The Jets ’search for a new head coach had an interesting wrinkle on Monday.
The Eagles fired coach Doug Pederson, prompting immediate speculation from fans and media that the Jets might be interested in him. The connection is easy to make. Jets general manager Joe Douglas worked in Philadelphia with Pederson from 2016 to 19 and the two won the Super Bowl together in 2017.
Douglas has talked a lot about Pederson publicly, but there is nothing to speculate at this point that Douglas would be interested in hiring Pederson. The Jets completed interviews Monday with Titans offensive coordinator Arthur Smith and Saints side coach Aaron Glenn. This represents a total of nine known candidates who have been interviewed.
The Jets set out to conduct a broad search and have followed suit. They have interviewed candidates with experience on both sides of the ball. They have only interviewed one candidate with previous experience in main training: Marvin Lewis.
The belief that the Jets would jump with the possibility of hiring Pederson is incorrect. That doesn’t mean he won’t be a candidate. They could interview him and finally hire him. But it’s no slouch for Pederson to be the Jets ’next coach, as some make it seem. The fact that Douglas and Pederson worked closely does not mean that Douglas wants him as a coach.
There have been several reports that Douglas and Pederson maintained a strong relationship and Douglas praised Pederson on the Adam Schefter podcast in 2019.
“Just like Doug managed his freshman year,” Douglas said. “We started 3-0, things were great, we lost a few guys, we hit some potholes along the way, we finished the season 7-9 and the way he attacked this offseason and how he was able to unify the team with his messaging.And the kind of man he is, he’s as authentic and authentic as ever.He’s a guy who says what he means and what he says, and the players believe in him and believe in his aggressive mentality, so I love how he managed the team ”.
Pederson, 52, is a better-known entity than most of the coaches the Jets have interviewed. He went 42-37-1 in five years with the Eagles and 4-2 in the playoffs, including the team’s only Super Bowl victory after the 2017 season.
The Eagles went down this season, going 4-11-1 and quarterback Carson Wentz had a terrible year. The Eagles property reportedly had concerns about the direction of the crime and Pederson’s vision for the future, particularly with his staff. Discord was also reported between Wentz and Pederson and the belief that the two could no longer coexist. Pederson ended the season with one of the most curious technical decisions to be remembered: quarterback Jalen Hurts against Washington when the game was still within the reach of backup Nate Sudfeld. It looked like Pederson was trying to lose the game on purpose, which infuriated many, including some of his players and many Giants fans and his coach, Joe Judge.
The Jets may be reluctant to hire a newly fired coach. They did it two years ago with Adam Gase and the reaction from the fans was extremely negative. The Jets shouldn’t be caught up in the perception of this hiring, but they could after the experience of the last two years with Gase’s unpopularity.
The Eagles ’opening now means there are seven teams in the NFL with a head coach vacancy. The Jets are not known to have more scheduled interviews. It looks like they will now regroup and decide if they want to add more candidates, including Pederson, or invite coaches to a second interview. The first round of interviews was done remotely. The Jets are expected to incorporate a few finalists into face-to-face interviews at Florham Park, but coaches of teams still living in the playoffs cannot be interviewed in person yet.