Jaguars fire coach Doug Pederson after their ‘best team assembled’ goes 4-13

The Jacksonville Jaguars have decided to move on from head coach Doug Pederson after a second straight disappointing season. 

The Jaguars closed out the year with a 26-23 overtime loss to the Indianapolis Colts, finishing with a 4-13 record. Pederson lost 18 of his final 23 games. 

Before the season, franchise owner Shad Khan proclaimed, “This is the best team assembled by the Jacksonville Jaguars ever.” The team gave quarterback Trevor Lawrence and pass-rusher Josh Hines-Allen lucrative extensions, drafted receiver Brian Thomas Jr. in the first round and signed defensive end Arik Armstead, wideout Gabe Davis and center Mitch Morse in free agency. However, the Jaguars ended up with their first losing season since 2021, when they went 3-14. 

As a result, Khan fired Pederson but decided to keep GM Trent Baalke.

Pederson was hired in 2022 and led the Jaguars to a 9-8 record and a postseason berth. The team closed out the regular season with five straight wins and secured the AFC South title in the final week. Jacksonville went on to upset the Los Angeles Chargers in the wild-card round of the playoffs after a historic second-half comeback. In the divisional round, the Jaguars fell to the eventual Super Bowl champions in a 27-20 loss in Kansas City.

Jacksonville looked poised to return to the playoffs after an 8-3 start to the 2023 season, but the Jags dropped five of their last six games and missed out on the postseason. Since Week 13 of last season, they have gone 5-18. 

Injuries took their toll on the offense this year. Lawrence, whose extension is worth up to $275 million, missed seven games this season due to a shoulder injury and concussion. Top wide receiver Christian Kirk broke his collarbone in Week 8, ending his season. Davis suffered a knee injury a couple of weeks later and finished the year with just 20 catches for 239 yards.

The Jaguars’ low point came in a 52-6 blowout loss to the Detroit Lions in Week 11, one of the worst performances in team history. After the game, Pederson acknowledged his shaky job status.

“I can’t control that,” he said. “I’ve been around this sport a long time, and if it is going to happen, it is obviously going to happen.”

The 46-point margin of defeat broke the previous team record of 44, also set at Detroit. That, though, was in 1995, when the Jaguars were a first-year expansion team.

Jacksonville has cycled through several coaches in the past five years. The Jaguars parted ways with Doug Marrone after a 1-15 season in 2020. His replacement, Urban Meyer, was fired in December of his first and only year in the NFL. Then came Pederson, who won a Super Bowl as head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles. He was expected to bring stability to Jacksonville, and for a while, he did. 

But the team couldn’t sustain the momentum from its playoff run two seasons ago. Pederson finishes his three-year tenure in Jacksonville with a 22-29 record.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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