‘Turnaround’: Does Jaguars' Doug Pederson deserve Coach of the Year consideration?

It takes some time, as a head coach, to gain the trust of a locker room.

It takes even more time to gain the trust of a locker room that has grown accustomed to lies, half-truths and losing as the Jaguars have over the past couple of seasons, especially in 2021.

Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson's task wasn't an easy undertaking from the time he was hired on Feb. 3, 2022. It's an undertaking that he fully embraced and has, thus far, excelled at. His importance this year as Jacksonville gets set to play the Chiefs in the NFL playoffs can't be overstated.

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"Just look what he's done since he's been here. He came into a facility, a team that was 3-14 last year and completely turned it around," Jaguars right tackle Jawaan Taylor said Wednesday.

"[He] took us from not even close to being [in the] playoffs, to actually having a chance to make the playoffs and win our division."

The Jaguars will face off against the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Divisional playoffs on Saturday afternoon after beating the Tennessee Titans in a thrilling game to clinch the AFC South title, then rallying for a historic wild-card win over the Los Angeles Chargers.

Jacksonville hasn’t played a game of this magnitude since 2018 in Week 3 against the New England Patriots. Still, that game likely means less considering how the remainder of that six-win season played out.

Saturday’s game is the biggest since the AFC Championship Game in 2018, and Pederson is at the center of it.

Consistency, trust and some wins

Pederson’s consistency and process are something most players refer back to when thinking of their head coach.

It’s impossible to mention Pederson and what he’s done in Jacksonville this year without mentioning what happened before him.

Last year, the Jaguars were headed up by Urban Meyer, a coach that lost all respect from players in that locker room, ultimately leaving players with very little trust in any authority within the team. Trust was broken to the highest order and consistency became what players needed from that point forward.

Before Pederson could take the team to the heights he wanted to this year, he had to reshape their minds.

On Day 1 when Pederson took the job in Jacksonville, he worked diligently to rebuild the players’ trust. In the offseason, the head coach made an unconventional move to send veterans home for what was supposed to be a mandatory minicamp.

Though a small gesture, it likely gave Pederson some credit within the locker room. The team saw that Pederson cared about them, their health and the work they had put in up to that point.

But the work couldn’t stop there. The team had to fully buy-in, and that takes time — or at least it usually does.

The message from Pederson hasn’t changed — a breath of fresh air. It’s been “pure professionalism” from Pederson, Jaguars receiver Marvin Jones said.

“What’s important when you have a new team or a team that was like us is being transparent and having transparency of what you expect out of the team and what the team should expect out of you,” Jones said.

“I think from Day 1 the message has been clear, that we’re all one.”

Once that happens, trust begins to build. That’s the catalyst for a culture change like the one in Jacksonville this season.

Some coaches enter a building preaching about their past accomplishments. Pederson didn't have to do that, even if he won two Super Bowls in the NFL, once as a player (Packers, 1996) and once as a coach (Eagles, 2017).

"He really started from the ground up. He didn’t come in talking about his Super Bowl. That’s not how he addressed us and how he started off that relationship," Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence said. "He came in talking about what our culture was going to be, what we needed to do to get to where we wanted to be, all those things, and just took it step-by-step."

The consistency of Pederson's messaging helped enable Jacksonville to get out of its five-game rut in October relatively unscathed.

"The leadership that he’s brought, just the consistency, I’ve said that before. He’s the same person every day, whether we won or lost, we lost five in a row, we’ve won however many in a row, he’s the same way every day, and I think that’s something that we’ve all rallied behind and we’ve kind of adopted that as players," Lawrence said.

Jaguars outside linebacker Josh Allen said Thursday the team believed in each other and Pederson early on.

"We love Doug," said Allen. "I think Doug has done a hell of a job of motivating us to put us in a position to be in the situation we are today, so credit to him and credit to the staff that he's brought with him and credit to the team they put together."

A similar sentiment was echoed by Jones.

"I don't think it took that long, especially with the type of players that we have, the type of coaches that we have, and the pedigree everybody has," said Jones. "I think it was always a good vibe [with Pederson]."

Winning games was the final ingredient, Jones admitted, "now you have the sauce."

"That's why we've never wavered in anything that we've done, through the ups and downs of this season."

The Jaguars began the year 2-6 before flipping the script and are 6-2 since a dark October.

For Taylor, Pederson allowing everyone to have a voice, not just certain guys, was huge.

"I feel like the culture definitely changed for the better," said Taylor.

And that's no easy feat considering 2021.

Streak Busters: Jaguars exorcise demons throughout season

There’s no question the Jaguars have been through tough times in their 28-year history. Though the team had success almost immediately, they’ve been to the playoffs just once since 2007.

They’ve suffered through 12 losing seasons — seasons with fewer than eight wins.

There have been a lot of losing streaks as a result. But streaks are meant to be broken, and Pederson has done plenty of that since signing on in Jacksonville this year.

Here are some losing streaks the Jaguars have busted this season:

• 18: The Jaguars had gone 18 road games without a victory prior to their Week 3 win against the Los Angeles Chargers. They’d also won just three games on the west coast prior to Week 3.

• 20: Jacksonville lost an NFL-record 20 games in a row to NFC opponents until snapping the streak in Week 15 against the Dallas Cowboys. The Jaguars had also lost 37 games in a row where they lost the turnover battle, according to ESPN. They were minus-1 against Dallas.

• Back-to-back road wins: Defeated the New York Jets (Week 16) and Houston Texans (Week 17) earning back-to-back-week road victories for the first time since 2013 and sixth time in team history.

• 9: Jacksonville snapped a nine-game losing streak against the Houston Texans in Week 17.

• 8: Jaguars snapped an eight-game road losing streak to the Titans (Week 14)

Aside from the streaks, Pederson’s Jaguars have a 1,000-yard receiver (Christian Kirk) and 1,000-yard rusher (Travis Etienne) for the first time since 2004.

If the Jaguars wins Saturday, they will become the first team in league history to reach the postseason despite losing five games in a calendar month. According to Elias Sports Bureau, 94 teams since 1933 have lost five games in a calendar month but did not go on the make the playoffs.

It would be the first time the Jaguars have swept a season series from the Titans since 2005. They’d also earn a winning divisional record for just the third time in 17 seasons (2017 and 2005).

“I had no clue about half of [the streaks],” receiver Christian Kirk said earlier in the year via ESPN.

“I feel like somebody's telling me about a new streak that we have broken [every week], but it's great because you talk about flipping the script and kind of turning the page and making this thing the way we want to make it. This just says a lot about this football team, the staff and everybody around that this is our opportunity to make it the way we want to make it.”

Pederson’s Coach of the Year merits are worthy of consideration

Before the end of the regular season, Pederson was fourth in COTY odds, according to DraftKings at +1000. Those ahead of him include the Giants’ Brian Daboll (+300), 49ers’ Kyle Shanahan (+200) and Eagles’ Nick Sirianni (+150).

All of those coaches ahead of Pederson have got merits, but as the season approaches an end, Pederson’s odds will likely climb further, and with good reason.

The Jaguars are looking to beat long odds. According to DraftKings, on Sept. 13, just two days after their Week 1 loss to the Commanders, Jacksonville’s odds at winning the AFC South were at just +650. The day before they beat the Titans in Week 18, they are heavy favorites at -300.

Last season, Jacksonville squeaked by with three wins. They suffered through 10 losses by 10 or more points. This year, they’ve lost by 10 or more points just twice, losing by single digits six other times.

After losing five games in a row in the month of October, Jacksonville has gone 8-2, including the wild-card win over the Chargers. The turnaround of not just the culture, but the season has been nothing short of miraculous.

"To be able to do that and turn around the whole program like that in one year, it's crazy," Taylor said. "So, I think that's just enough, that just speaks for itself ... We trusted him from day one and trusted his system and trusted the culture he was trying to build here. So, seeing that and seeing the progress we made, it's crazy. So, I think he should definitely be in the talk for Coach of the Year."

As for Lawrence, the team's franchise QB, there's no question that Pederson should be in the running.

“I think Coach 100 percent should be in the conversation and could win the award," Lawrence said.

"You look at what he’s done here, the energy, not only the Xs and Os and football stuff, but just the energy, the culture that we’ve created here. Obviously, he’s had a huge part in bringing it here. It’s tough to do, especially in the first year and a bunch of new people. I just can’t say enough about the job he’s done and how much I love playing for him and appreciate him, so 100 percent, I think he should be in that conversation.”

Demetrius Harvey is the Jacksonville Jaguars reporter for the Florida Times-Union. You can follow him on Twitter at @Demetrius82.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jaguars' Doug Pederson has a strong case for NFL's Coach of the Year