Where Things Went Wrong For Doug Pederson and the Jaguars

Why was Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson really fired?

Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson, center, and offensive coordinator Press Taylor talk during a combined NFL football training camp session between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Jacksonville Jaguars Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024 at EverBank Stadium’s Miller Electric Center in Jacksonville, Fla. [Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union] / Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union / USA TODAY NETWORK

Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson was fired this past Monday, putting an end to a three-year tenure that saw the Jaguars reach massive highs in Year 1 before cratering over the next two seasons.

Pederson's removal in Jacksonville had everything to do with the team's on-field performance, especially on the offensive side of the ball. And many of the things that followed Pederson to Jacksonville from Philadelphia came up in his ousting from Jacksonville.

Pederson was fired in Philadelphia just a handful of seasons after bringing a Lombardi to the city. Such a dismissal is out of place for most franchises, but the Eagles’ brass drew a hard line with Pederson. The Eagles pushed for Pederson to make staff changes after a litany of disappointments on offense -- including the regression of quarterback Carson Wentz. 

Chief among those staff members in question by the Eagles was then-quarterbacks coach & passing game coordinator Press Taylor. Pederson showed loyalty to his staff and Taylor and the rest is history, with Pederson taking the 2021 season off before joining the Jaguars in 2022. 

Along with Pederson came Taylor, named offensive coordinator after a year with the Indianapolis Colts as senior offensive assistant. Pederson lauded Taylor from his first day on the job, with Taylor set to play a clear and emphasized role in the development of Lawrence and the passing game.

“Press and I, when I was hired in 2016, Chip Kelly was the coach there for three years, and actually brought Press on board as an offensive quality control, and he worked with the QBs,” Pederson said when he hired Taylor in 2022. 

“I kept him in that role, then I moved him around a couple years later into the receiver room, and just kind of kept listening to him, giving him more responsibility every year that I was a head coach, and then eventually got him into the quarterback room, became a pass game coordinator for me, and just a guy that is highly intelligent, very smart. He's detailed. He's organized. He's the type of guy that as I went through my tenure there in Philadelphia, he's the kind of -- you always have the coaches you keep your eye on, and he was always one of those guys for me that I kept my eye on. I knew that one day I think he was going to be an offensive coordinator. I felt that in my heart that he could be. I was going to eventually make him a coordinator possibly in Philadelphia, and things changed. Yeah, I'm so excited for him because of the working relationship that we've had and how we think alike and how we bounce ideas off each other, and just looking forward to watching him flourish from here.” 

Things went smoothly in 2022, with Lawrence and the Jaguars’ offense catching fire at the end of the season, leading to a 9-8 record, an AFC South title, and a home playoff win vs. the Los Angeles Chargers. The Baltimore Ravens even requested an interview with Taylor for their offensive coordinator position, though the request was blocked.

And with the success of 2022 came increased expectations. As did the addition of star wide receiver Calvin Ridley via a trade with the Atlanta Falcons. Lawrence was hailed as a potential MVP candidate. The Jaguars internally thought they had the chance to increase their scoring output by a touchdown per game.

But it never happened. The Jaguars offense had its wheels come off over the final six weeks of the season, but the issues started long before then. The Jaguars went through training camp and preseason with confidence and high expectations, though a few red flags appeared even then. 

But the Jaguars powered through. The hope was the passing game would take a step and continuity and consistency along the offensive line would translate to a good-enough run game. 

And then it was announced that Taylor was pulling the strings of the offense for the first time in his tenure. NFL Network reported the day of the regular-season opener vs. the Indianapolis Colts that Taylor would take over play-calling for Pederson. This was already known throughout the building, but it was the first time it had become public knowledge.

Pederson, when asked about the change, noted that it wasn’t the first time Taylor had called plays. Pederson said Taylor called playing during the second halves of games in 2022, including some of the Jaguars’ biggest wins. 

According to sources close to the situation, the decision to make Taylor the full-tine play-caller in 2023 was a Pederson decision. It wasn’t a team-mandated move from the Jaguars’ brass. It wasn’t a move that came with vocal politicking from the locker room. It was a move Pederson decided to make and it was as simple as that. 

But the Jaguars’ offense hit bumps in the road early in the season. A Week 1 win against the Colts wasn’t as smooth or efficient as anyone expected. And then the Jaguars were held out of the end-zone against the Kansas City Chiefs in a marquee Week 2 loss. 

The Jaguars had their moments here and there over the next nine games. Lawrence made big throws in London to knock off the Bills, the Jaguars scored 37 points in Week 6, and the arrow was pointing up at 8-3. But according to those around the team, the 8-3 start only hid the Jaguars’ glaring flaws. 

“Our offense wasn’t good enough in some of the games we won. But because we were winning, we thought everything would sort itself out eventually,” one Jaguars player told Jacksonville Jaguars On Sports Illustrated at the end of the 2023 season. 

The Jaguars’ coaching staff pointed to injuries along the offensive line and at quarterback -- along with turnovers from Lawrence -- as the biggest reasons the offense then struggled down a 1-5 stretch over the final six weeks of the season. But there were theories.

According to multiple sources inside the organization, the Jaguars' offensive ecosystem was an echo chamber between Pederson and Taylor, and members of the organization grew concerned about the lack of new ideas and innovation in the scheme after 2022.

Those same sources told Jacksonville Jaguars On Sports Illustrated that there were concerns with the 2024 offense as early as the first week of training camp, with red flags arising after a unit in its third year together looked sloppier than they ever had.

The Jaguars had injuries come up -- again -- in 2024, but even before they lost Christian Kirk, Evan Engram, Gabe Davis, and Trevor Lawrence, the offense had stagnated and frustrations grew about the direction of the unit.

Ultimately, Pederson's inability and unwillingness to take back the reigns of his own offense and move it forward are amongst the biggest reasons he is no longer the Jaguars head coach. It had nothing to do with him as a person or leader; one former player told us this week that Pederson was the biggest reason the Jaguars' locker room regained confidence after the Urban Meyer debacle.

But at the end of the day, Pederson was hired to take the Jaguars' offense to new heights. Instead, he plateaud.

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