The Philadelphia Eagles fired head coach Doug Pederson earlier this offseason. Pederson had been at the helm for five years from 2016 to 2020. Despite successfully winning a Super Bowl LII title, Pederson's tenure was reportedly filled with office politics and mismanagement which now makes their championship run sort of a miracle, given the negative dynamic within the organization.
Via Sheil Kapadia, Bo Wulf, and Zach Berman of The Athletic:
“The fact that Doug had the success he did with all the shit going on in the building, sometimes I look at our Super Bowl rings, and I’m like, ‘Holy cow, I don’t know how we did it,'” one source said.
Throughout his tenure, Pederson was regularly interrogated by team owner Jeffrey Lurie and general manager Howie Roseman about his play-calling in almost every week of their campaign. Regardless of if the Eagles performed well or not, Pederson still found himself on the other end of the stick as he constantly received criticism about his decisions on the field.
“(Pederson) was ridiculed and criticized for every decision,” one source told The Athletic. “If you won by three, it wasn’t enough. If you lost on a last-second field goal, you’re the worst coach in history.”
Pederson also had disagreements with the management as he fought to keep his assistant coaches at their respective positions despite the opposition from Lurie. He wanted to keep then offensive coordinator Frank Reich back in 2016. Three years later, he wished offensive coordinator Mike Groh and wide receivers coach Carson Walch to remain with the Eagles but, Lurie's orders were still followed at the end of the day.
As per The Athletic, current and former Eagles staffers also spoke regarding the inner workings within the franchise as they described it to be filled with “second-guessing, paranoia and a lack of transparency.” The interconnected characters and agendas of both Lurie and Roseman both comprise the overall dynamic that the team currently possesses today.
With Doug Pederson already gone, the Eagles are looking to start a new chapter with newly-hired head coach Nick Sirianni. More than adding better talents, the Philly-based squad would ultimately need to have a culture reset and cultivate a more positive working environment if they want to hoist another title in the years to come. And that seems like a big ask, considering who runs the show for the Eagles.
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