The Philadelphia Eagles are reportedly set to name Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Doug Pederson as the team’s new head coach.
Long-time Philadelphia Daily News scribe Les Bowen was the first to report the news:
Doug Pederson will be the #Eagles coach, league source confirms.
— Les Bowen (@LesBowen) January 14, 2016
Pederson has long been considered a favorite to land the job after Philadelphia fired Chip Kelly prior to the team’s regular season finale. That was magnified further on Thursday when Tom Coughlin was removed from consideration for the job.
A 12-year veteran as a backup quarterback in the NFL, the 47-year-old Pederson has served as the Chiefs offensive coordinator that past three seasons.
He led that unit to the ninth-most points during the regular season despite the fact that Jamaal Charles missed the final 11 games to injury.
Prior to that, Pederson served as the Eagles quarterbacks coach in 2011 and 2012.
The links to Philadelphia go back a bit further than that. In his role as a career backup, Pederson started nine games for the Eagles back in 1999.
That came immediately after he served as Brett Favre’s backup in Green Bay for three years — a role he would later take on again.
Respected around the football world, the only real question here is experience. With only three years of play-calling experience, Pederson leaves a lot to be desired there.
Pederson is considered a disciple of former Eagles head coach Andy Reid, who he has served under for the past seven years.