Coach Doug

As a life-long eagle fan, I remember not liking the Doug Pederson hire. To me it seemed like an over correction from the failures of the previous regime. And the jury was still out on Chip Kelly (the previous Eagle's coach) in my mind. The prestigious college coach with the innovative, speed of light offense had only just gone 7-9. Yes, he had wheeled and dealed some of my favorite players; but Kelly was also fun to watch. He had a vision of what his team wanted to look like—and I couldn’t help feeling that then that we should have given him one more season to see what he can do. I even wrote a blog post thanking him for "trying something" as I phrased it then.

 

But I was wrong, and not for the last time either. The Eagles brought in Doug Pederson, a former backup quarterback who had been coaching High School football only 8 years prior. An Andy Reid retread who led an unimaginative Kansas City offense the year prior. I decided at that time to rebel against my sensitive disposition to authority and not like the guy. Everyone (all the talking heads and experts) was saying that Pederson was a reach, the worst hire of the offseason. No other teams had interviewed him for the head coach position either. We had gone from Kelly: a smart, bold, exciting coach--to this no-name backup with a weird last name.

 

And Pederson didn’t come off the right way to most of us fans. He was unassuming. He was not what I would call a good public speaker. His press conferences gave off to me this vibe that he didn’t exactly know what he was talking about. Confident and assured were two words I would not use to describe his pressers. Eagles fans got on him from the start—some even opting to call him in the message boards and comment sections “Dug” in condescension as opposed to the more reverent and accurate “Doug.” “Aw shucks. My name is Dug.” That was the perception of Doug Pederson.

 

I think my Doug vs. Chip dilemma was a problem of perception verses reality. Chip checked the perception boxes. He was fun, radical, out of the box. He would talk back to the media and everyone loved it. He was everything you wanted from a coach, everything except for the fact that he couldn’t win football games. The players did not like him due to his micromanaging tendencies, and on the football field (the arena that actually matters) he was far less risky than his persona made him seem. Despite all the extra zest of personality, Chip Kelly was just a failed coach—and a year later he confirmed that with his time in San Francisco.

 

There are certain subjective attributes we look for in leaders, which in actuality have nothing to do with leadership. Think about it. First impressions and fan base perceptions rely on surface-level signaling that has no say as to whether the coach will win or lose on a Sunday afternoon. But we were all biased against Doug, because he “came across” as just another guy; because we judged, based on his interactions with the media, him to be “simple” and soft-spoken. We envisioned the first Philadelphia coach to win the Super Bowl to be this charismatic, hard nosed coach like Buddy Ryan or Dick Vermeil. It turns out that there are other ways to lead, and lead successfully at that.

 

Fast forward two years from the Doug Pederson hire, and the unthinkable has happened. Doug Pederson has given the city of Philadelphia its first Super Bowl. If you had told me that two years ago, I would have mocked you. If you had told me that he would win the Super Bowl with a back-up quarterback, against the greatest coach quarterback combination of all time (Patriots)—I don’t know what I would have done. But it happened. Reality proved us wrong, and I am still not sure if I believe it.

 

While Pederson may lack the traditional charisma we naturally value in leaders and coaches alike, his unique leadership is something to celebrate. The greatness of Doug is that he has essentially no ego. He is genuinely a humble man, who has a good relationship with his players and correspondingly gets them to buy into what he is doing. He has open dialogue with the quarterback weekly to discuss (ie: argue about) what plays to run—and what plays the quarterback feels comfortable running. After the injury of starting quarterback Carson Wentz (which I then said was surely the end of the season), Doug said that he sat down with the backup, Nick Foles, and accommodated the offense to suit his strengths. He watched film on Nick’s successful season with Kelly and installed a slew of plays that had similar concepts—plays like RPOs which were run throughout the playoffs. Such open mindedness, flexibility, and common sense--are rare attributes in an NFL coach.

 

Listening to the local radio I heard further that Pederson does not mind surrounding himself with smart people who know more than him. Doug’s humility gives him no problem listening to the opinions of his other coaches and delegating authority to different specialists—individuals who may take the credit, but may also help the team win. For Pederson he does not care.

 

As a play caller, Pederson is perhaps more risky than any other coach I have ever observed—and anyone who watched the Super Bowl will know what I am talking about. Fourth and one at the goal line, against the Patriots, in the biggest game of his life, Doug opts to not only go for it (which the announcers were decrying as foolish), but he dials up the most bizarre trick play I have ever seen. Sideline video actually shows the Eagles quarterback, Nick Foles, suggesting the play to Doug—to which Doug pauses for a few seconds and says, “yeah, let’s do it.” This is unheard of: A head coach in the Super Bowl, in an incredibly crucial moment, following the suggestion of one of his players.

 

Doug, though humble, is not a pushover either. I remember reading an article after the Vikings playoff game which stated that Doug "lost it" in practice when a few players were not paying attention to the play at hand. Some of the players said it scared them. Pederson said himself that he did not quite remember what happened in his heat of rage. I also remember watching a "mic'd up" video of Doug against the 49ers this year, and I realized that he is completely different on the field than he is in the pressers. He is loud, passionate--and yes, he got quite angry at the offense in one instance.

 

This all goes to show that rather arbitrary immediate perceptions do not equal heat of the moment reality. With Kelly we thought, no we were certain, we had this innovative risk taker. But Doug was far more innovative and risk taking in actual games than Kelly ever was.

 

Leadership is far more complex and diverse a topic than we are led on to believe. There are all sorts of styles, all sorts of personalities. Doug Pederson is further proof that catering your leadership to your own unique personality is ultimately the most effective way to lead. At the end of the day, he got players to embrace the underdog mentality. He prepared a back-up QB to go toe to toe with the greatest of all time, Tom Brady. He outcoached the greatest coach in NFL history, on the biggest stage--all the while he was just being Doug.

 

Is he a genius? I am not sure. But he sure coaches like one and that is all that matters.