From preps to Philly: Doug Pederson built a Louisiana power a decade before he led the Eagles to the Super Bowl.
He’s come a long way in a short time
Nine seasons ago, Doug Pederson — four years into coaching — led Calvary Cavaliers to a second consecutive Louisiana High School Athletic Association Class 2A semifinal. Sunday, the coach of the Philadelphia Eagles will attempt to reach football’s promised land — get- ting a Super Bowl title.
Although many consider Pederson’s rise remarkable, its foundation has many layers. The former Northeast Louisiana quarterback (now ULM) spent 10 years in the NFL and three seasons in the World League of American Football. He played under coaching legends such as Don Shula, alongside some of the best to ever take a snap — Dan Marino in Miami and Brett Favre in Green Bay — and earned a Super Bowl ring with the Packers to cap the 1996 season.
Realizing a dream
In 2005, Pederson realized his playing days had come to an end, and Johnny Booty, athletics director at Calvary Baptist Academy in Shreveport, La., took a “shot in the dark.”
As it turned out, Booty’s idea of hiring Pederson as a head coach at his high school wasn’t outrageous, it helped Pederson fulfill another dream.
“I always knew coaching was in my future. I just didn’t know at what level,” Pederson said after he was hired as Calvary’s head coach. “My passion and my desire is to coach high school football.”
Thanks to his extensive football knowledge and the ability to communicate, Pederson quickly led the fledgling Cavaliers program to success. The Cavaliers earned four playoff berths, including two state semifinal appearances in Pederson’s four seasons.
“I look back to those days and think of some of the teams we had and success we had,” Pederson said after the Eagles defeated the Dallas Cowboys in Arlington, Texas, in November. “It’s fun when you win games, obviously. It doesn’t matter what level or league you’re in.”
In 2009, Pederson left Calvary for a return to the Eagles and Andy Reid — the organization and head coach for which Pederson started nine games in 1999. Pederson began as the offensive quality-control coach. In 2013, Pederson followed Reid to Kansas City to be the Chiefs offensive coordinator. In 2016, the Eagles gambled on their former quarterback and assistant. In just his second year as an NFL
head coach, Pederson, who turned 50 on Jan. 31, has the Eagles in their third Super Bowl in franchise history.
Pederson, a Bellingham, Wash., native, got his first taste of Louisiana when he attended Northeast Louisiana University from 1987 to 1990.
During his decorated career with the Indians, Pederson threw for 6,315 yards and 33 touchdowns. He still ranks second in program history with seven 300-yard performances. In 1989, Pederson finished 46of-71 passing for 619 yards and five touchdowns (all school records) in a game at Stephen F. Austin.
NLU won 29 games in Pederson’s four years, including the 1987 national championship and the 1990 Southland Conference championship.
During his professional playing days, Pederson enjoyed a couple of stints in the WLF and time with four teams in the NFL.
In 1993, he relieved injured Scott Mitchell — who relieved injured Marino — and led the Dolphins to a second-half comeback victory at Philadelphia. The win was the NFL-record 325th for Shula, who passed George Halas with the help of Pederson.
Later that season, Pederson was the holder on the infamous late field goal attempt by Pete Stoyanovich during the “Leon Lett Game” at Texas Stadium.
Eventually, Pederson found his way back to Louisiana.
“A few guys on my committee knew Doug and were involved with Northeast Louisiana,” Booty said. “Doug shocked us all when he said he’d like to talk (about the coaching job).”
Starting at the bottom
Booty didn’t have much to offer. Calvary didn’t have a football stadium or a weight room and certainly was void of tradition. There were no stacks of money to offer a man used to making a terrific wage, either.
“(The pay) was nothing,” Booty said. “He was worth 10 times that much right out of the gate.”
Booty, father to a litany of football stars, coached Calvary’s first year (2004) but soon realized fundraising was a higher priority.
Pederson again stunned Booty by saying, “Raise the money for the facilities, I’ll take this (job) and we’ll be fine.”
One caveat for each of the gentlemen had to be solved before they shook hands. Booty didn’t want Calvary to simply be a quick steppingstone for Pederson, and Pederson wanted just a single out: if best friend Reid called.
Soon, the program was off and running.
“The first time I watched film, I thought he was speaking a different language,” said Hayden Slack, a former Calvary receiver and defensive back whose high school career coincided with Pederson’s four years at Calvary. “However, he was able to communicate and coach us.
“He was great at X’s and O’s but was an awesome motivator. He was a coach we wanted to play for and we were willing to lay it on the line because of the atmosphere he created.”
Pederson quickly earned the nickname “Dougie Fresh” in the Calvary locker room.
“I’m not even sure why; maybe it’s his hair,” Slack said. “But it stuck.”
Slack thoroughly enjoyed his time under Pederson, except for the times Pederson grabbed a football.
“He was the scout team QB,” Slack said. “He’s looking me off and throwing darts. I remember thinking, ‘If we face a quarterback this good, we’re going to be in trouble.’
“When I was at receiver, he’s breaking your fingers off. He could sling it around. He would also punt, left footed — man he could boot it. We could see why this guy was in the NFL for so long. He loved the game, loved us. Those four years were a lot of fun.”
During a trip to Green Bay, Booty says Favre raved about Pederson.
“He told me, ‘Johnny, Doug knows defenses and defensive coverages better than any man I’ve met in my life, including me.’ ”
In his third season at Calvary, Pederson and the Cavaliers did the unthinkable. They ascended to the top of the Class 2A poll, won the school’s first district title in football and finished the regular season undefeated thanks to a victory against Evangel, a traditional state power, ending its streak of 89 consecutive district wins.
“We went to the mountain- top. It was an impossibility what we did,” Booty said. “(Son and then-starting QB) Jack and I still talk about.”
However, for some former Calvary athletes, success on the football field doesn’t rank at the top of the list of Pederson’s offerings.
“He is a great man to be around and a great coach,” Slack said. “He was great in building relationships with each player. He knew what motivated one player compared to another. Knew how to coach individuals. He wasn’t just a brainiac guy who knew the X’s and O’s. He also knew how to build relationships. And that’s really what it came down to.”
Slack, who played college football at Louisiana Tech, said there would have been “no chance” at an opportunity in Ruston without Pederson’s influence.
“I was so far ahead of the game,” Slack said.
While at Tech, Slack began sending daily Bible verses through texts to teammates — an idea he received while talking to a member of Georgia’s football team during its trip to the 2009 Independence Bowl.
“At some point, I started adding friends and coaches, and Pe- derson wanted on that list,” Slack said.
“He still gets that today, even though he’s changed his number a couple of times.
“Every once in a while I’ll sneak in a ‘Fly Eagles Fly.’ ”
Pederson made Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) mandatory on Fridays for Calvary’s football team.
“He didn’t just talk the talk, he lived it out — on the field, in the classroom and chapel,” Slack said. “He was the real deal — a man of character who I could look at as a role model. Coach Pederson coming to Calvary was a blessing for me.”
Slack is now the FCA’s area representative for Northwest Louisiana.
“You couldn’t have a better guy working with your son. I’m still juiced talking about it,” said Booty, who watched a lot of coaches work with his children and thousands of other young athletes.
Eventually, Pederson got that call from Reid. He’d paid his dues, and more, with the Cavaliers.
In the years since Pederson’s return to the NFL, Calvary has reeled in two state football championships and made seasons with double-figure victories commonplace.
“He set the table,” said Booty, who now lives in California. “He set the tenor and the stage to make us the program we thought Calvary could become.”
Booty won’t let anyone forget Calvary had a role in Pederson’s success, too.
“I have been taking credit for it,” Booty said. “I’ve had more fun with that than you’d believe. I gave him his first job.”