Doug Pederson’s Long

Super Bowl Journey The Eagles head coach has been well-traveled in his football career. Click here for a graphic tracing Pederson’s football journey.

But he pined for the NFL. And when Reid called and offered him an entry-level job with the Eagles in 2009, “there wasn’t a lot of the twisting of my arm,” he said.

“There was not much discussion,” Mornhinweg said. “‘Oh, Doug. Does he want to do this? Oh, done.’ He fit right in. It was immediate.”

To Mornhinweg, now the Ravens’ offensive coordinator, there was no question Pederson would eventually become a head coach, and a good one. Joe Banner, then the Eagles president, didn’t see it quite that way.

“At the time, I would have said he’s got everything you’re looking for, but he needed to continue to grow as the leader, as the CEO of the organization,” Banner said. “It certainly appears he’s done that.”

His first season with the Eagles, though, was rocky. He won his first three games but lost seven of the next nine. Most of the games were close, but Pederson’s game management marred a few. Then came a few blowouts, and some fans and critics grew impatient.

Lurie and Eagles executive Howie Roseman did not.

“He acted the same way when we were 3-0 when we were 5-9,” Roseman said.

Always adapting

Pederson’s staff appreciates his consistency. He sets a schedule and doesn’t stray from it. When he holds coaches-only meetings at the start of each week, he goes around the room and asks each assistant, “What are your thoughts and how are we going to beat this team? ” running backs coach Duce Staley said.

“And he writes it down and he goes back and reads it,” Staley said. “And you know how I know? Because I see it in the game plan.”

Pederson isn’t tyrannical, which Staley said is difficult these days “because there are so many dictators, small countries” in the NFL. Schwartz has autonomy over the defense; Dave Fipp, over special teams. Reich handles the two-minute offense and will call plays sometimes in those scenarios. Quarterbacks coach John DeFilippo specializes in the red zone. And so on.

“Sometimes you see coaches have their offense and they’re going to run their offense. This is what they believe in. They have strong convictions,” Kelce said. “I think Doug has a little of that, but he continues to adjust, adapt, and innovate. … We’ve lost guys, and he designs and calls plays that work to his players’ strengths.”

The NFL is about the players, according to Pederson. He doesn’t suffer from delusions of coaching grandeur.

“Put 98 percent talent in a room and 2 percent coaching,” he said, “but the coaching needs to be 100 percent of the 2 percent.”

And a significant portion of coaching is listening to the locker room. Pederson created a nine-man leadership council during his first year that meets weekly for a sort of airing of grievances. Sometimes he’ll honor a request – such as when the players wanted to practice more in pads before the playoffs – and sometimes he won’t – as when they asked to fly first-class.

But most of the players said they value his openness to their self-expression.

“Even when he first got here, [he said] just let your personality show,” safety Malcolm Jenkins said. “I think you’ve seen that all year. Whether it be the celebrations or just the demeanor about which we go and play, guys have been able to kind of be themselves in a way that doesn’t step outside of the team, either.”

Pederson hasn’t changed an iota despite his success this season. While Patriots coach Bill Belichick wore a suit and tie Monday for media night, Pederson donned his standard jeans. His daily news conferences have been the usual mixture of cooperative yet nebulous, sincere yet jocular.

“I love ice cream,” Pederson said when asked for the story behind his habit for ending Saturday’s team meetings by telling his players that the dessert is waiting, and possibly melting. “Can’t you tell?”

He said there was no particular meaning behind the ice cream send-off. The same lack of pretense apparently applied to his kicking the trash can over in December.

“Oh, I set them up,” Pederson said. “I made sure the trash can was empty first. So I came into the meeting late and when I walked in I was like, ‘That practice was …!’ and I just booted the can across the room. And guys were like, ‘whooooaaa.’ And then I just busted out laughing.”

So why do it?

“To liven the room,” Pederson said. “I just wanted to have fun with the players.”

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