TRICK QUESTION: DOUG PEDERSON IS ALWAYS UNQUALIFIED!

Ian O’Connor of ESPN ranking the NFL head coaching hires. Guess who’s last?

6. Doug Pederson, Philadelphia Eagles: Pederson spent most of his 10 NFL seasons as a backup quarterback (3-14 as a starter) before becoming a high school coach and then an assistant in Philly under Andy Reid, who brought him along to Kansas City. Pederson has spent only three years in the league as a coordinator, all under a head coach who is a dominant offensive voice. Maybe Pederson has the “emotional intelligence” that owner Jeffrey Lurie is looking for and that Chip Kelly allegedly lacked, and maybe not. But after Coughlin pulled out of the chase and McAdoo canceled his second interview, Lurie didn’t have much to choose from and figured Pederson might bring a little Andy Reid football back to the Linc. It feels like a reach.

Lovely. Unfortunately, a little Andy Reid is both an oxymoron and a potentially big problem. Last night, in the Chiefs’ loss to Patriots – good thing the Eagles didn’t call Matt Patricia, whose defense predictably pwned the Chiefs – Pederson and Reid reprised such Reidian hits as Throw One Yard Short of the Stick on Third Down… Be So Unprepared That You Blow Two Timeouts in the First Quarter at Foxboro… Turning Excellent Field Position at the Opponent’s 38 Into a Three-and-Out, No Points, and No Net Positive Yards… and, everyone’s favorite, Five-Minute Drive To Bleed The Clock in the Fourth Quarter Down 14 Against the Patriots (Featuring: Vomit, Dink-N-Dunk, No Sense of Urgency, Lack of Awareness, and Four Forced Scrambles).

Oh but Kyle, Doug doesn’t call the plays, you might say. Fair. But I would retort with: Why hire the offensive coordinator of a mediocre offense if his own head coach doesn’t even trust him to call the plays? [Real-time fact-check: Pederson began calling some plays this year, according to reports. Which ones, and at which points, we don’t know.]

This is what we get. Doug Pederson is, best case scenario, a carbon copy of Reid. Or… he’s a lesser version devoid of Reid’s preparedness, leadership qualities, and big, healthy gut. Either way, it’s impossible to get excited about this. And quite frankly, I think Doug is unqualified.


…

Meanwhile, I’m getting crushed on Twitter because I’m whiny and, apparently, can’t get over the Chip thing. A sampling:

Voila_Capture 2016-01-17_12-08-07_PM Voila_Capture 2016-01-17_12-08-53_PM Voila_Capture 2016-01-17_12-10-06_PM

Guilty. I think it was a knee-jerk reaction to fire Chip. But I could more easily swallow the pill if the Eagles came out with a coordinated, targeted search that got them a highly sought-after candidate and not Doug Pederson, who was apparently third or fourth on their own list, someone who drew interest from NO OTHER TEAM, and who oversaw that sick omeoba-looking creature vaguely resembling an NFL offense against the Patriots last night. That’s my problem. Chip was fired and it’s almost like Lurie was surprised that Step 2 in that process was to hire a replacement. Oh wait, now we have to find another person?! Someone call Jaws!