‘Really excellent choice’
Doug Pederson is having last laugh as coach of the Eagles
PHILADELPHIA — Like most of the filthy rich, Jeffrey Lurie has made some pretty shrewd decisions.
When he bought the Philadelphia Eagles in the spring of 1994, he paid a reported $185 million. On the Forbes list of most valuable sports teams released last summer, the Eagles were said to be worth $2.5 billion — or the 10th most precocious jewel in the NFL.
Not a shabby investment, right?
Lurie, however, has had less success with his hiring of coaches. Oh, Ray Rhodes, Andy Reid and Chip Kelly all had their moments — with Reid easily having the most of them. The Eagles made it to the playoffs in nine of his 14 seasons. They also went to five NFC championship games and one Super Bowl.
Alas, Reid never could get that last win, and his time in Philly ran out.
The Kelly experiment lasted one game shy of three years, at which time Lurie vowed to get it right with his next appointment.
“I’m very confident,” he said at the time, “that the search will lead us and our fans to a really excellent choice.”
Today, it looks like he hit the jackpot again.
The choice of Doug Pederson caught everybody off guard. Mostly a back up quarterback during his 13-year playing career — primarily to Brett Favre in Green Bay — Pederson was an assistant with Reid in Philadelphia then followed him to Kansas City to become offensive coordinator.
When Lurie signed him to a five-year deal in January 2016, the many skeptics included a former GM who said Pederson “might be less qualified to coach a team than anyone I’ve ever seen in my 30-years plus in the NFL.”
Well, after a 7-9 with season with rookie quarterback Carson Wentz learning the ropes, the Eagles turned into the class of the conference under Pederson. But in the eyes of oddsmakers, a knee injury to Wentz, now a star, turned them into 13-3 underdogs.
Unfazed, Pederson dusted off backup Nick Foles and, along with offensive coordinator Frank Reich, devised a game plan to defeat the Atlanta Falcons.
Against the polished and playoff proven Matt Ryan, Foles looked to be mismatched. But Pederson kept him from making mistakes by calling mostly short passes in the 15-10 victory.
During media day on Wednesday, Foles laughed when he was again asked about the back-to-back screens that were called.
“I love it,” he said. “That’s how I think, too. I think (it’s) just keeping a defence off balance in those situations. That fact that we’re continuing to talk about back-toback screens is sort of shocking to me because it’s just one of those things that, when you’re in the game and you play, you don’t want (the defence) to hone in on what you’re doing. Because if they do, especially this (Vikings) defence, they are very good.”
Pederson says his play-calling ways were probably born when he was coached in Green Bay by Mike Holmgren and then Mike Sherman, who is now the head coach of the Montreal Alouettes.
“Everything comes from the game plan,” he said. "Nothing just comes from out of thin air, off the top of my head. It just comes down to film study, just like the players. I’m no different. I’ve got to study the tape and understand situations. Understand down and distance, and what the defence might be trying to accomplish.
“Listen, if you just look at what I’ve done in two years here, you’d probably call me unorthodox with some of the decisions I’ve made on fourth downs and go-for-it types, two-point conversions and things like that. I’ve told you guys this before, sometimes you just don’t do the norm, do what everybody expects you to do. Sometimes that can help you. I’m calculated by it, but at the same time I want to make sure I’m putting our guys in good positions.”
In his first playoff as the boss, Pederson looks quite relaxed. Along with saying the right things in his quarterback’s ear, he’s also standing up for his players publicly.
Pederson was on board when two of his linemen donned dog masks after the victory over Atlanta, mocking those who have disrespected the Eagles by making the Falcons and now the Vikings the favourites. He pointed out that minus Wentz, the Eagles are a pretty good team and should be recognized as one.
As for those who thought he was not the right choice to coach this team two years ago, Pederson shrugs.
“Listen, I don’t pay any attention to that, quite honestly,” he said. "I drive home at night knowing I put in a full day’s work. I get up in the morning, come in here ... however I can serve the organization, and serve these players. I mean, that’s all I know. That’s all I know.
"I love football. I love coaching football. I love teaching it. I love being around these guys. And I’m going to pour my life into these players. If it’s good enough, great, because that’s all I know I can do. And I’ve given my best effort. I don’t care about what’s written. It’s kind of like the underdog thing. Our players don’t pay much attention to that, and I’m kind of the same way. “Except for the dog masks.” With the hiring of his latest coach, it looks like Jeffrey Lurie has made a really excellent choice.