The Jacksonville Jaguars‘ (clown show) search for a head coach — replacing the disaster that was Urban Meyer — has finally come to an end.
Just hours after it was reported that Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive coordinator and former Jacksonville quarterback Byron Leftwich was removing his name from consideration for the job (after being viewed as the favorite), the Jaguars have chosen Doug Pederson to be the new head coach.
Jacksonville made the news official on Thursday night, shortly after reports of the agreement emerged:
ESPN’s Adam Schefter adds that Pederson and quarterback Trevor Lawrence — who will enter his second season in 2022 — already spoke on the phone on Thursday evening to discuss their future together.
Pederson, 54, led the 2017 Philadelphia Eagles to a 13-3 record and Super Bowl title. He has as 42-37-1 regular-season record (and 4-2 in the postseason) career record as head coach (all with the Eagles, from 2016-20).
As Schefter notes, Pederson was actually the first candidate the Jaguars spoke to about the job.
Earlier on Thursday, Pederson and Rich Bisaccia — who served as the Las Vegas Raiders’ interim head coach following Jon Gruden’s exit were rumored to be the leading candidates for the job.
After a chaotic, and frankly embarrassing coaching search from the Jacksonville front office, the Jaguars actually landed on a Super Bowl-winning coach, and one that could particularly be a good mentor for the highly talented Lawrence.
Here’s some reaction to the hiring from the football world:
Pederson’s a good hire for the Jags — their process was… weird, but they ended up landing a pretty good head man.
What does this mean for Rich Bisaccia though? Hopefully a spot running Chicago’s special teams
— Robert Schmitz (@robertkschmitz) February 4, 2022
Pederson can help Lawrence. He also has major work to do in that locker room after Urban Meyer mess. RT @AdamSchefter: Former Eagles’ HC Doug Pederson is being hired as the next head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars, source tells ESPN.
— Jeremy Fowler (@JFowlerESPN) February 4, 2022
https://twitter.com/_John_Shipley/status/1489443750548025347