Als’ Sherman saw coaching potential in Pederson

Montreal Alouettes coach Mike Sherman says Doug Pederson was as much a coach as a player when both were with the Green Bay Packers more than a decade ago.

So Sherman was not entirely surprised to see Pederson, in his second season as head coach in Philadelphia, take the Eagles to the Super Bowl. They will face fivetime NFL champion Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots on Sunday.

Pederson was the backup quarterback to Packers great Brett Favre when Sherman coached the Packers in the early 2000s. “Doug was a student of the game even back then,” Sherman said in a telephone interview from the game’s host city, Bloomington, Minn. “Did I think he’d be a Super Bowl coach in his second season? No. But I knew he’d be a heck of a coach. “I’m not surprised that he’s here but it definitely happened faster than I expected.”

Pederson has drawn rave reviews for leading the 13-3 Eagles to first place in the NFC East, then winning twice more in the playoffs despite losing starting quarterback Carson Wentz to a torn ACL in December.

“He was with us for five years,’’ Sherman said of Pederson. “We did a bunch of different things that he was privy to. He was a smart guy back then and probably grabbed onto the things that worked and got rid of the things that didn’t work. But Doug Pederson is where he is because of who he is and he’d be there with or without me, I’m sure about that.”

Sherman said Pederson showed his ability to adapt the game to the healthy players available to him.

“That’s the definition of a great coach,” he said. “Doug had great vision of the field and was able to communicate that to the coaches and players,” said Sherman. “So he was coaching the whole time he was the backup to Brett Favre.’’