Desperate plea to Jaguars to keep Doug Pederson beyond 2024 misses the mark

It may not happen this year, but it looks like it will be a matter of time before the Jacksonville Jaguars dismiss head coach Doug Pederson. After all, the team has failed to live up to expectations the past two years. However, a local voice tries to make the case to the Jags to give him another chance... and it doesn't go well.

Tim Walters of The Florida-Times Union acknowledges that Pederson hasn't been great in 2024 but argues that the head coach deserves to keep his job. The biggest reason? The Jags had winning seasons in back-to-back years and the team was in worse shape when he took over.

"As I stated at the start, it’s not like he’s forgotten how to coach. He’s still a very good coach. But he needs upgrades all around him.Good head coaches are hard to find.Hiring a 72-year-old Bill Belichick isn’t the answer for the Jaguars.Luring Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson is unlikely — there will be much more attractive jobs for him to take out there.Hiring someone unproven isn’t what this team needs at this moment in time.Unless the Jags are dead set on pushing all their chips in for Mike Vrabel, they should clean house but keep Doug Pederson.He brings a much-needed stability.He shouldn’t be judged by this one season.He should get leeway because of some unfortunate injuries to key players."

Walters says that Pederson does need to fire defensive coordinator Ryan Nielsen, which makes sense when you consider that his unit has severely underperformed this season. However, the team's struggles go behind the defense. The offense has also been underwhelming, and the head coach is responsible for that.

Surprisingly, Walter argues in his column that general manager Trent Baalke needs to go, and he's right. Baalke hasn't done a good job of replenishing the roster the past two years. To make matters worse, he doesn't seemingly have a great relationship with Pederson, but that's the thing.

It wouldn't make sense to give Baalke the boot, bring in another general manager, and keep Pederson. Leaving aside that the head coach must shoulder his part of the blame for the team's struggles, any potential candidates to oversee the personnel department will want to bring their own guy rather than inherit someone.

This season, the Jaguars are 2-9. But leaving their record aside, they've dealt with self-inflicted wounds and have been outplayed more often than not. What's infuriating is that they have ample talent, at least on paper, but they cannot get out of their own way.

To make matters worse, owner Shad Khan called this the "most talented Jaguars team in franchise history," probably setting unrealistic expectations for the season. Now, they're on the brink of being eliminated from playoff contention and wondering what went wrong.

Why the Jaguars must dismiss Doug Pederson and Trent Baalke

There's no denying Doug Pederson played a key role in healing the Jacksonville Jaguars following the Urban Meyer debacle. Similarly, he was integral in their 2022 turnaround that ended in a trip to the Divisional Round of the playoffs and an AFC South title. That said, Tim Walters omits two important things when making his case.

First, the NFL is about what you have done lately. If you don't deliver, you won't have a job. Pederson has most definitely come up short the past two years. Last year, Jacksonville started 8-3 but lost five of their last six games. Expected to bounce back in 2024, the team is arguably in worse shape.

But even if you leave aside the fact that the Jags have won just three of their last 17 games dating back to Week 13 of the 2023 season, Pederson doesn't appear to have a great grasp of the team. His relationship with Trevor Lawrence has seemingly soured, and his decision to go out of his way to stand up for protegee Press Taylor might've rubbed the team the wrong way.

The second and most important thing Walters isn't taking into account is that Pederson hasn't done much to earn another opportunity. In a sport where players and coaches routinely have to prove themselves, Walter thinks Pederson deserves a chance because of his past track record, and that's not how things work. If the Jaguars do make the playoffs in 2024, he may have a case, but simply handing him an opportunity because of something he did two years ago would be a mistake.

Ultimately, the Jacksonville Jaguars won't probably dismiss Doug Pederson this year, and if that's the case, he needs to prove he deserves to keep his job.

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