The Jacksonville Jaguars fired head coach Doug Pederson. In three seasons with the franchise, he went 22-29 in 51 games and made the playoffs once.
The Jaguars finished 4-13 this season, and the franchise decided to make a change. They’ll now find their third head coach since drafting Trevor Lawrence with the first overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft.
LeSean McCoy blamed Pederson’s firing on Lawrence, and he doesn’t think the Jaguars quarterback is a good player.
LeSean McCoy Delivers Verdict on Doug Pederson Getting Fired
McCoy talked about Pederson in a recent segment on “The Facility.” He highlighted how the 56-year-old coach, who was an assistant coach when both were on the Philadelphia Eagles, has been a winner throughout his career and took the blame for the quarterback’s shortcomings.
“Pederson is a really, really good coach. He’s a winning coach,” McCoy said. “He comes from the Andy Reid tree, so you know what that’s about, right? If you look at his whole path, he’s actually one of the coordinators that coached for the Chiefs that actually called plays.”
McCoy further mentioned how Pederson won the Super Bowl in Philadelphia with Nick Foles and was brought to Jacksonville, Fla., to save the franchise and the quarterback. He questioned the franchise’s decision to pay Lawrence top-of-the-market money, saying the Clemson product didn’t earn his way into that contract.
READ MORE: NFL’s Highest-Paid Quarterbacks
“You bring him in there [Jacksonville], he helps Trevor Lawrence out. But how much can you help a guy that’s not that good, right?” added McCoy. “Then you pay these quarterbacks, give them all this money, and now, when they don’t do well, because they’re not that good of a player, and now you gotta blame somebody. Who do you blame? Let’s blame him, the head coach.”
In a post on X (formerly known as Twitter), McCoy also said, “Stop paying average QBs like Elite QBs.”
Lawrence signed a five-year, $275 million extension before the start of the 2024 NFL season. However, he failed to justify his worth this year and played only 10 games due to a shoulder and head injury.
Smh when we stop PAYING AVERAGE QB’s like ELITE QB’s we won’t be FIRING really good coaches like DOUG .. like what you expect when your QB is over hyped and overrated like Trevor is pic.twitter.com/FVm0192ECL
— LeSean Shady Mccoy (@CutonDime25) January 6, 2025
McCoy further added, “No matter what coach you bring in there for Trevor Lawrence, it could be Urban Meyer from college who was really successful. It could be Doug Pederson, really, really successful. It doesn’t matter. Now, if you have Andy Reid, it might be different, but anybody else, they can’t save Trevor Lawrence and the Jaguars; he’s not a good player.”
Lawrence has now played four seasons in the NFL, and he has a career record of 22-38. The Jaguars have the fifth overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, and it’s not a positive look on a quarterback who is tied with Joe Burrow and Jordan Love for the second-highest-paid player in the league on an annual basis.
Pederson Could Join the Chiefs Next Season
Pederson lost his job, but he won’t likely be out of work for a long time. In 2025, he could potentially work for the Kansas City Chiefs alongside his former colleague in Philly and previously K.C., Reid.
Pederson was the Chiefs’ offensive coordinator for three seasons from 2013-2015. Since Matt Nagy, the current Chiefs OC, is a candidate in the upcoming coaching cycle, he could leave the defending Super Bowl champions after this season. The former Jaguars head coach could become the next offensive coordinator in Kansas City, and it would be an excellent job for him.
Working with Reid and Patrick Mahomes is enticing for any coach in the league, and it could be a good place for Pederson to regain his reputation. Even if Nagy doesn’t leave Kansas City, Pederson could be brought in to work for the team in some capacity.
Pederson is 64-66-1 in regular season as a head coach and 5-3 in the playoffs. He is a Super Bowl winner and will get more opportunities in the future to become a head coach.