The Jacksonville Jaguars have fired head coach Doug Pederson after an underwhelming 4-13 season. Pederson leaves the team with a 22-29 overall record, with 18 of those losses coming in the last 23 games.
In a statement from Jaguars owner Shad Khan, he stated “I had the difficult task this morning of informing Doug Pederson of my intention to hire a new head coach to lead the Jacksonville Jaguars.”
Khan would later say, “I have an obligation first and foremost to serve the best interests of our team and especially our fans, who faithfully support our team and are overdue to be rewarded. In that spirit, the time to summon new leadership is now.”
Prior to landing in Jacksonville, Pederson led an injury-riddled Philadelphia Eagles to a Super Bowl 52 victory over the New England Patriots. That team was famous for their underdog mentality, despite having the best record in the NFL. The “Philly-Philly” call (an end-around pass from backup tight end Trey Burton to backup quarterback Nick Foles) became the defining moment of the Eagles season, and a showcase of Pederson’s creativity and aggressiveness.
However, Pederson would be fired just three years later, after the Eagles fell to 4-11-1, a long way down from the 13-3 record during their Super Bowl season.
The Jaguars would hire Pederson two years later, and he would lead the team to a surprise AFC South crown, and pull off a 27-point comeback against the Los Angeles Chargers, the third largest in NFL postseason history. They would fall to the eventual Super Bowl champions Kansas City Chiefs in the next round.
The Jaguars would start off hot in 2023, starting the season with an 8-3 record, but would lose five of their next six games and miss the playoffs entirely.
The struggles would continue in 2024, as the Jaguars would lose their first four games, and 10 of their first twelve. At that point in the season, the Jaguars were eliminated from postseason contention, and the writing was on the wall for Pederson’s coaching career.
Shad Khan stated “I will collaborate with General Manager Trent Baalke and others, within and close to our organization, to hire a new leader who shares my ambition and is ready to seize the extraordinary opportunity we will offer in Jacksonville.”
