Monday was a pivotal day in Eagles franchise history, as the team fired Super Bowl winning coach Doug Pederson. There’s been a lot trickling out since then, and we’re here to bring you all the fallout from the decision:
- This all has been “boiling” since last offseason, when owner Jeffrey Lurie and GM Howie Roseman pressured Pederson to fire offensive coordinator Mike Groh, Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer tweets. A source told McLane that Pederson actually threatened to quit over it, but Eagles brass didn’t take it seriously. We noted in our initial writeup yesterday a report that “Pederson was sick of people telling him what to do.”
- To that end, Lurie was apparently “underwhelmed” by the staffing suggestions Pederson made for the 2021 season when they met last week, a source told McLane. Pederson apparently wanted to promote from within, as McLane reports he wanted to promote QBs coach Press Taylor to offensive coordinator and to “bump up defensive line coach Matt Burke to defensive coordinator.” Clearly Lurie was more inclined to bring in bigger names from outside the organization, and it sounds like this was a sticking point in the ultimate divorce.
- Finally, McLane points out in another tweet that Roseman will now be on his fourth head coach (third that he’ll hire), after Andy Reid, Chip Kelly, and Pederson. McLane writes that “Pederson and Roseman had decreasingly seen eye to eye on personnel.” Roseman is turning into somewhat of a polarizing figure, but he clearly has a lot of power.
- One of the biggest questions on everyone’s mind when the decision came down was what it meant for Carson Wentz. It might be good news for the former second overall pick, as a source told Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com that the firing “significantly increases the chances” of Wentz staying in Philly next season (Twitter link). We had heard just before the end of the regular season that the relationship between Wentz and Pederson was fractured beyond repair, and this could be a sign that Lurie and Roseman believe Wentz should be the quarterback in 2021. The increased likelihood of Wentz returning was confirmed by Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, who added that had Pederson been retained Wentz would’ve wanted out (Twitter video link).
- Lurie released a statement through the team explaining the decision and thanking Pederson, which you can read via this tweet. Not surprisingly, he said Pederson will be inducted into the team’s Hall of Fame.
- The Eagles also tweeted a statement from Pederson, thanking the team, the city, and the fans.
- We’ve already heard the team is interested in Oklahoma head coach Lincoln Riley, but Lurie also said at his press conference explaining the decision that assistant head coach and running backs coach Duce Staley would be a candidate for the job. Staley is very popular in the locker room and a number of former players immediately voiced support for him on social media, but that still seems like a pretty big long-shot.
if Groh was such a sticking point then Peterson had to go. he should have been able to hire who he liked as long as it wasnt Groh. that guy was terrible.
Silly to say Groh was terrible. When he was there the Eagles had a dominate OL that lead the league in time of possession. Howie ignored a basic management rule…if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
‘“Pederson was sick of people telling him what to do.”. Yeah I know the feeling, my boss is always telling me what to do as well. Its called an employer.
As for Wentz, if someone ran the numbers, I bet Pederson’s buyout was cheaper than cutting Wentz. We all know what’s coming next ‘new coach inherited this QB. he doesn’t have any attachment to him’ routine. That predictable.
So an owner tells the HC how to do his job?
Yes. Employer tells the employee how to do his job. Works this way in every industry. Now the employee threaten to quit (rumors about from last offseason) so the owner choose to fire him this time.
Yeah, that’s not how it works in sports and I wish people would stop comparing normal jobs to jobs in pro sports. There is no comparison.
You think Robert Kraft is telling Belichick how to run the show? You think Andy Reid gets told what to do? Give me a break.
As fans we chastize and excoriate owners who are too hands-on (hello, Jerry Jones), so please don’t act like an overbearing owner is the norm.
Bill & Andy have decades of excellent work including both winning the SB. I bet if an accountant, or sales person, or marketing person, or even a medical staff choose to fight w/ an owner, they would be fired as well. When you’re hired as a HC, you’re not exempt from following their rules. After that great SB run, the Eagles have been sliding down. Why can’t the owner step in w/ his thoughts? How many consecutive losing seasons does a coach get?
As for the hands on/off owner, I really don’t know the answer. I agree Jerry is very hands on, but Shad Khan hasn’t been actively involved for 8 years they they have 7 losing seasons to show for it. In fact, Shad is supposed to be more involved from now on.
Owners interject all the time. It’s nothing new. You act as if it’s not allowed. They sign off on certain players, they have vision for where the team should be going. Pretty sure he made a decision in Vick? Not a foreign concept.
Pederson :
Call the VikQueens.
They need an OC.
Who are they, a drag team? Is OC short for outfit coordinator?
If that doesn’t work out, he could try the Vikings. They’re an NFL team.
Sick of people telling him what to do?? Lmao those are his bosses
I’m torn. I think sitting Wentz created a terrible situation with a QB owed a ton of money. But on the other hand he just recently won a Super Bowl with a QB the Jags let go and couldn’t beat out Trubisky. I think if he’s stuck with Wentz when healthy he’d be back next season
Well, he did have help. The help left, suddenly he was terrible. When the talent all got injured this year, we got to see the questionable playcalls from last year without the talented play (and motivated play) to cover for it. Really, the obvious frustration of the players and loss of the locker room was worse than the losing. Dan Quinn managed to hold on to his job for a few years of this because his players had confidence in him and he motivated them, unlike Pederson who was two years removed from the franchise’s first championship win. How you handle the situation counts a lot.
After that all that, Pederson picked a fight with his boss. You might not like his decisions or his pushiness, but you can’t fight with your boss when you’re doing a bad job.