Pederson: Jaguars 'not an overnight fix'
During Doug Pederson's introductory press conference Saturday, the new Jacksonville head coach preached patience in his efforts to lead the Jaguars, who've long been one of the NFL's worst franchises.
"This is not an overnight fix. This is not, we're just going to snap our fingers and start winning football games," Pederson said, according to Justin Barney of News4Jax. "Our goal is to win football games, but we're going to do it one player, one coach, one person in the organization at a time.
"And I'll challenge our team, and I'll challenge our fans. It's about ownership. It's about support. It's about leadership. And that's what I'll bring. That's what I'll bring to the organization. And I'm not going to settle for anything less than a championship-caliber team."
Jacksonville hasn't produced back-to-back winning seasons since 2004-05 and has won just four games over the past two years.
The hiring of Urban Meyer and drafting of quarterback Trevor Lawrence at No. 1 overall last offseason were supposed to signal the start of a bright new era.
But Meyer was fired toward the end of his first season after a series of controversies, while Lawrence tied for the most interceptions (17) and often looked overwhelmed by the speed of the NFL.
The Jaguars will hope the arrival of Pederson, who won a Super Bowl with the Philadelphia Eagles in 2017, will provide much-needed stability to the franchise.
However, the AFC South club won't enter the 2022 campaign with a completely clean slate. Embattled general manager Trent Baalke is set to return despite a movement from fans late in the season to force ownership to fire the executive.
Baalke said he never believed his job was in jeopardy.
"I knew all along that I had a vote of confidence from Shad (Khan)," he said. "And as we went into the process, we had a plan, and there was no timetable to announce the next head coach.
"We went into it with a very open mind. We had a process that we were going to go through. We stuck to it, and at the end of the day, it was about getting it right. And we truly believe we got it right with Doug and have no doubt about it."
Khan announced the team will look to hire an executive vice president of football operation to bolster the front office around Baalke. Former Minnesota Vikings general manager Rick Spielman is reportedly the leading candidate for the job.