Favre was named the NFL's Most Valuable Player for three consecutive seasons between 1995 and 1997, which are the first three seasons he and Pederson spent together in Green Bay.

All in all, they spent eight seasons together and won division titles in six of those years.

After spending different parts of his career with Marino, Favre and McNabb, Pederson remembers how some of the best to ever do it prepared for their craft.

"It was fun to watch those guys—to see them during the week, how they prepared and studied to get themselves ready to play," Pederson said. "The one thing that's consistent with all those guys and coach Reid's the same way, is the ability to raise the level of talent around them."

After four stops in the NFL and two in the World League, Pederson had experienced just about everything that football would allow a player, including being a member of the Packers' 1996 Super Bowl championship team.

But during that second stint in Green Bay, right around the time Reid was catching the game on television from Philadelphia, Pederson had already realized where his future was headed.

"My last two years playing, I felt like coaching was in my future," Pederson explained. "I enjoyed working closely with Brett (Favre) at the time and helping him by being a coach so to speak on the sidelines during games, practice and in the meeting rooms."

This is what caught the eye of Reid, who was going to have to wait a few years before he'd get the opportunity to work with Pederson on a coaching level.

"With the advice of several coaches, I jumped into high school ball right away," Pederson said. "I got my feet wet and wanted to see if that was really what I wanted to do because you don't have the stresses that you have [in the NFL].

"It's not quite as complicated in high school."

Pederson was given the opportunity at Calvary Baptist Academy in Shreveport, Louisiana.

One of his former college coaches at Northeast Louisiana and a good friend, Tag Rome, had a son at the school and was on the search committee. He reached out to Pederson about the opportunity.

The school had just added 9th through 12th grade the year before and was in a pretty substantial transition.

The previous head coach, John Booty, was moving to the role of athletic director. His sons Josh and John David both played in the NFL.

In his four years as the head coach at Calvary Baptist, Pederson's teams had a combined record of 40-11 and captured the district title in 2007.

But even during his time coaching at the high school level, Pederson stayed in contact with Reid. They would talk every spring and after the 2008 season, Pederson told Reid to keep him in mind should any coaching positions become available with the Eagles.