Doug Pederson to conduct second interview with Jacksonville Jaguars tomorrow

Doug Pederson’s name has made a resurgence in the coaching carousel this week. According to Mike Garafolo, the Jacksonville Jaguars plan on bringing in Pederson tomorrow for a second interview with the team for their head coach vacancy.

The #Jaguars will interview Doug Pederson for their head coaching job tomorrow, sources say. That’ll be his second interview with Jacksonville as their search continues.

— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) January 31, 2022

This news comes off the heels of Ian Rapoport’s report that Pederson interviewed for the New Orleans Saints’ job yesterday. The former Eagles head coach spoke with the Jaguars earlier this month but seemed to fall out of the running.

According to Albert Breer, it appears Pederson wasn’t interested in the Jaguars’ job due to Trent Baalke and the team’s front office.

“Doug Pederson, I’m told, was lukewarm about the chance to go there, given what he’d gone through in Philly and the structure in place in Jacksonville,” 

Numerous candidates have cited this as a reason to stay away from Jacksonville, including former Jaguars’ QB Byron Leftwich. Baalke is unanimously considered the worst GM in football yet remains employed despite no signs of improvement. The Urban Meyer hiring proved to be the worst head coach hiring in recent history and the team once again finished with the worst record in the NFL.

If Pederson is coming back, there’s a chance the Jags realized they needed to move on from Baalke and are willing to restart negotiations.

Meanwhile, their division rival, the Houston Texans, have named current Eagles DC Jonathan Gannon and former Pederson QB Josh McCown as finalists for their head coach opening. Pederson’s former DC, Jim Schwartz, is also in the running for the Indianapolis Colts defensive coordinator job under former Eagles OC, Frank Reich.

Mandatory Credit: AP Photo