Author: Ely Allen

Jacksonville’s head coach position is open for grabs and the prospect of molding a young quarterback with star potential should be alluring for a number of candidates looking to lead the Jaguars. According to a tweet from NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, two of the candidates they wish to interview for the position are former NFL head coaches Doug Pederson and Jim Caldwell.

Pederson has been an offensive mind in the NFL since 2009 spending 6 years as an assistant coach under Andy Reid. He started as an offensive quality control coach for the Eagles until taking over the quarterbacks room when James Urban was promoted to Philadelphia’s assistant offensive coordinator. Pederson followed Reid to Kansas City as the offensive coordinator in 2013 with Reid retaining the role of play-caller for the offense. After a 1-5 start to the 2015 season, Reid gave Pederson play-calling responsibility and the Chiefs finished the season on a 10-game win streak.

This made Pederson a top candidate for NFL head coaching jobs that offseason and he was hired to replace Chip Kelly back where his NFL career first started in Philadelphia. The first-year head coach was matched up with the second-overall pick of the 2016 NFL Draft, quarterback Carson Wentz out of North Dakota State. The team’s record didn’t improve in 2016 despite a three-game win streak to start the Pederson-Wentz marriage. The second year of Pederson’s tenure, though, went slightly better with the Eagles winning Super Bowl LII over the New England Patriots. Pederson had Wentz playing at an MVP level through 14 weeks when Wentz suffered a torn ACL, ending the best season of his then-young NFL career early. Backup quarterback Nick Foles helped the team to clinch home-field advantage in the playoffs and led the team to wins over the Falcons and Vikings en route to their Super Bowl appearance and victory. The next year saw Wentz struggle to stay healthy and Foles continue to fill in as the Eagles went 9-7 and won a playoff game as a wild card team. A healthy Wentz helped Pederson lead the team to a division-winning 9-7 the next year, but they lost their first and only playoff game with Wentz at the helm. Pederson’s last season in Philadelphia saw the Eagles go 4-11-1 after some injuries and poor play from Wentz. Pederson was laid off immediately after the regular season with a 42-37-1 regular season record and a 4-2 playoff record despite delivering the franchise’s first Super Bowl win and first NFL Championship since before the AFL-NFL merger in 1970.

Jim Caldwell entered the NFL in 2001 as the quarterbacks coach for the Buccaneers under then-head coach Tony Dungy. Caldwell followed Dungy to Indianapolis and was announced as Dungy’s successor-in-waiting following the 2007 season. Exactly a year later, Caldwell was introduced as the Colts’ head coach following Dungy’s retirement. Caldwell took over a Peyton Manning-led Colts team and rolled to a 14-0 record, tying former 49ers’ coach George Seifert for most consecutive wins to start a coaching career. He controversially sat his starting players in two losses to end the season, with home-field advantage in the playoffs already secured. Caldwell’s Colts won his first two playoff games over the Ravens and Jets before losing to the Saints in Super Bowl XLIV. The two playoff wins would end up being the only playoff wins of Caldwell’s head coaching career to date, but he was only the fifth head coach to reach the Super Bowl in their rookie season and is the latest rookie head coach to have done so. Caldwell’s next season saw the Colts finish 10-6, winning the AFC South, but losing their Wild Card game to the Jets. The Wild Card loss would be Manning’s last game in a Colts uniform as neck surgeries would hold him out of the entire 2011-12 NFL season. Caldwell’s Manning-less Colts would go 2-14 with quarterbacks Curtis Painter, Dan Orlovsky, and Kerry Collins all starting games. Caldwell was fired immediately following the season.

Caldwell was picked up by the Ravens as a quarterbacks coach but, when the Ravens fired Cam Cameron midseason, Caldwell was named the offensive coordinator for the playoff-bound Ravens and helped lead Joe Flacco to a flawless postseason in which Flacco tied Joe Montana for most touchdowns without an interception in a single postseason. Caldwell saw his quarterback win Super Bowl XLVII MVP after beating the 49ers with a “lights out” performance.

Following a successful tenure in Baltimore, Caldwell was hired to his second head coaching gig in 2014, this time for the Lions. Caldwell led Detroit to an 11-5 record in his first season and a wild card playoff berth, losing to the Cowboys. The Lions would finish with a 9-7 record twice in the next three seasons losing one more playoff game in 2016. Despite finishing 2017 with a winning record, and having a career record with the Lions of 36-28, Caldwell was let go and succeeded by Matt Patricia. Caldwell was hired by the Dolphins to join Brian Flores’s staff as assistant head coach and quarterbacks coach, but he took a leave of absence for health reasons and wasn’t retained by Miami following the 2019 season.

Either head coach would be an intriguing addition due to their success in building offensive systems. Caldwell has shown an aptitude for winning football games, but has often been criticized for being unable to take that next step in the postseason, highlighted by his 2-4 career record in the playoffs. Pederson showed his ability to help young quarterbacks get up to speed in the NFL with Wentz and then-rookie Jalen Hurts, but he drew criticism for controversially pulling Hurts out in the final game of the season in what some accused was an attempt to better the Eagles’ draft position. The Jaguars are sure to do their due diligence in their coaching search, but they clearly have some ideas in mind for what they want out of their new head coach.