Former Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Doug Pederson was announced as the new head coach in Philadelphia on Monday. He thanked the people he worked with in Kansas City, including former Eagles coach Andy Reid, who he called “one of my mentors”.
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Pederson accepted the offer to become Philadelphia’s coach last week.
Pederson was linked as the leading candidate last week, but the Eagles couldn’t hire him until after the Chiefs were out of the playoffs, which occurred following Saturday’s 27-20 loss to the New England Patriots.
The Eagles went on what Lurie called an “exhaustive” search – after firing Kelly on December 29 – to find a new coach that eventually led them to Pederson.
The Eagles confirmed interviews with six candidates – two who took jobs elsewhere, one who pulled himself out of contention, two uninspiring in-house options and Pederson. “But I think at the end of the day having all the information, working together there and then making the right decisions at the end of the day it’s what’s best for the Philadelphia Eagles”. “We wouldn’t have traded for him if we thought he was going to be here for a year”.
Pederson was with the Miami Dolphins for three seasons (1993-95) before coming to Green Bay the first time.
Meanwhile, Broncos safety Omar Bolden will miss the rest of the playoffs due to a knee injury suffered while covering a punt in Sunday’s win over the Pittsburgh Steelers. Since 2013, he has been the offensive coordinator of the Kansas City Chiefs.
Pederson said he’s not ready to talk quarterback yet.
That was a very key variable, and Doug has that unquestionably.
Today, the Philadelphia Eagles introduce Doug Pederson as the next head football coach.
“I’ll take responsibility for everything that happened when I was the general manager here”, Roseman said via Birds 24/7.
“I told Dom (DeSandro, the club’s head of security), ‘Daggone, they’re waiting for me?'”, Schwartz said.
Pederson, 47, has 19 years of National Football League experience, including a dozen as a player and the last seven as an assistant coach. “In picking a new head coach, it’s not about winning the press conference, it’s just about picking the best leader, and it was very clear to us that was the way to go”. If the front office and Pederson agree that the team can be championship caliber in 2016, the Eagles will likely aim to re-sign quarterback Sam Bradford, add a few veteran free agents and look to draft players capable of immediate contributions. The Eagles have the personnel to be dominant under Schwartz and it will be interesting to see how the team’s defense looks in a 4-3 base. Part of the problem for Detroit was the lack of offensive improvement under Schwartz, whose coaching background is exclusively on defense. “I think we’ve got a good core of guys on this team”.
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