PFT's top ten NFL head coaches for 2023, No. 10: Doug Pederson
Another slow-time day, another slow-time list.
As explained earlier on Monday, we’ve decided to rank the top 10 head coaches in the NFL. In order to ensure I don’t lose interest and stop, we’re starting at No. 10 and working our way up.
At No. 10 is Jaguars coach Doug Pederson.
It was a close between Pederson, who has a Super Bowl win with the Eagles under his belt, and Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy (who also has a Super Bowl win, with the Packers) and Packers coach Matt LaFleur.
LaFleur doesn’t get enough appreciation for three straight 13-win seasons to start his career, which happened while tiptoeing around a delicate genius at the quarterback position. From the start, Aaron Rodgers resisted LaFleur’s approach, ultimately working the media to secure the ability to call audibles. And with LaFleur also acting as the intermediary between Rodgers and the front office, it’s very impressive that he won that many games in each of his first three NFL seasons.
But postseason success has been lacking, and that counts when culling the 10 best coaches in the NFL.
McCarthy has had ultimate postseason success, but it’s very deep in the rear-view mirror. He, like LaFleur, had Rodgers. Even with the prickly aspects of his personality, Rodgers remains one of the all-time greats. Also, McCarthy eventually was fired by the Packers.
He has done well in Dallas, but the postseason success also has not been there. The 49ers have ended the last two playoff runs for McCarthy and company, after 12-win seasons.
Pederson has a Super Bowl win, an unlikely championship with Nick Foles under center in place of Carson Wentz. That feat becomes more amazing as time goes by. After Pederson was surprisingly fired and sat our the 2021 season, he became the perfect chaser for Urban Meyer, a one-year disaster who transformed the Jags into an expansion team all over again.
Pederson guided the Jags to a division title and a memorable comeback win in the wild-card round against the Chargers. The Jaguars also gave the Chiefs a good game, and Jacksonville enters 2023 with higher expectations than the team has had in years.
Coaches who have won a Super Bowl with one team and are now coaching another team are keenly aware of the fact that no coach has won a Super Bowl with two different teams. McCarthy, Sean Payton, and Doug Pederson are the three who currently have a chance to do it.
And Pederson, given the quality of his roster, could be in the best position of that trio to pull it off. If he does, he’ll be higher on this list, if we do it again next year.
Source: NBC Sports
