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Doug Pederson; debate over
When he became head coach of the Eagles, Doug Pederson was seen as a reactionary hire; he was the anti-Chip Kelly. Before last season started, he was rated by an ESPN poll as the worst of the 32 head coaches in the league. He made a lot of rookie coaching mistakes, but inherited a roster that Kelly had decimated with his selfishness and stubbornness. They finished 7-9, and the coach himself blew at least 2 games. People were saying that we hired the wrong guy, as Giants coach Ben McAdoo, a guy we interviewed, led the Giants to a 11-5 record and a playoff berth.
This season, fortified with a much upgraded roster and a quickly developing Carson Wentz, Doug Pederson made the biggest one year coaching improvement I've ever seen in a lifetime of passionate football fandom. His play calling was just off the charts brilliant all year, especially in the playoffs. You've got to love a guy who does all this, wins a SB, and yet displays not a bit of ego. Even the most rabid Eagles fans (myself included) were flabbergasted at how quickly the team gelled and won game after game, including ALL the close ones.
GM Roseman and player personnel guy Joe Douglas did a brilliant job, making almost no mistakes with the free agents they brought in. Pederson does not deserve all the credit for winning the Super Bowl, but he certainly deserves more than he will accept.
It was a tight game that could have gone either way, but to almost everyone beside Collinsworth, 4 states in New England, and the city of Dallas, the Eagles were a likeable team that played the underdog role to near perfection.
Nick Foles, Super Bowl MVP? He deserved it, the way he played throughout the playoffs...... I couldn't be happier......both for him and for all of the long suffering Eagles fans.
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