On ESPN’s Get Up show recently, the Get Up crew discussed the Jacksonville Jaguars hiring former Philadelphia Eagles and Super Bowl-winning head coach Doug Pederson as the team’s next head coach.
Dan Orlovsky — a former NFL quarterback who played 12 years in the league (2005-16) with the Detroit Lions, Houston Texans, Indianapolis Colts and Tampa Bay Buccaneers — and Ryan Clark — a former NFL safety whose playing career spanned 13 NFL seasons (2002-14), the majority of which he spent as a member of the Pittsburgh Steelers (2006-13) — discussed how the Jaguars’ decision to hire Pederson will impact former Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence’s future with the franchise.
Both Orlovsky and Clark expressed their belief that Pederson is the right guy for the Jags and Lawrence, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft.
Here’s what they had to say:
Orlovsky: “Absolutely. Not only is Doug Pederson the right guy for Trevor Lawrence, he’s also a coach that won a Super Bowl with a backup quarterback. You know how hard it is to win a Super Bowl with a starter? So, that tells you the type of coach he is. I think this – it’s not only what he did well when he had Carson Wentz in his second season (with the Eagles) playing at MVP-level football, super talented young player. It’s also what did he learn from that last year with Carson Wentz? I’m not saying it was all just the player or the coach. But the coach had some impact on taking Carson Wentz from being an MVP to the worst quarterback in football two seasons ago. What did he learn from that, that he can take and apply to this development of Trevor Lawrence – again, a highly talented, high draft pick at the quarterback position. This is step one of a three-step process for Trevor Lawrence and the Jaguars – get a great coach, they need to get a better offensive line, and skill position people. But if Trevor Lawrence is going to go reach his heights, Doug Pederson is the guy that’s going to take him there.”
Clark: “This is a slam dunk. When you’re a guy that has the success that Doug Pederson has had and you’re supposed to be a head coach in the NFL, and now you go to Jacksonville and you pair him with one of the elite talents at the quarterback position that we’ve seen in years, and you expect that to be a good marriage. I think the other thing that’s missed when Trevor Lawrence talks about playing the position is also the handling of the position. The way that you deal with quarterbacks is different than how you deal with anybody else on the team. And I think Trevor Lawrence understands that and he knows he didn’t get that from a guy like Urban Meyer. When you look at a coach that had a Carson Wentz in the MVP conversation in 2017, also had a backup quarterback win the Super Bowl and even play well in the playoffs the next year, you have trust that he understands how to handle quarterbacks and how to put them in the best situation to succeed. And I also think Dan’s point on he also knows what not to do now from watching Carson Wentz deteriorate is also a major factor why this could be successful.”
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