Former Eagles coach Doug Pederson will interview this week for the Jaguars’ head coaching opening, according to an NFL Network report.
Tom Pelissero reported Tuesday that Pederson, who led the Eagles to the Super Bowl championship just four years ago, will interview for the job that opened up when the Jaguars fired Urban Meyer on Dec. 16 after just 13 games.
Meyer, who won two national titles at Florida and a third at Ohio State before getting hired in Jacksonville, won just two games in his only season as Jaguars head coach.
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Pederson, 53, sat out this season after getting fired by the Eagles on Jan. 11. Because he’s currently not employed by another team, Pederson is free to interview wherever and whenever he wants.
Pelissero reported that the Jaguars have requested permission to interview Buccaneers offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich, Bucs defensive coordinator Todd Bowles - who coached under Andy Reid with the Eagles in 2012 - and Cowboys offensive coordinator Kellen Moore.
Pederson, was the Eagles’ opening-day quarterback in 1999, Reid’s first season with the Eagles, began his coaching career in 2005 at Calvary Baptist High School in Shreveport, La., before joining Reid’s staff as a quality control coach in 2009. He was QBs coach in 2011 and 2012 and then served as Reid’s offensive coordinator with the Chiefs from 2013 to 2015 before replacing Chip Kelly in 2016 as Eagles head coach.
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Pederson had a 42-37-1 record with the Eagles but the 2017 team won the franchise’s first Super Bowl and first NFL championship since 1960. The Eagles also reached the postseason in 2018 and 2019 before a 4-11-1 record last year.
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Pederson was only the second coach in history to be fired within six years of winning a Super Bowl, the first since Don McCafferty of the Colts in the early 1970s.
Whoever the Jaguars hire will be the franchise’s sixth head coach since 2011. The Jaguars have had one winning season since 2008 and are 14-49 over the last four seasons, the worst record in the NFL.
But they do have a young quarterback in 22-year-old Trevor Lawrence, who was the first pick in this year’s draft out of Clemson.
And the work Pederson did with a young Carson Wentz early in his career - Wentz was a Pro Bowler and MVP candidate in his second season - would make him an attractive candidate to work with Lawrence, who has thrown nine touchdowns and an NFL-high 14 interceptions.