The Philadelphia Eagles have fired Doug Pederson, which naturally means the New York Jets rumors must immediately begin.
Joe Douglas strikes most New York Jets fans as a fastball-type of general manager. What you see is what you get. No fuss, no drama. Just plain-speaking and a results-driven attitude.
But what happens when a curveball is presented?
Could Douglas resemble Candy Cummings (the unofficial founder of the curveball in the early 1870s) as opposed to Nolan Ryan by the time it’s all said and done?
On Monday, the Philadelphia Eagles fired Super Bowl-winning head coach Doug Pederson, according to various sources including ESPN’s Dan Graziano. Naturally, the Pederson-to-the-Jets rumors were instantly sparked thanks to Douglas’s relationship with the recently-fired head coach.
NFL Network analyst Daniel Jeremiah believes it “makes a lot of sense.”
Jets/Doug Pederson partnership makes a lot of sense. He had a horrible 2020 campaign but he's a SB winning HC and has a great relationship with Joe Douglas.
— Daniel Jeremiah (@MoveTheSticks) January 11, 2021
Pederson, 52, experienced a horrible 2020 campaign in Philly, but it was his first really awful season in five tries.
Arriving in 2016, Pederson led the Eagles, with rookie quarterback Carson Wentz, to a 7-9 record. They stunned the football world by winning the organization’s first Super Bowl a year later. The Philly Special, with Nick Foles capping things, will be remembered forever.
Unfortunately, despite two 9-7 seasons following the stunning championship, Pederson hasn’t elevated Wentz to the level everybody within the organization anticipated. It’s a problem worth investigating, especially when considering his background.
Pederson spent 10 seasons in the NFL as a backup quarterback. The Miami Dolphins signed him as an undrafted free agent in 1991, but he had problems sticking. Pederson dressed in seven games for the Dolphins in 1993 and even played in the World League of American Football for a season before landing with the Green Bay Packers—where his relationship with Andy Reid truly took shape.
The highlight of his playing days came as the third quarterback to Brett Favre and backup Jim McMahon, winning the Super Bowl in 1997 (the 1996 NFL season). The Reid coaching disciple and Douglas crossed paths in Philadelphia when they both landed there in 2016.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter also chimed in on the Pederson-to-the-Jets possibility.
Former Eagles’ HC Doug Pederson has a strong relationship with Jets’ GM Joe Douglas, which could put one more HC candidate in play for the NYJ.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 11, 2021
Thus far, New York has interviewed eight candidates. Former Jet Aaron Glenn is expected to be the ninth candidate (interviewing on Monday). Although Douglas and Christopher Johnson made sure not to set a hiring timetable, some would argue Pederson’s availability comes at a late stage of the process.
FOX Sports’ Jay Glazer is another big media name who’s connected the dots.
Keep an eye on Doug Pederson and the Jets where he has a great relationship with GM Joe Douglas
— Jay Glazer (@JayGlazer) January 11, 2021
At this stage, Jets fans are fending off frantic bouts of panic. The negative reports about Pederson as of late bring a dark cloud over the prospect of him as the next head coach.
Then again, part of the reason it didn’t work out in Philly, according to Pederson, is that he was “tired of people telling him what to do,” per NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.
After speaking with two people close to former #Eagles coach Doug Pederson, it sounds like this is what it boiled down: Pederson was sick of people telling him what to do.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 11, 2021
Interestingly, Pederson and the Eagles (perhaps with Howie Roseman’s influence) reminded the NFL world what tanking really is in Week 17. After the Jets—the media’s season-long tanking poster boys—fought hard late in the season, Pederson pulled Jalen Hurts in favor of Nate Sudfeld. It allowed the Washington Football Team easy entry into the NFL playoffs. Now, the marriage is over.
Considering the existing relationship between Douglas and Pederson, it shouldn’t shock anybody if the Super Bowl-winning head coach is brought in for an interview. It also shouldn’t shock anybody if Douglas passes on Pederson at this point. In any event, the process still needs to unfold.
Add one more name to the potential head-coaching candidate pile.
Eagle fans want to blame Pederson for their failings, but the truth is who to blame is the GM and ownership. Who the heck spends projected 50 something million more than their allowable cap space on a team that has less talent than a Macc or an Idzik team? The Eagles did.
Pederson and Douglas had a good record and a Super Bowl win, and the word was that Douglas was the brains behind building the roster. Pederson was the HC.
Pederson with Douglas record was 48-26 with 3-2 postseason record
Here is a stat for you all about the Eagles, Pederson’s 4-11-1 was the worst season since the Reid era with the Eagles (Reid was fired after that season). The same GM and owner in both seasons. Reid went on to win a Super Bowl with the Chiefs as their HC.
Jets make this hire the only thing i’ll be doing is checking scores and doing timestamps in Joe’s video channels. This would be one of the worst hires… Not the first Eagles HC the Jets would of hired neither if made *Rick Kottie* The Jets are the only team that goes after teams left overs this badly after a HC has been run out of town…
Joe Douglas deserves to lose his job if this hire his made. You can’t sell this to the masses of fans. You can’t… Look at Wentz, Look at what he has done since Frank Reich has left that team. He destroyed the entire foundation of that SB Eagles team…
With this news coming out it does not even bother me which scares me the most… I use to be a passionate fan till it became too much to handle how the Jets run their business side of football like a complete clown show…
Joe Douglas all i have to say is DON’T DO IT….. You will lose in the end when you make it about yourself vs the Team you will lose hard
Let it play out. I’ll say this: it would quite ironic considering it was Pederson’s team who truly tanked this past season, while the Jets were accused of it all year and did nothing of the sort.