After taking a year off from coaching, it appears that Super Bowl 52 winner Doug Pederson might be looking to dip his toes back into NFL waters. Ian Rapoport noted on Monday morning that the former Eagles head coach interviewed with the New Orleans Saints for their HC Vacancy.
It’s interesting that it’s taken this long for Pederson to get a look in. He has interviewed for the Chicago Bears and Minnesota Vikings openings, but his name has been an under-the-radar one.
Maybe it’s because of how sourly the 2020 season ended and the impression that may have had on the rest of the league, or perhaps it’s because he just wanted a break after such a tumultuous end to his tenure. The answer is probably somewhere in the middle.
However, the Saints are a team that are on the fringe of a rebuild and could be looking for a long-term Head Coach to captain the ship. Not only has Pederson been there before in 2016 with Carson Wentz, but he also played his collegiate football at LA-Monroe.
Pederson led his team to the playoffs three times during the five years he was Head Coach, including the remarkable Super Bowl win over New England. The only exceptions being when Wentz was a rookie and when Wentz played like one. He built a winning culture and pushed out those with questionable character traits, embedding an identity of underdogs and aggressiveness throughout.
The Saints, or any NFL team for that matter, could do a lot worse than Doug Pederson, and I think every Eagles fan would happily wish him the best and love to see him in the NFL again.
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