What to know about Doug Pederson’s return to Philly with the first-place Jaguars

Just like when he was hired by the Eagles in 2016 to take over for successful college coach Chip Kelly, Pederson was brought in by Jaguars owner Khan to pick up the pieces from a failed experiment with a coach not ready for the NFL.

A victory over the Eagles on Sunday will make Pederson the fifth-winningest coach in Jags history, breaking a tie with, among others, predecessor Urban Meyer.

Pederson had 42 wins as the coach here (42-37-1), which coincidentally is fifth on the Eagles’ all-time list.

Pederson didn’t win many games as a starting quarterback (three, actually), but his most notable victory was in relief of injured Scott Mitchell in 1993, when he rallied the Dolphins past the Eagles to give Don Shula the all-time record for coaching wins.

“Over the years, there have been a lot of great victories and memories,” said Shula, who still holds the record with 347 wins (including playoffs). “This one is pretty special to me, mainly because of the way that we won. When Mitchell goes down with the injury, Doug Pederson, who hasn’t played any kind of real football to speak of, handled himself with a lot of poise and got the job done.” Shula died in 2020.

A big reason the Jacksonville job appealed to Pederson was that the Jags already had a potential franchise quarterback in Trevor Lawrence, the 2021 first overall pick.

According to Next Gen Stats, Lawrence was 19-for-23 on quick passes (less than 2.5 seconds to throw after the snap) for 162 yards and a touchdown last week against the Chargers.

Notable quarterbacks Pederson has either played with or coached during his time in the NFL: Dan Marino, Brett Favre, Donovan McNabb, Michael Vick, Alex Smith, Carson Wentz, Nick Foles, and now Lawrence.

In his final three games under Meyer (all losses), Lawrence had one touchdown pass and five interceptions, was sacked six times, and had a passer rating of 56.4. In his first three games with Pederson (two wins), Lawrence has six TD passes, one pick, two sacks, and a passer rating of 103.1.

As a player, Pederson threw 12 touchdown passes in his 10 NFL seasons (17 starts), as well as an unfortunate pick-6 to Michael Strahan in overtime in 1999 with the Eagles. Two weeks later, Andy Reid turned to the rookie McNabb as the team’s starting quarterback.

In 2017, the Jaguars nearly stunned the Patriots in the AFC championship game. Otherwise, the Eagles would have played Jacksonville in Super Bowl LII. The Jags have not been to the playoffs since. They were 4-29 in 2020-21 combined.

This year, the Jaguars are plus-7 in turnover differential, best in the NFL. Last year, they were minus-20, the worst in the league.

The Jaguars’ offensive line has not given up a sack in back-to-back games for the first time since 2007. The Jags have never gone three consecutive games without allowing a sack. (The Eagles’ O-line went sackless in three straight twice — 1971 and 1998.) The Eagles offense has allowed seven sacks, including three in each of the last two weeks.

Hays Carlyon, a reporter for the Jaguars’ flagship station who has covered the team for 10 seasons, after James Robinson’s 50-yard touchdown run on fourth-and-1 on Sunday, tweeted: “That would’ve been a punt with every other Jaguars coach I’ve covered FYI. Doug Pederson is phenomenal.”

Pederson spent 10 seasons altogether with the Eagles (one as a player, four as an assistant under Reid, and five as the head coach). “I’m really looking forward to getting back there,” Pederson said. “I understand that city. I understand the passion for football, but now I’m on the other side. … We did a lot of good things there. I’m looking forward to — hopefully — the [warm] welcome.”

Pederson was 6-1 at Caesars to win NFL coach of the year as of Tuesday. Only the Eagles’ Nick Sirianni (4-1) and Miami’s Mike McDaniel (11-2) had shorter odds. Pederson opened at 30-1 when a Caesars player in Colorado wagered $1,000. He was at 25-1 when a New Jersey customer made the same bet.

In 2017, when he took the Eagles from 7-9 to the NFC’s No. 1 seed with a 13-3 record, Pederson finished a distant fifth in the voting, getting exactly one vote for coach of the year. L.A.’s Sean McVay, who took a 4-12 team to 11-5 in his first season, was the landslide winner with 35 votes.

Easily the most notable call during Pederson’s tenure here was his decision to go for it on fourth-and-1 from the goal line just before halftime of Super Bowl LII. He was asked about the “Philly Special” earlier this week.

“If I don’t prepare the team for those situations, it’s hard to call those types of plays,” he said. “We’ve got to be able to work those things in practice, in the offseason, in OTAs, whatever, so that when those moments come, you just pull the trigger. Honestly, it’s like [any other] play. You don’t think about where you are, or the time — none of that. It’s about executing that particular play. For us, it just happened to be in that game. It helped us win that football game. It’s no different here in Jacksonville. If we’re going to put plays like that in, I’m going to make sure the guys understand that we’re going to … take some chances from time to time. But we’re going to work those in camp and in the offseason, and prepare the guys that way.”

Among the players who handled the ball for that famous play, only center Jason Kelce is still with the Eagles. Rookie Corey Clement, who took the direct snap, was with the Eagles until 2020. He played for Dallas in 2021 and was with the Ravens in training camp this summer before being cut. Trey Burton, who threw the pass, signed with Chicago following the 2017 season. He last played with the Colts in 2020. And Nick Foles, who made the catch, is backing up Philly native Matt Ryan in Indianapolis. Frank Reich, the offensive coordinator when Foles won Super Bowl MVP, is his head coach today in Indy.

Pederson’s first victory as the Jags coach came in Week 2, when Jacksonville shut out Reich and the Colts, 24-0. He was presented with the game ball in a jubilant locker room celebration afterward.

Jacksonville’s defensive coordinator is Mike Caldwell, a former Eagles linebacker/special-teamer who also began his NFL coaching career as an assistant under Reid. This is Caldwell’s first job as a coordinator. Press Taylor, another former Eagles assistant, runs the offense.

The Jaguars defense has six interceptions, tied for first in the league and the most they’ve ever had through three games. Last year, they had seven total in 17 games. Yikes.

Other notables on Pederson’s staff include former Temple quarterback Henry Burris (offensive assistant), former Philadelphia Soul wide receiver Chris Jackson (wide receivers coach), and former Eagles assistant Rory Segrest (defensive line assistant).

Ten of the 22 starters (five on each side of the ball) did not play for the Jaguars a year ago, most notably wide receiver Christian Kirk, edge rusher and No. 1 overall pick Travon Walker, and linebacker Devin Lloyd, the 27th overall pick who leads all rookies in tackles.