While the Jacksonville Jaguars’ offseason hasn’t been perfect, there have been a lot of positives for fans to enjoy. One of them is the fact that the Jags landed a former Super Bowl-winning coach and offensive guru in Doug Pederson to pair with quarterback Trevor Lawrence.
However, the fans aren’t the only ones excited about the hire as the journalism community is buzzing about it, too. That includes ESPN analysts Dan Orlovsky and Ryan Clark, both of whom believe that Pederson is a great fit for Lawrence and the Jags.
“Absolutely [Pederson is the right gut for Lawrence],” Orlovsky said. “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.”
Orlovsky is right, and more importantly, Pederson took a whole year off to evaluate the lesson’s learned from his time with Wentz and could come out a better coach than before. When adding in the fact that it’s been said that Pederson wants to be even closer with his quarterbacks than before, it appears Lawrence has a coach who can get way more out of him than Urban Meyer.
Another important factor that could help make Lawrence’s relationship with Pederson go smoother than his time with Wentz is Lawrence’s mental makeup. There were times last season where we saw the rookie bounce back from rough patches in the season, and a prime example is the poise he came into the season finale with in the Jags’ impressive win against the Indianapolis Colts.
As for Clark, he called the addition of Pederson a “slam dunk.”
“This is a slam dunk,” Clark said. “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.”
H/T, both quotes were transcribed by Clemson Insider.
Not only is the addition of Pederson huge for Lawrence, but the people he’s putting around the young quarterback also has made fans optimistic.
Last week Pederson hired Mike McCoy, who has coached Peyton Manning and Philip Rivers, to the staff to be the team’s quarterbacks coach. He also was able to hire Jim Bob Cooter to be the passing game coordinator, who spent multiple years coaching Matthew Stafford, as well as coordinator Press Taylor, who helped develop Wentz at the peak of his career.
As for the defense, Pederson has added several former players to coach that side of the ball. That includes a former Philadelphia teammate and co-worker (as a coach) Mike Caldwell, who has coached some of the top linebackers in football between Devin White and Lavonte David. He’s also been able to bring in a well-respected name in Brentson Buckner to coach the defensive line, too.
While it’s unknown how well the staff will mesh with the roster, this staff has a somewhat different feel to it than the last, and that’s because many assistants can speak from an experience perspective. That’s something alone that could help make the Jags a much more improved team after a 2021 season where many coaching flaws were exposed.