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Jacksonville Jaguars Coach Doug Pederson on Tony Khan: ‘He’s Very Passionate About AEW’

“We saw that passion during the draft, and the blows in the ring he’s willing to take.”

Justin Barrasso

Doug Pederson always knew Tony Khan was intensely passionate about professional wrestling.

He had an up-close look during the NFL Draft this spring.

“Tony is very passionate about AEW,” said Pederson, who is the head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars. “We saw that passion during the draft, and the blows in the ring he’s willing to take.”

In addition to professional wrestling, Khan is involved in pro soccer and football. He is the Chief Football Strategy Officer for the Jaguars, a franchise where his father, Shad Khan, is the principal owner. That has put him in a position to work closely with Pederson, who was one of many to notice Khan was wearing a neck brace during the draft.

For the first time in his career as a wrestling promoter, Khan was involved in a physical altercation on AEW programming when The Elite attacked him on Dynamite. The timing was impeccable, as it occurred right before the start of this year’s draft.

“Tony and I work closely together, and he does a lot of the analytical stuff,” said Pederson. “I’ve learned a lot from him. He’s very passionate about the Jaguars, and he’s a very good resource for our team. I know he’s excited about AEW, but he’s also very excited about Jacksonville, the direction we’re going, and putting us on a winning path.”

Doug Pederson and Tony Khan
Doug Pederson and Tony Khan /

Now entering his third season as the Jaguars’ head coach, Pederson completed his first two years with back-to-back winning records for the team. Before the Jaguars, he coached the Philadelphia Eagles from 2016 to 2020, where he won Super Bowl LII in 2018. That took place against the famed New England Patriots, which was the same franchise Pederson’s Green Bay Packers defeated when he won a title as a player at Super Bowl XXXI in 1997.

Led by the combination of head coach Bill Belichick and quarterback Tom Brady, the Patriots were favored to defeat the Eagles. As a coach, it was Pederson’s finest hour, especially the “Philly Special” play–which led to a touchdown on a bold fourth-and-goal play in the second quarter when the Eagles were already ahead, 15-12, and a field goal was the conventional choice. Instead, Pederson made one of the all-time great play calls, having center Jason Kelce snap the ball directly to running back Corey Clement, who pitched the ball to backup tight end Trey Burton–who threw a touchdown pass to wide open quarterback Nick Foles.

It was a back-and-forth affair, but Philadelphia was able to score consistently throughout the game, capitalizing on the Patriots’ secondary, which was missing Malcolm Butler. Philly’s defense also came up with key stops on Brady–particularly with the game on the line, including a Hail Mary on the final play of the game.

“That’s a special moment and a special game for our team,” said Pederson. “Tom Brady has obviously had so many great comebacks, Super Bowl comebacks, and he’d had a lot of history in the Super Bowl.

“For the last 50 seconds of that game, my heart was in my throat. It was hard to breathe. We needed a stop. Fletcher Cox almost had a sack, Brandon Graham got close to him a couple times, so did Derek Barnett. That Hail Mary with eight or nine seconds left in the game, that ball was in the air for eternity. I was just waiting for it to hit, which meant we won the game. That was a minute of my life that gave me more gray hairs than I needed.”

Pederson is also competing in this summer’s American Century Championship, a celebrity golf tournament. He has competed four other times, with his best finish in 2019 when he tied for 30th.

The competition runs from July 12-14, airing nationally on NBC, the Golf Channel, and Peacock. A star-studded tourney field also includes Charles Barkley, the Kelce brothers, Aaron Rodgers, and Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence.

There is a long history of NFL players making the jump to pro wrestling, but Pederson wants to keep Lawrence as far away from the ring as possible.

“No pro wrestling for Trevor,” said Pederson. “I don’t want anyone to pull his hair.”

Published
Justin Barrasso
JUSTIN BARRASSO

Justin Barrasso has been writing for Sports Illustrated since 2014. While his primary focus is pro wrestling and MMA, he has also covered MLB, NBA, and the NFL. He can be reached at JBarrasso@gmail.com and followed on Twitter @JustinBarrasso.

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