nick Foles that season was a high-level player outside of that run either. As Foles outside of that Super Bowl run was just a backup caliber QB for almost the entirety of his career, it’s not as if he was a backup QB like Kurt Warner, Roger Staubach, or Tom Brady who won a title as a backup who eventually ended up having a hall of fame career.
Pederson, as an offensive minded head coach, had his offense produce at a historic level in the two most critical games. As the Eagles scored over 70 points in the conference title and Super Bowl vs two top five scoring defenses that year despite being on a backup QB. A backup QB, who outside of the tutelage of Pederson, was just a backup caliber QB for the vast majority of his career as well. A few other key points that illustrate the strength of Pederson’s coaching during that Super Bowl run would be the following. The Eagles’ 2017 Super Bowl winning offensive coordinator Frank Reich was also not mostly responsible for the Eagles’ offensive success that season. As Reich struggled as a head coach, being fired twice and is no longer even in the NFL currently, as he is just an interim head coach for Stanford University football as of now. The defense was not responsible for the Eagles’ Super Bowl win as Philadelphia hemorrhaged 30+ points and 500+ passing yards to the Patriots in the Super Bowl that year, although the Eagles’ defense was stout in rout to the Super Bowl. The Eagles’ offensive personnel that season that the offensive minded Pederson and the backup QB Foles commanded was good but nothing special either. The Eagles had a good but not a great offensive line during the 2017 season that ranked 16th in pass blocking grade according to Pro Football Focus, 5th in run blocking grade according to Pro Football Focus, 9th in pass blocking efficiency, and were 15th in sacks allowed as well. The Eagles’ skill position players were average to below average in addition to it, tight end Zach Ertz was a standout, but the wide receivers and running backs were just average B- caliber players such as Nelson Agholor, Alshon Jeffrey, Jay Ajayi, and Corey Clement. The Eagles’ primary wide receivers and running backs currently have a combined two pro bowl appearances for their whole careers among them. Tight end Zach Ertz was very good as well, but it’s not as if he was Travis Kelce or Rob Gronkowski in their primes either. The Eagles offensive personnel outside of their QB position was good during the 2017 Super Bowl run but not anything special.
The offensive minded head coach Doug Pederson with a backup QB and good but not great offensive personnel had his offense produce at a historic level vs two top five defenses in the two most critical games in route to winning the Super Bowl vs the greatest dynasty in NFL history. That backup QB, outside of the tutelage of Pederson, was just a backup caliber QB for essentially his whole career as well. Pederson’s offensive coordinator that year could not cut it as a head coach either. Pederson’s talented defense that season did not do much to assist him in the Super Bowl as the defense allowed 30+ points in the title game to New England. I challenge anyone to find a greater single season coaching job in not just NFL history but in sports history to rival what Pederson did during the 2017 Super Bowl season.
Pederson made the playoffs the next two seasons but after a dismal 4-11-1 record the year after, he was ousted by general manager Howie Roseman. I did not like the move at first, but Roseman has been prone to do something similar as he moved off former head coach Andy Reid after a down year. With Reid being almost universally regarded as the premier head coach in the NFL as of now despite being ousted by Eagles’ general manager Roseman. The dismissal of Pederson as the head coach of Philadelphia after a down year is eerily similar to the dismissal of Andy Reid as the head coach of the Eagles by Roseman. With Reid now having gone on to win three Super Bowl titles as the head coach of Kansas City.
Doug Pederson after taking a year off coaching was then hired as the head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars. Pederson had a very underrated run with Jacksonville and was unfairly terminated from the position in my estimation just as he was with the Eagles as well. The two years before Pederson’s first year as the head coach of the Jaguars, Jacksonville was the worst team in the NFL, amassing a 1-15 record two years prior to his arrival and then a 3-14 record the year before Pederson was hired. Pederson in his first season as the head coach of the Jaguars got the team into the playoffs and won a playoff game. Pederson’s Jaguars then proceeded to lose by just one possession on the road to the eventual Super Bowl Champion Chiefs in year 1 of the Pederson era as well. Year 1 with Doug Pederson at the helm of the Jaguars should easily be viewed as one of the greatest if not the greatest turnaround a team has ever seen with a first-year head coach. The team was easily the worst team in the NFL the two years prior to Pederson’s arrival and in year 1 with Pederson they ostensibly were one of the best. Winning a playoff game and then losing by one score on the road to the eventual Super Bowl champion Chiefs. I challenge anyone to find a greater turnaround a team has seen with a first-year head coach than the one Pederson had with Jacksonville in his first season as the head man.
In year two of the Doug Pederson era in Jacksonville, the team got off to an 8-3 start and was primed for a deep postseason run while being one of the biggest threats to make the Super Bowl. The team, however, collapsed towards the end of the season, finishing the year 1-5 and missing the postseason all together. However, star QB Trevor Lawrence got banged up towards the end of the year and his lack of health was in large part responsible for the team’s demise. With Lawrence healthy, Jacksonville was as big of a threat as almost anyone to make the Super Bowl coming out of the AFC, when he got banged up, they fell apart. Although the Jaguars under the watch of Pederson should have been better even with Lawrence injured, it’s still a QB game, and the Jaguars’ roster that year was still rebuilding in large part from their 3-14 and 1-15 seasons. I challenge any head coach ever, even Bill Belichick or Andy Reid, to win games with a banged-up QB and a roster that was still rebuilding in large part.
In the third and final season of the Doug Pederson era in Jacksonville the Jaguars amassed a 4-13 record with again star QB Trevor Lawrence being banged up. Lawrence played through an injury that he likely should not have been playing through during the 2023 season but during the 2024 season Lawrence did indeed miss several games. The Jaguars lost 10 of their 13 games by only one possession. Which included losing by just one score to the eventual champion Eagles on the road with Lawrence at the helm and also by just one score to the 14-3 Vikings at home despite Lawrence being out. Given the collapse at the end of the 2023 season and the abysmal 4-13 mark that the team amassed with Pederson as the head man during the 2024 season, perhaps his firing was justified. However, Pederson had one of the greatest turnarounds a team has ever had with a first-year head coach in year 1 on the job with the Jaguars. When star QB Trevor Lawrence was healthy, the Jaguars with Pederson as the head coach were a very strong team as well. When Lawrence was not healthy, the team indeed struggled which led to Pederson’s termination. However, it is a QB game, and any head coach would struggle to win without a healthy QB spot. The roster that Pederson had to work with during his time with the Jaguars was questionable in large part as well. As during his tenure as the head coach of Jacksonville, the roster was still rebuilding in large part from the 1-15 and 3-14 years prior to his arrival and the roster was subpar in large part being built by now terminated general manager Trent Baalke.
Sean McVay, Andy Reid, Kyle Shanahan, and Jim Harbaugh are the four premier head coaches in the NFL currently in my estimation. Doug Pederson’s track record as an NFL head coach matches that of any of them. People point to McVay’s first season with the Rams where Los Angeles saw a big turnaround in the first year with McVay as the biggest indicator of how strong of a head coach he is. Where the Rams went from 4-12 the season prior to his arrival while having the weakest offense in the NFL, to then making the playoffs in the first year with McVay to having the premier offense in the NFL. First overall pick Jared Goff was seen as a bust in his rookie season and then head coach Sean McVay had him live up to his potential in the first season of the McVay era. Doug Pederson’s first season with the Jaguars was eerily similar to that of McVay’s first season with the Rams. Where the Jaguars were a shipwreck in the years prior to Pederson’s arrival and first overall pick QB Trevor Lawrence was being thought of as a bust. While in the first season with Pederson, the team indeed made the playoffs and first overall pick QB Trevor Lawrence who had an abysmal rookie season then started to live up to his potential with Pederson now as the head man. If anything, Pederson’s first season with the Jaguars was even more impressive than McVay’s first season with the Rams. As Pederson was able to win a playoff game in year 1 whereas McVay could not do so, and the Jaguars were even more of a shipwreck prior to Pederson’s arrival than the Rams were prior to McVay’s arrival. Just as previously stated, Andy Reid, despite having a strong tenure with the Eagles, was fired by general manager Howie Roseman just as Pederson was with Philadelphia. Doug Pederson has also won a Super Bowl trophy as an NFL head coach which is something that the likes of Kyle Shanahan and Jim Harbaugh have yet been able to do. People point to Pederson’s 4-11-1 mark and his 4-13 mark in his final seasons with the Eagles and Jaguars as a sign that he is not a strong head coach. However, Andy Reid has gone 6-10, 5-11, and 4-12 as a head coach, Sean McVay amassed a 5-12 record on one occasion as a head coach, while Kyle Shanahan has gone 6-10 twice, 6-11 once, and 4-12 as a head coach. While all three of those head coaches are still universally considered to be top tier head coaches in the current NFL. Pederson’s Super Bowl triumph with the Eagles during the 2017 season was also a greater coaching job than anything than the likes of McVay, Reid, Harbaugh, and Shanahan have ever pulled off as well as a head coach in my estimation.
Doug Pederson pulled off perhaps the greatest single season NFL head coaching job ever in route to leading the Eagles to a Super Bowl win during the 2017 season. Pederson’s first year as the head coach of the Jaguars was perhaps the greatest turnaround a team has ever seen with a first-year head coach. Pederson’s teams have consistently made the playoffs and his low points as a head coach are certainly understandable. For instance, Andy Reid was dismissed by the Eagles in a very similar fashion to how Pederson was terminated by Philadelphia as well. While Pederson’s low points and eventual termination as the head coach of the Jaguars, were mostly due to an unhealthy QB spot and a very subpar roster in my estimation. Doug Pederson is my top coaching candidate for next year’s head coaching cycle and absolutely has what it takes to be an elite head coach in the current NFL.
