The Jaguars stood 8-3 at this point last season but have gone 3-14 in the 17 games since that hot start. As a result, Doug Pederson is almost certain to be fired by season’s end. GM Trent Baalke is also on unstable ground.
Pederson remains employed as Jaguars HC, with owner Shad Khan thus far resisting the former Super Bowl-winning coach join Urban Meyer and Gus Bradley in being dismissed in-season. But it appears only a matter of time before Pederson is gone. Some around the league believe Khan will have no choice but to fire both Pederson and Baalke to start the 2025 offseason, ESPN.com’s Jeremy Fowler notes.
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Sitting 2-9 after a 52-6 demolition at the hands of the soaring Lions, the Jaguars rank last defensively despite that being the area Pederson focused on in terms of staff turnover. Pederson fired two-year DC Mike Caldwell and most of his staff but opted to keep OC Press Taylor despite Baalke having conducted a close look into the state of the offense with Taylor at the controls. Pederson made Taylor the team’s full-time play-caller in 2023, and that plan carried over into this season. The younger brother of Bengals HC Zac Taylor, Press has not distinguished himself during a dismal Jags season.
Baalke and Pederson are not seeing eye-to-eye presently, and SI.com’s Albert Breer notes Press Taylor’s presence is a key reason why. Baalke is believed to have wanted Pederson to make more staff changes, with Taylor’s name coming up as one the fourth-year Jags GM would have liked to see go. As was the case with the Eagles, however, Pederson has been loyal to Taylor. This is not the first time Taylor’s name has come up as a Pederson anchor, nor is this the first report of Pederson-Baalke strife.
The Eagles shot down Pederson’s plan to promote Taylor to OC in 2021; the team fired Pederson soon after. Nevertheless, the former Philadelphia honcho brought Taylor with him to Jacksonville and has stuck by him despite steady criticism. The Jaguars have tumbled from 13th to 28th in total offense since last season and 13th to 23rd in scoring. Trevor Lawrence‘s absence has played a small part in the decline, though the former No. 1 overall pick has been healthier than last season on the whole.
It is rather interesting Taylor’s name has caused so many issues for Pederson dating back to his time in Philly — only to see no action taken. Taylor remains in place as Jags OC, though his tenure in that role will be capped at three seasons. This has marked Taylor’s first OC opportunity, but Pederson promoted him to pass-game coordinator with the Eagles. That drew scrutiny once Carson Wentz regressed; Taylor did not interview for another OC post once the Jags hired him in 2022. Taylor, 36, has been a Pederson staffer throughout the latter’s HC tenure, even though it was Chip Kelly who initially brought him to Philly.
The reported HC-GM friction aside, Fowler adds some believe the coach has not lost the locker room. Baalke has plenty to answer for as well, seeing as he greenlit the three most lucrative extensions in franchise history (for Lawrence, Josh Hines-Allen and Tyson Campbell) only to see the team plummet off the contender tier. This came two years after Baalke’s famous Travon Walker-over-Aidan Hutchinson call. GMs do not receive second chances on the level HCs do, and it appears more likely than not the former 49ers front office boss’ second GM opportunity is nearing an end.
The Full Press offense lol
It’s like a Spider-Man pointing meme of guys who should all be fired.
Don’t forget that the team was robbed of $20m(?) as well. Horribly ran organization.
Not entirely sure if you mean gambling dude or Christian Kirk…
Ha! With that logic, you can add Trevor to the list of thieves in Jacksonville.
I mean Christian Kirk was a legit WR1 for a team with no other receiving threats his first year…84-1108-8. He was solid last year until his injury. Overpaid a little bit? Maybe, but when you’re a bad team you have to overpay to convince players to sign with you (see: Carolina Panthers).
The dividing line between 8-3 start to 2023 and the 3-14 since is Christian Kirk getting hurt. Don’t underestimate Kirk.
I’m sure that the number of games they play overseas has nothing to do with this. In my opinion, that’s an experiment that needs to end.
I mean their international game is good for them. They were the first team to dive head first into accepting it so they’ve built a tiny bit of a fanbase overseas. For their home game there, they run the full operations for it and thus get the revenue as if it was a normal home game in Jacksonville for them, every other game/team the NFL manages the operation meaning reduced revenue for those teams.
So you think the preparation is the same in a given week, as it would be if they weren’t playing a few time zones away?
You think the players look forward to those international flights to and fro?
Their opponent has to fly there too. If the Jags were negatively impacted, so would be their opponent. They’ve been terrible for far longer than they’ve played in London.
All 3 should be gone by the end of the season.
As a Fan since 1995, lemme recommend (1) Baalke & Pederson be gone before seasons end; (2) hometown fans begin wearing paper bags on their heads and not take them off until the Team has a winning record again.
I live a hair south of the stadium. The fans shouldn’t wear bags, they should not show up and make them tarp of seats again.
Blaming everybody but themselves for the predicament they find organization in. “It’s that guys fault over there, fire him n all will be well.” Accountabiity starts @the top.
The NFL world really needs to know what type of dirt Press Taylor has on Doug Pederson because this will be two HC jobs that he will have essentially gotten Doug fired from. Imo this is going to end Pederson’s NFL coaching career if he keeps insisting on Press Taylor being a thing, its failed in two different teams and I’d be shocked if some team thinks “third time’s the charm”.
But this issue stems from the top starting with Khan. Whats abnormal is that most bad owners are known for not being patient enough and meddling too much, where Khan is too patient and doesn’t seem to meddle at all. He’s just hired the wrong people to run the team and takes too long to get rid of them. Fire Baalke, fire Pederson. Hopefully make the right GM choice and hope they make the right coach choice.
The owners being loyal to a clown like Goodell is acceptable but Pederson being loyal to Taylor is apparently egregious… can you spot the irony?