Jaguars fire coach Doug Pederson, keep GM Trent Baalke after ‘best team assembled’ wins just 4 games
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Doug Pederson is out as Jacksonville’s head coach after the franchise’s “best team assembled” won just four games.
Jaguars owner Shad Khan fired Pederson on Monday, a day after a 26-23 loss at Indianapolis in overtime. It was the team’s 18th loss in its last 23 games. But Khan kept general manager Trent Baalke, a questionable decision that surely will affect who will become Jacksonville’s next coach.
Khan made the move with one year remaining on Pederson’s contract. The decision came more than five months after Khan stood in front of coaches and players and declared this the “best team assembled by the Jacksonville Jaguars ever.”
“Winning now” was Khan’s edict as training camp opened and after he committed nearly half a billion dollars to to signing quarterback Trevor Lawrence, pass rusher Josh Hines-Allen and cornerback Tyson Campbell to long-term deals in the offseason. It was the most expensive stretch of roster building in franchise history.
And Khan has gotten little, if any, return on his investment.
“Doug is an accomplished football man who will undoubtedly enjoy another chapter in his impressive NFL career, and I will be rooting for Doug and his wife Jeannie when that occasion arrives,” Khan said in a statement. “As much as Doug and I both wish his experience here in Jacksonville would have ended better, I have an obligation first and foremost to serve the best interests of our team and especially our fans, who faithfully support our team and are overdue to be rewarded. In that spirit, the time to summon new leadership is now.
“I strongly believe it is possible next season to restore the winning environment we had here not long ago. I will collaborate with General Manager Trent Baalke and others, within and close to our organization, to hire a leader who shares my ambition and is ready to seize the extraordinary opportunity we will offer in Jacksonville.”
The Jaguars (4-13) ended up with their 10th losing season in Khan’s 13 years as owner. Now, Khan will hire his sixth head coach; current NFL offensive coordinators Ben Johnson (Detroit) and Liam Coen (Tampa Bay) should top the list. But would they even agree to work with Baalke, whose draft picks have been mostly suspect and his latest free-agent class is among the worst in franchise history?
Pederson became the fifth NFL head coach fired this season, joining Robert Saleh (New York Jets), Dennis Allen (New Orleans), Matt Eberflus (Chicago) and Jerod Mayo (New England).
Pederson finished 9-8 in his first two campaigns in Jacksonville and made the playoffs in his first year. He became the first coach in franchise history to start with back-to-back winning seasons and was a welcome relief following Urban Meyer’s 13-game tenure that was filled with dysfunction.
But Pederson’s injury-riddled team went 1-5 down the stretch in 2023 and missed the postseason after spending nearly two months atop the AFC South. He thought getting Lawrence healthy and revamping his defensive staff would change the team’s fortunes. Neither made a difference.
More damning: Pederson failed to develop Lawrence or create a team identity, handed play-calling duties to Press Taylor despite Khan making his wishes known and showed no urgency to try to fix a defense that regressed under new coordinator Ryan Nielsen.
The 56-year-old Pederson went 23-30 with Jacksonville, a far cry from the Super Bowl-winning coach Khan thought he hired in February 2021.
A longtime backup quarterback in the league, Pederson spent part of his coaching career working under Andy Reid in Kansas City. Pederson came to Jacksonville after a one-year coaching hiatus that followed a five-year stint as Philadelphia’s head coach, where he led the Eagles to their first Super Bowl title in 2018.
With backup Nick Foles under center, the Eagles beat Tom Brady and New England thanks partly to a trick play called “Philly Special.” That victory is Pederson’s defining coaching moment.
His tenure with Jacksonville was mostly forgettable. Sure, there was the come-from-behind stunner over the Los Angeles Chargers in the AFC wild-card round in January 2023. Lawrence rallied the Jaguars from a 27-0 deficit to win 31-30. Otherwise, Pederson was fairly pedestrian.
His ultimate undoing came in close games, with Jacksonville going 3-10 in one-score contests this season. Whether that’s talent or coaching is debatable. Regardless, Pederson got little public support from players down the stretch, a clear sign that the locker room was ready to go in a different direction.
Now Khan has to find the right coach to get Lawrence — and the rest of the team — to another level.
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl
Jaguars fire coach Doug Pederson, keep GM Trent Baalke after 4-13 season
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- The Jacksonville Jaguars fired coach Doug Pederson but retained GM Trent Baalke on Monday, the team announced.
Pederson's firing comes after the team finished 4-13 this season; it has lost 18 of its past 23 games.
"I had the difficult task this morning of informing Doug Pederson of my intention to hire a new head coach to lead the Jacksonville Jaguars," Jaguars owner Shad Khan said in a statement. "Doug is an accomplished football man who will undoubtedly enjoy another chapter in his impressive NFL career, and I will be rooting for Doug and his wife Jeannie when that occasion arrives. As much as Doug and I both wish his experience here in Jacksonville would have ended better, I have an obligation first and foremost to serve the best interests of our team and especially our fans, who faithfully support our team and are overdue to be rewarded. In that spirit, the time to summon new leadership is now.
"I strongly believe it is possible next season to restore the winning environment we had here not long ago. I will collaborate with General Manager Trent Baalke and others, within and close to our organization, to hire a leader who shares my ambition and is ready to seize the extraordinary opportunity we will offer in Jacksonville."
Khan will now be searching for his sixth head coach since he purchased the team in November 2011 and assumed control in 2012. Baalke is entering the final year of his contract.
Khan had big expectations for 2024, telling the team the night before training camp began last July that this was the "best team assembled by the Jacksonville Jaguars ever" and that he expected the team to make the playoffs. Those comments became public via an in-house documentary released in early September. But instead, his team set an NFL record with 10 one-score losses, the most in a single season in the Super Bowl era (since 1966).
Pederson went 22-29 in three seasons with the Jaguars, including 9-8 records in his first two seasons. Jacksonville won the AFC South in 2022 -- winning its last five games -- and rallied from a 27-0 deficit to beat the Chargers in a wild-card playoff game before losing to the eventual Super Bowl champion Chiefs. After starting the 2023 season 8-3, the Jaguars fell apart and missed the playoffs, going 1-5 to end the season.
Last season's struggles spilled over into 2024. A 37-point loss on "Monday Night Football" at the Buffalo Bills and a 35-16 loss to the Chicago Bears and rookie quarterback Caleb Williams in London highlighted major issues early on. A 52-6 loss at Detroit on Nov. 17 was the largest margin of defeat in franchise history (eclipsing a 44-point loss to Detroit in the 1995 inaugural season) and the defense gave up 645 yards, the second-most allowed in a game in franchise history.
The Jaguars have one of the NFL's worst defenses, ranking 31st in the NFL in yards allowed per game (389.9) and last in passing yards allowed per game (257.4) under coordinator Ryan Nielsen, whom Pederson hired to replace Mike Caldwell this past offseason.
Khan hired Pederson in part to help Trevor Lawrence develop into one of the league's top quarterbacks, but Lawrence still struggles with consistency after three seasons in Pederson's offense. Lawrence threw for 2,045 yards and 11 touchdowns before a shoulder injury and concussion Dec. 1 ended his season. His completion percentage (60.6%) is the second lowest of his career, and he continues to struggle with turnovers.
Pederson also has faced heavy criticism about offensive coordinator Press Taylor, who took over full-time playcalling duties in 2023. After saying he was going to reevaluate the playcalling process last February, Pederson refused to publicly say who was going to call plays in 2024, though it was later confirmed to be Taylor. Even Khan weighed in on the issue, saying in June that he had a preference on who would call plays but would leave the decision up to Pederson.
The Jacksonville offense under Taylor finished this season as one of the worst in the NFL, ranking 25th in yards per game (305.8), 21st in passing yards per game (204.5), and 21st in third downs (37.3%). Season-ending injuries to Lawrence, receivers Christian Kirk and Gabe Davis, and tight end Evan Engram played a significant role in the offense's struggles, but the Jaguars ranked in the middle third of the NFL in scoring, total offense, rushing and passing through the first nine weeks before Lawrence suffered a shoulder injury.
Backup quarterback Mac Jones started seven games in place of Lawrence, and in those starts the Jaguars averaged just 15.0 points per game and he threw for 1,409 yards and six touchdowns with eight interceptions. The lone bright spot on offense has been receiver Brian Thomas Jr., who led all rookies in receiving yards (1,282) and TDs (10). He also had 87 catches, and those marks set single-season franchise rookie records. Thomas was recently named a first alternate for the Pro Bowl.
Pederson is most known for his tenure as coach of the Philadelphia Eagles. He went 42-37-1, made three playoff appearances and won Super Bowl LII in five seasons in Philadelphia (2016-20). He was fired after the 2020 season and spent 2021 out of football before joining the Jaguars in 2022.
Baalke joined the Jaguars as director of player personnel in February 2020 and was promoted to general manager after Khan fired GM Dave Caldwell that November. Baalke's tenure started with the selection of Lawrence with the first overall pick in 2021 and included Urban Meyer's calamitous 13-game span as head coach, the hiring of Pederson, an AFC South title, a rally from a 27-0 deficit to win a wild-card playoff game, the biggest collapse in franchise history, and signing one of the best free agent classes in team history.
But Baalke also made a questionable decision by choosing defensive end Travon Walker over defensive end Aidan Hutchinson with the No. 1 pick in 2022 and signed one of the most disappointing free agent classes in franchise history this season. He also was critical of the team's lack of identity on offense and defense in 2023, but the same problem has plagued the team this season.
Nine of Baalke's 38 draft picks from 2021-24 have become full-time starters, including Lawrence, running back Travis Etienne Jr. (25th overall in 2021), cornerback Tyson Campbell (33rd overall in 2021), Walker, linebacker Devin Lloyd (27th overall in 2022), right tackle Anton Harrison (27th overall in 2023), and Thomas (23rd overall in 2024). Lawrence is the only one to make a Pro Bowl.
Jaguars move on from coach Doug Pederson, but GM Trent Baalke will stay
For Doug Pederson as well as the Jacksonville Jaguars, his hire was a fresh start. Pederson had a Super Bowl win with the Philadelphia Eagles, but did have a sour finish there. The Jaguars had an exciting young quarterback in Trevor Lawrence and needed a professional at head coach after the Urban Meyer debacle.
It turned out to be a bad relationship all around.
Pederson, who fired his defensive coordinator after a massive collapse last season, had to be the one to pay the price for the Jaguars' awful season this time around. The Jaguars fired Pederson on Monday after finishing 4-13 this season. One of those defeats included a horrific 52-6 loss to the Detroit Lions that dropped Jacksonville to 2-9. It was the worst loss in Jaguars history.
Pederson managed to hang on for the rest of the season, but he's now done in Jacksonville after three years.
While many wondered if Jacksonville would make it a clean sweep and fire general manager Trent Baalke as well, team owner Shad Khan said in a statement that Baalke will remain in his role. That was surprising news considering the Jaguars' record in Baalke's four seasons is just 25-43 and deficiencies in the roster was a reason for their 4-13 record this season.
The Jaguars improved in the first season after Meyer — it was almost impossible to be worse — but it slowly got worse for Pederson after that. The Jaguars started this season with a winless September that included choking away a lead against the Miami Dolphins, being blasted on Monday night by the Buffalo Bills and losing another game in the final minute against the Houston Texans. The Jaguars barely won a home game against a shorthanded Indianapolis Colts team, but then went to London and looked listless in a loss to the Chicago Bears. Jacksonville dropped games to the Eagles, Pederson's former team, and the Vikings after that.
The Jaguars weren't happy to see such a poor start shortly after Lawrence signed a five-year, $275 million contract. Pederson was in trouble from very early in the season.
Pederson looked like he'd be a top NFL coach for many years after the Eagles won the Super Bowl. He outcoached Bill Belichick in that Super Bowl. That was at the end of his second season as an NFL head coach.
It went downhill fast. He went 40-41-1 over the next five seasons, never winning more than nine games in any season. He was fired by the Eagles after the offense and specifically Carson Wentz regressed and there were questions about his choices at assistant coach. The Jaguars saw his championship pedigree and gave him a shot, and in his first season the Jaguars made the playoffs and had a historic comeback win over the Los Angeles Chargers in the wild-card round. That was the peak in Duval County.
In 2023, the Jaguars were 8-3 to start the season but lost five of their final six games and missed the playoffs. Lawrence's ankle injury, which he played through but hindered his performance, was a factor. Pederson fired defensive coordinator Mike Caldwell after the season but kept offensive coordinator Press Taylor, and the latter decision was questioned.
It set up a season in which Pederson had to produce better results, and the Jaguars got off to a horrendous start.
The Jaguars job will be attractive to anyone who thinks Lawrence can still be a franchise quarterback. Plus, the new head coach will walk in with the Jaguars owning the 5th pick in the 2025 NFL Draft.
Lawrence has played at a high level but consistency has been an issue. He played in 10 games this season due to injuries, the fewest single-season starts in his four-year career. Those injuries included a concussion and a sprained AC joint.
He's not going anywhere, considering his contract and lofty pedigree as a top prospect coming out of Clemson. The new head coach will succeed if he can get Lawrence playing at a higher level and keep him on that level consistently. Upgrading the cast around Lawrence will be a priority too.
Even though Pederson had an offensive background, given how important Lawrence reaching his ceiling is for the franchise, it seems like the Jaguars will focus on another offensive-minded head coach in their interviews.
There hasn't been a lot for the Jaguars to get excited about. Lawrence was supposed to be a franchise savior but that hasn't happened. Pederson was going to elevate Lawrence but it's hard to say that happened either. A rough start to Pederson's third season ensured he wouldn't get a fourth.
There's no defending Jaguars GM Trent Baalke, especially amid his latest free-agent class
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — There’s no defending Jacksonville Jaguars general manager Trent Baalke.
His four-year tenure has been filled with draft mistakes and free-agency blunders, and he's among the many reasons the Jaguars (3-12) have lost 17 of their last 21 games heading into their home finale against Tennessee (3-12).
Selecting quarterback Trevor Lawrence first overall in 2021 was a no-brainer, and taking receiver Brian Thomas Jr. at No. 23 in April appears to be his best decision.
Just about everything in between has devolved into a head-scratching move, a list that includes drafting Travon Walker over fellow pass rusher Aidan Hutchinson in 2022 as well as questionable early picks like left tackle Walker Little (second round, 2021) and linebacker Devin Lloyd (first round, 2022).
Baalke’s low point was his latest free-agent class, which included defensive lineman Arik Armstead, cornerback Ronald Darby, receiver Gabe Davis, returner Devin Duvernay, center Mitch Morse and safety Darnell Savage.
The Jaguars committed more than $130 million, including more than $75 million guaranteed, to sign those six in March. They’ve given owner Shad Khan little, if any, return on his investment.
Armstead, 31, has two sacks in 15 games and was flagged for being offside on consecutive plays in a 19-14 loss at Las Vegas on Sunday.
Darby, one of the NFL’s worst-rated cornerbacks in coverage this season, was inactive against the Raiders after getting benched the previous week.
Davis caught 20 passes for 239 yards and two touchdowns in 10 games before tearing the meniscus in his left knee in November and landing on injured reserve.
Duvernay, who has been thrust into an expanded role following season-ending injuries to Davis and Christian Kirk, has 10 catches for 75 yards and four carries for 3 yards. He has been slightly more effective on special teams, averaging 8.9 yards on punt returns and 24.1 yards on kickoff returns.
Morse has been the best of the group, although he was flagged twice against the Raiders — penalties that essentially ended drives. Still, the the 32-year-old center has done little to improve the team’s short-yardage woes.
Savage played just 12 snaps Sunday before leaving with a concussion. His replacement, Andrew Wingard, broke up nearly as many passes (three) in three quarters as Savage did (four) in his last 11 games.
Together, the six newcomers comprise one of the least-productive free-agent classes in franchise history and are one of the many reasons why Baalke’s future in Jacksonville remains murky at best.
What’s working
Getting the ball to Brian Thomas Jr. is the best thing the Jaguars have done over the last four weeks. The rookie from LSU has 31 catches for 399 yards and four touchdowns in those four games. He has been targeted 49 times, including a would-be touchdown he dropped on a deep pass against the Raiders.
What needs help
Jacksonville’s pass-rushing duo of Josh Hines-Allen and Travon Walker has been mostly quiet the last three games. Hines-Allen has six tackles, including a sack, and one QB pressure over that span while Walker has eight tackles, no sacks and two QB pressures. It’s not the performances the Jags need from their most talented position.
Stock up
Rookie defensive tackle Maason Smith, a second-round pick out of LSU, had his best game as a pro in Las Vegas. The 48th overall selection, who was inactive for six games partly because of an ankle injury, notched three tackles — including two for a loss. He also batted down a pass at the line of scrimmage.
Stock down
Running back Tank Bigsby fumbled for the second time in as many games. He also dropped a pass last week in a loss to the New York Jets. It’s been a frustrating span for the second-year pro and third-round pick.
“I couldn’t even sleep last night,” Bigsby said Monday. “That’s a learning mistake, and it can’t happen no more. I’ve just got to move on from it and play confident and be who I am.”
Injuries
Little won't play this week — and might be sidelined the final two games — because of a high ankle sprain. S Darnell Savage (concussion) and LB Ventrell Miller (ankle) are considered day to day. RT Anton Harrison (shoulder) and CB Tyson Campbell (shoulder) should be good to go for the Titans.
Key number
8 — Number of times the Jaguars have lost at least 12 games in a season. It’s happened seven times since Khan bought the team in 2012.
Next steps
The entire organization awaits Khan's decisions regarding the futures of Baalke and coach Doug Pederson.
___
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl
Mark Long, The Associated Press
