Doug Pederson is considering taking a year out of coaching, according to a report by ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, citing unidentified sources.
52-year-old Pederson, sacked on Monday, has yet to be officially linked to any of the other six openings as a head coach in the league, although it was widely assumed that the Jets – with general manager Joe Douglas – would chase him
“He may be intrigued by one of the openings (head coach), but, as the source said, it has been a loooong year for Pederson,” Fowler posted.
Pederson missed 10 days of training camp after hiring COVID and spoke last month about how difficult the year was for him, limited personal contact with his players.
The Eagles went 4-11-1 this year in Pederson’s fifth season, and he ended his career in the Eagles with a record of 42-37-1.
Pederson has been a coach since 2005 and has been an NFL coach since 2009. He played from 1991 to 2004, so he’s been involved in the game for 30 years. More if you go back to your college playing career in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
It is not uncommon for coaches to take a year off to recharge their batteries. The daily routine is exhausting, especially for coaches whose teams are often in the playoffs, which runs until January – and in Pederson’s case, until February 2017.
Some coaches take more than a year. Dick Vermeil took 14 years off between leaving the Eagles after the 1982 season and taking charge of the Rams in 1997. Jon Gruden spent nine years away training the Buccaneers and Raiders. Current Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy retired last year after being fired by the Packers.
The last four Eagles coaches were immediately hired as coach by another NFL team.
The last head coach of the Eagles who did not immediately get a head coach job after leaving the Eagles was Buddy Ryan, who was fired after the 1990 season and was out for two years before becoming defensive coordinator for the Oilers in 1993. He ended up becoming head coach of the Cards in 1994.