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Doug Pederson doesn’t exactly seem torn up about being fired by the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday.
The Super Bowl winning head coach shared the following reaction to Derrick Gunn:
“No worries, I’m at peace with it.”
This sentiment doesn’t exactly come as a surprise. We previously heard how Pederson “wouldn’t be totally unhappy if he ends up getting fired.”
It’s not hard to imagine why. Pederson was often responsible to answer for organizational failings that stemmed back to poor decisions made by Jeffrey Lurie and/or Howie Roseman.
To be clear, Pederson played a big role in his own downfall. His proposed coaching staff changes ahead of the 2021 season weren’t inspiring.
But it’s hard to totally blame him for not wanting the team to force more hires on him after we saw how that failed to work out last year. Pederson had had enough:
After speaking with two people close to former #Eagles coach Doug Pederson, it sounds like this is what it boiled down: Pederson was sick of people telling him what to do.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 11, 2021
#BREAKING Sources: Doug Pederson wanted out of #Philly.
— Amanda Guerra (@AmandaGuerraCBS) January 11, 2021
Saw it as a bad situation and didn't feel like could do what he wanted in regards to getting players he wanted. Felt couldn't work with Howie Roseman. Feels can get fresh start somewhere else. @CBSSportsHQ @CBSSports
Jeffrey Lurie, in the #Eagles statement, said that he and Doug Pederson agreed to part ways.
— Jeff McLane (@Jeff_McLane) January 11, 2021
While that may seem like a nice way of saying he was fired, it’s partially true. Pederson was ready to move on, as well, per a source close to the coach.
Interesting to see that Pederson actually threatened to quit last year following the Eagles’ decision to fire Mike Groh after the head coach initially said he’d be back:
RE: Doug Pederson’s firing. This has been boiling since last offseason when Jeffrey/Howie Roseman pressured him to fire OC Mike Groh.
— Jeff McLane (@Jeff_McLane) January 11, 2021
As I reported in Sept., Pederson was angry. He initially threatened to quit, per sources close to him. #Eagles didn’t take seriously then.
In fairness, there was a reasonable case to be made that Groh shouldn’t be back. But it was also fair for Pederson to feel like he deserved the benefit of the doubt when it came to picking his own staff. Not sure if the NFL has ever seen a championship winning head coach who lacked respect and power the way that Pederson did.
True. While it wasn’t called a HC interview, some caught win and considered it as much. It gave Jim some clout and led some in the building to believe he was behind the Mike Lombardi criticisms of Doug.
— Jeff McLane (@Jeff_McLane) January 11, 2021
Kind of makes you wonder how attractive the Eagles’ head coaching job will be to prospective candidates.
In any case, it’s nice to hear that Pederson isn’t taking the news super hard. He made out pretty decent in the end since he’s still getting paid through the 2022 season. Pederson can take a year off if he prefers or potentially get right back in the mix as the head coach of a different NFL team.
Good luck out there, Doug.