Jaguars must target Chris Peduzzi to oversee athletic department

Announcing Chris Doyle as the director of sports performance should have been a sign Urban Meyer’s tenure as the head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars wasn’t going to end well. On the other hand, Doug Pederson is currently putting together his staff and if he wants to hit it out of the ballpark, he should hire Chris Peduzzi as the team’s director of sports medicine.

Chris Peduzzi served as the Philadelphia Eagles director of sports medicine/head athletic trainer from 2013 to 2018. Before that, he was the team’s assistant athletic trainer from 1999 to 2013. That’s 19 years of combined experience. He was working for Philly when they won the Super Bowl in 2017. He’s currently the sports medicine coordinator at St. Luke’s University Health Network but he might be inclined to leave and join the Jaguars’ staff if Pederson gives him a phone call.

Athletic directors won’t make the headlines often but it’s worth mentioning that offensive guard Brandon Brooks thanked him when he announced his retirement. That goes on to show players think highly of him and his work.

The Jaguars’ coaching staff is coming together.

The Jaguars are reportedly working on a deal to hire Buccaneers inside linebackers coach Mike Caldwell as their defensive coordinator,  per Mike Garafolo of NFL Media. Caldwell was teammates with Pederson in the late 1990s and was his coworker in the early 2010s.

Also, the team is hiring Mike McCoy as their quarterbacks coach. Besides Caldwell and McCoy, it’s unknown as of this writing who else will join Pederson’s staff in Jacksonville. Press Taylor seems like the favorite to be the offensive coordinator with Pep Hamilton accepting that role with the Houston Texans. Pederson wanted to promote him to offensive coordinator back in Philly, so it would make sense to offer him the same position in Jacksonville.

Pederson is respected around the league, so he should have no trouble putting together a top-notch staff that will help players perform at the highest possible level. When Urban Meyer was hired last year, he said “his vision/dream was to be the fastest team on the field“, and while that sounded great in theory, that was rarely the case during his short stint in Jacksonville.

Pederson’s focus is to help his players be the best and is taking the steps to assemble the best possible staff. While the offensive and defensive coordinator positions garner the most attention, the head of the athletic department will also play a significant role, that’s why Peduzzi should be one of the top candidates for the job.