Eagles to Hire Chiefs OC Doug Pederson as HC

The Philadelphia Eagles are expected to hire Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Doug Pederson once the Chiefs’ season ends, according to sources. Pederson was also a backup quarterback for the Eagles in 1999, and after his retirement as a player he joined the team’s coaching staff. He’s now the offensive coordinator for the Kansas City Chiefs, who will face New England in the AFC Divisional Round at 1:35 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 16.

The NFL coaching carousel took several spins Thursday, and when it stopped, only the Tennessee Titans were left without a confirmed head coach. Columnists and insiders are dubbing Pederson’s hire a failure before he’s even been introduced as the new coach.

The Kansas City Chiefs will miss Doug Pederson – if he’s leaving.

Pederson has been Reid’s offensive coordinator with the Chiefs after previously serving under him for four seasons in Philadelphia, first as offensive quality control coordinator and then quarterbacks coach.

Pederson got into coaching after his playing career ended.

Eagles owner Jeff Lurie is returning to the Reid coaching tree after firing iconoclastic coach Chip Kelly on December 29.

After interviewing several candidates for their head coaching position, it looks like the Philadelphia Eagles have finally found their man.

He followed Reid to Kansas City in 2013 as offensive coordinator, and has earned more responsibility this year. Given that Kelly was named the 49ers’ head-coach within a few hours of him passing on the Eagles’ job, it’s fair to assume that he knew he wasn’t going to coach in the league in 2016 if he passed on the Eagles’ job. Speculation has been that Pederson is a glorified quarterbacks coach, and Andy Reid is the team’s play-caller but Andy Reid shot down that speculation earlier this year admitting that the play calling is occasionally split between Reid and Pederson.

During his news conference on Thursday, Reid said he had spoken with Lurie about his offensive coordinator before Pederson’s interview with Lurie. There were positives of hiring Coughlin (two Super Bowl wins) and negatives (he’ll be 70 next season and the Eagles need to rebuild a bit as they move away from Chip Kelly’s schemes) but now that’s all moot.

Pederson went 2-7 in nine starts in 1999 and was 3-14 in 17 career starts. “He’s ready to do that, and I think if he has that opportunity, more power to him”.

“He’ll do a really, really good job”, Jason Avant, another former Eagle, said.

While many questions remain about Pederson, one of the most pressing ones lies with his ability to help Philadelphia’s play under center.