Jaguars HC Doug Pederson to call plays on offense during 2022 season
During his NFL coaching career , Doug Pederson has had the chance to work with two No. 1 overall picks at quarterback in Alex Smith and Michael Vick, as well as a pair of No. 2 selections in Donovan McNabb and Carson Wentz. The recently hired Jacksonville Jaguars head coach will get another chance at working closely with a top-overall pick in 2022, with former Clemson signal-caller Trevor Lawrence.
Following a four-season run as a high school head coach at Calvary Baptist in West Virgina from 2005 to 2008, Pederson joined the Philadelphia Eagles as their offensive quality control coach in 2009, which was McNabb's final year with the squad. Pederson continued with the Eagles over the next three seasons, including the 2011 and 2012 campaigns as the quarterbacks coach alongside Vick, before joining the Kansas City Chiefs.
Pederson served as Kansas City's offensive coordinator from 2013 to 2015, working with Smith. The 54-year-old returned to Philadelphia in 2016 and held his first head-coaching gig until 2020.
During that time, Pederson registered a 42-37-1 regular season record, 4-2 mark in the postseason and led the team to the Super Bowl LII victory over the New England Patriots, despite losing Wentz to injury late in the regular season. Backup signal-caller Nick Foles earned Super Bowl MVP honors and finished that year's postseason with six touchdowns against just one interception.
Lawrence is coming off of an up-and-down rookie season under center for Jacksonville, playing for much-maligned former coach Urban Meyer. The 22-year-old finished the 2021 season with a 59.6% completion percentage, 3,641 passing yards, 12 touchdown passes and 17 interceptions, while adding 73 carries for 334 yards and two rushing scores.
The Jaguars ended the year with the worst record in the NFL at 3-14.
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