Early on, Pederson proving to be far different from mentor Andy Reid

PHILADELPHIA >> The Eagles’ tidy and altogether uninspiring search for a football coach was conducted with one job specification: He could not, should not, would not be anything like Chip Kelly.

So as long as a candidate wasn’t known for a carnival offense, and as long as he respected the owner, and as long as he didn’t big-time his players in the organization’s hallways, and as long as he didn’t run a system that could do nothing but exhaust a defense, he was qualified. That meant he could be like any other coach. Even ... especially? ... like Andy Reid.

For that, Doug Pederson would seem to work.

Not that anyone would have had a hint at what kind of head coach Pederson would be, but the racing form was pretty clear: He was out of the Reid barn. He’d played under Reid. He’d coached under Reid. He was highly recommended by

Reid. And when he did become the Eagles’ head coach, his experience was not unlike Reid’s when he first was hired by Jeffrey Lurie. He was an under-experienced NFL assistant in minimum demand around the league. Business-like, a little dull, said to be good with quarterbacks, preferring some form of the old West Coast offense. And so, the instant characterizations were predictable: Reid 2-point-0, Reid Lite, Andy Man, Medium Red. They were easy. They were not disputed. And if the Eagles had the next Andy Reid, well, that would be an improvement.

That was then. That was when Pederson was hired. That was when he was an unknown.

That was before he went 4-0 in the preseason and 2-0 in the regular season with a style of his own, on the field and off. That was before it became clear that not only wasn’t he Chip Kelly, he wasn’t Andy Reid, either.

Unlike Reid, whose teams tended to look tight, often wasting timeouts, occasionally failing to be properly in the best position to succeed, Pederson

has had his Eagles meticulously prepared. And he has them playing at a perfect pace. Under Reid, too often the Birds were seen scrambling around as the play clock ticked down, ultimately rushing something just to avoid a penalty. Under Kelly, they were just trying to run a play, any play, as soon as possible. With Pederson, though, everything happens at a smooth, professional pace, allowing the inexperienced Carson Wentz just enough time to survey a defense and make an adjustment if necessary without the necessity to panic.

For that, the Eagles have been everything that many did not expect, not with a rookie head coach, not with a rookie quarterback. They have been precise. They have been creative. They have been successful.

That could be because the Birds, their quarterback not included, are mostly a veteran team and did not need to be over-rehearsed. And that could be because the schedule has been favorable, allowing them to play banged-up, overmatched teams. But it also could be because Pederson was as ready to be a head coach as Ron Jaworski, Howie Roseman, Reid and the others who’d had Lurie’s attention during

the odd search had claimed.

“The best thing about Coach Pederson is just his authenticity,” Jordan Matthews said after the opener. “He’s played the game. And not only has he played the game, but he’s been in our shoes. And when I say ‘our shoes,’ he’s played in the city of Philadelphia. So he’s been in those trenches before.

“When I see him, it’s not even as much as I see a coach. It’s like, ‘Yo, Pops, I got you.’ That’s a blood brother right there, no different from those guys in the locker room.”

Pederson popped into his regular day-after press conference Monday wearing short pants and some kind of a golf shirt without any visible Eagles logo. As usual, he answered questions honestly, not hiding information the way Reid delighted in doing, not avoiding reasonable football conversation with any of Kelly’s superiority attitude.

Pops? He’s only 48, not 68. But in a way, that’s what he is: Just a guy, comfortable in his situation. And for that, his players seem comfortable on the field.

“Obviously, the guys have worked extremely hard the first two weeks,” Pederson said. “They’ve prepared themselves like

you want them to do. As a coach, something that I learned, too, is that it is my job to get the guys ready and prepared not only mentally, but physically for the football game.”

It will grow tougher. There’s even a chance Pederson will not remain undefeated for his career. But he already has batted down an early challenge. For if he were to have appeared sloppy or overwhelmed or unprepared in his first two games, he already would have been under relentless criticism, perhaps already nearing punchline status.

Instead, he’s the early presumptive Coach of the Year.

“It’s a new set of challenges each week,” he said. ”You’ve got to put this one to rest and move on. But I’ve been pleased. Twoand-zero is a good start to the season. It’s still a lot of hard work and a lot of road left ahead of us.”

The Eagles have the right coach for that. He’s not like their last coach. Just as important, he’s not like the one before that, either.