Trent Baalke, Doug Pederson Emphazising Collaboration To Get Jaguars Out of ‘Neutral’

Trent Baalke and Doug Pederson are the men the Jaguars are trusting to help them improve after an NFL-worst four wins over the last two seasons, making their partnership the most important inside all of TIAA Bank Field.

No NFL team has celebrated fewer wins over the last two seasons than the Jacksonville Jaguars. Now, general manager Trent Baalke and head coach Doug Pederson are hoping their budding relationship can fix that and reverse the franchise's trajectory. 

"With both of us, we have been through a lot professionally – both of us have. You get in an opportunity like this to take over a franchise like this and move it forward," Baalke said Tuesday at the NFL Scouting Combine. 

"[A franchise] that has been stuck in neutral, that is what we are trying to do [move it forward]. It is going to be a very collaborative effort. It has been that way since day one and it is going to continue to be that way."

Pederson and Baalke are the new brain trust of the Jaguars, at least officially as of Tuesday as owner Shad Khan announced he would not be adding an executive vice president to oversee the team's football operations. 

By doing so, Khan placed the entirety of the franchise's direction in 2022 in the hands of Pederson and Baalke, who have worked side-by-side in the three weeks since Pederson was hired by Khan to lead the Jaguars on the field. 

"In just over three weeks, Doug Pederson has instilled a structured and disciplined approach that is clearly making a difference in our culture and mindset," Khan said. "I feel we're best served at this time by allowing Doug, [General Manager] Trent [Baalke] and their assistants to take ownership of our path moving forward. We will continue to explore the addition of personnel to other areas of our football operations to provide everyone the best chance to win."

It is now Baalke and Pederson's show. Khan has given them the ball and it is now up to them to run with it. And running with it is something a starved fanbase desperately wants and needs after a 4-29 record over the last two seasons, with half of those wins coming against one team. 

After never crossing paths as colleagues before this February, Pederson and Baalke have now been set on a course of collaboration and partnership that will define the Jaguars' level of success.

"That’s one of the biggest things that has been reported or scrutinized surrounding Jacksonville. From the day I walked in that door and really it goes back to the interview process, how collaborative we’ve been and the questions we’ve been able to bounce off of each other," Pederson said on Tuesday. 

"I want it to be that way, I want it to be transparent, I want it to be open and honest. We’re not always going to agree and that’s part of this process. At the same time, we can walk out the door and be united. That’s the most important thing. We’re keeping the organization and the players first and that’s the biggest thing we have been able to do. Building on that relationship each and every day.”

Pederson and Baalke have now become the most important relationship inside of TIAA Bank Field; even more important than each's relationship with Khan or quarterback Trevor Lawrence. 

If the Jaguars are going to win games in 2022, it will be because of the fruits of Pederson and Baalke's relationship. If they fail to do so, it will be a direct reflection of a relationship that had not met its potential. 

The Jaguars have been a franchise with its hand off of the gear shift the last two seasons, and really even longer than that. It is now time for the Jaguars to force themselves into 'drive', and the hope is that the collaboration between Pederson and Baalke will do just that.

“I learned he likes to hunt and fish and so do I. That is a positive," Baalke said with a smile on Tuesday.

"He is just really engaging. He is very collaborative, very easy to talk to, very easy to communicate with. All of that has been positive. The good thing is we don’t just talk about football. We talk about life. We went golfing the other day with our wives and had a great time on the golf course. That is something we have to do more often. The collaboration of what we are doing is very good right now.”