Eagles’ unflappable coach
Pederson perseveres, proves self in 2nd year
PHILADELPHIA – This has been quite the prove-it season for Doug Pederson, who not too long ago was viewed by many as an underwhelming choice as Philadelphia Eagles coach but is now taking his team to the Super Bowl. He’s done it the hard way.
MVP-caliber quarterback: Gone. Pro Bowl left tackle: Gone. Best linebacker: Gone. Multipurpose backfield threat and special teams ace: Gone.
Through all the injuries, civic anxiety and naysayers galore, Pederson has dealt with enough crises for an ER unit. Guess he wasn’t a bad pick after all following ithe Chip Kelly flameout.
“He’s so even-keeled,” defensive end Chris Long said Thursday, when the team had its first full-scale practice in advance of Super Bowl LII. “Kind of unflappable. There are a lot of panic guys in this league, but he’s not a panic guy. That really helps, because it sets the tone for players to be the same way.
“He could have never seen us losing so many guys, or going through so much adversity, but it’s been perfect for us.”
Ray Rhodes, incidentally the first head coach hired by Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie, once told me he likened his job to that of a firefighter, given a steady stream of flames to address. That analogy certainly sums up what it’s been like this season for Pederson.
Sure, every team deals with assorted injuries. But most couldn’t make it this far if they lost their star quarterback, as the Eagles did when Carson Wentz — then leading the NFL by a sizable margin with 33 touchdown passes — blew out his knee in Week 14.
That’s coaching. Pederson and offensive coordinator Frank Reich, both former NFL quarterbacks, worked to get fill-in Nick Foles up to speed. And the job is about organization, passion, managing games, too.
Pederson’s performance this season brings us back to the concept that Lurie kept repeating following Kelly’s departure: emotional intelligence.
The Eagles found that in Pederson, who worked in Philadelphia for four of his seven years as an assistant on Andy Reid’s staff but represented a major leap of faith as an unproven NFL head coaching commodity when he arrived.
No doubt, the EI has been a huge factor. While Long hails Pederson’s consistent demeanor, it comes with flexibility and range. According to NFL Media, Pederson went off last week during a lackadaisical sequence during practice, harping on the need to emphasize details. And all-pro tackle Lane Johnson described a coach who is able to connect with his players because he, well, listens.
That sure wasn’t how the Eagles players would characterize Kelly.
“He lets the team have its own culture,” Johnson said.
Johnson is a member of a players committee that Pederson regularly consults, and he’s taken the players up on suggestions for tweaking the practice schedule and at some points cutting back on the regimen to freshen their legs.
“We don’t want any clashes — us to be mad at coach, coach to be mad at us,” Johnson said. “We all want to be on the same page.”
This extends on the field, too. Torrey Smith, who had his biggest game of the season last weekend, said Pederson “always talks about ownership” for the players when running his offense.
That’s been an intriguing subplot in itself. When he was Reid’s coordinator in Kansas City, Reid called plays — as he always has as head coach (until he gave it up midway through this season). When Pederson took over the Eagles, he followed suit. He was learning not only to be a head coach but also an NFL play-caller while in the midst of the stress of managing a game.
After breaking into the new roles last season, Pederson went into this campaign pledging to give Reich more responsibilities while keeping the playcalling duties to himself.
Maybe that’s to be expected from a former quarterback, wanting to have a significant measure of control on the game. Now he can add the manner in which Wentz developed in his second season and the roll the Eagles have been on his résumé.
Creative aggressiveness has been the ticket. No team converted more fourth downs this season than the Eagles, reflecting a “go for it” spirit. Pederson also schooled the Falcons with his play-calling in the divisional playoff win (including a red-zone sweep by receiver Nelson Agholor that set up a TD) and challenged the vaunted Vikings defense with a barrage of deep passes.
“When a coach is aggressive,” Smith said, “that means he trusts his players.”
Pederson has earned a lot of trust in a lot of corners while proving he was indeed ready for the job.