JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Doug Pederson is out as Jacksonville’s head coach after the franchise’s “finest group assembled” gained simply 4 video games.
Jaguars proprietor Shad Khan fired Pederson on Monday, a day after a 26-23 loss at Indianapolis in additional time. It was the group’s 18th loss in its final 23 video games. However Khan saved common supervisor Trent Baalke, a questionable resolution that absolutely will have an effect on who will change into Jacksonville’s subsequent coach.
Khan made the transfer with one yr remaining on Pederson’s contract. The choice got here greater than 5 months after Khan stood in entrance of coaches and gamers and declared this the “best team assembled by the Jacksonville Jaguars ever.”
“Profitable now” was Khan’s edict as coaching camp opened and after he dedicated practically half a billion {dollars} to to signing quarterback Trevor Lawrence, pass rusher Josh Hines-Allen and cornerback Tyson Campbell to long-term offers within the offseason. It was the most costly stretch of roster constructing in franchise historical past.
And Khan has gotten little, if any, return on his funding.
“Doug is an completed soccer man who will undoubtedly get pleasure from one other chapter in his spectacular NFL profession, and I will likely be rooting for Doug and his spouse Jeannie when that event arrives,” Khan mentioned in a press release. “As a lot as Doug and I each want his expertise right here in Jacksonville would have ended higher, I’ve an obligation initially to serve the most effective pursuits of our group and particularly our followers, who faithfully help our group and are overdue to be rewarded. In that spirit, the time to summon new management is now.
“I strongly consider it’s doable subsequent season to revive the successful surroundings we had right here not way back. I’ll collaborate with Common Supervisor Trent Baalke and others, inside and near our group, to rent a pacesetter who shares my ambition and is able to seize the extraordinary alternative we’ll provide in Jacksonville.”
The Jaguars (4-13) ended up with their tenth shedding season in Khan’s 13 years as proprietor. Now, Khan will rent his sixth head coach; present NFL offensive coordinators Ben Johnson (Detroit) and Liam Coen (Tampa Bay) ought to high the record. However would they even comply with work with Baalke, whose draft picks have been principally suspect and his newest free-agent class is among the many worst in franchise historical past?
Pederson turned the fifth NFL head coach fired this season, becoming a member of Robert Saleh (New York Jets), Dennis Allen (New Orleans), Matt Eberflus (Chicago) and Jerod Mayo (New England).
Pederson completed 9-8 in his first two campaigns in Jacksonville and made the playoffs in his first yr. He turned the primary coach in franchise historical past to begin with back-to-back successful seasons and was a welcome aid following City Meyer’s 13-game tenure that was crammed with dysfunction.
However Pederson’s injury-riddled group went 1-5 down the stretch in 2023 and missed the postseason after spending practically two months atop the AFC South. He thought getting Lawrence wholesome and revamping his defensive workers would change the group’s fortunes. Neither made a distinction.
Extra damning: Pederson did not develop Lawrence or create a group identification, handed play-calling duties to Press Taylor despite Khan making his wishes known and confirmed no urgency to attempt to repair a protection that regressed underneath new coordinator Ryan Nielsen.
The 56-year-old Pederson went 23-30 with Jacksonville, a far cry from the Tremendous Bowl-winning coach Khan thought he employed in February 2021.
A longtime backup quarterback within the league, Pederson spent a part of his teaching profession working underneath Andy Reid in Kansas Metropolis. Pederson got here to Jacksonville after a one-year teaching hiatus that adopted a five-year stint as Philadelphia’s head coach, the place he led the Eagles to their first Tremendous Bowl title in 2018.
With backup Nick Foles underneath middle, the Eagles beat Tom Brady and New England thanks partly to a trick play known as “Philly Particular.” That victory is Pederson’s defining teaching second.
His tenure with Jacksonville was principally forgettable. Positive, there was the come-from-behind stunner over the Los Angeles Chargers within the AFC wild-card spherical in January 2023. Lawrence rallied the Jaguars from a 27-0 deficit to win 31-30. In any other case, Pederson was pretty pedestrian.
His final undoing got here in shut video games, with Jacksonville going 3-10 in one-score contests this season. Whether or not that’s expertise or teaching is debatable. Regardless, Pederson obtained little public help from gamers down the stretch, a transparent signal that the locker room was able to go in a distinct path.
Now Khan has to search out the correct coach to get Lawrence — and the remainder of the group — to a different stage.