By Jesse Larch, Sports Talk Philly editor 
Doug Pederson's name has been in headlines for the wrong reasons over the past two weeks.
First Pederson received criticism from former Browns' general manager and current analyst for The Ringer, Michael Lombardi. Lombardi said that Pederson "might be less qualified to coach a team than anyone I've ever seen."
Lombardi scolded Pederson further saying that "only Carson Wentz can save Pederson's job," and referencing his lack of experience as a coach at the NFL level.
Lombardi has earned a platform to express his opinion from his tenure as an executive with various NFL franchises, but with this comment he has abused that platform.
Like most among the Eagles fan base and media contingent, I found the hire of Doug Pederson to be a head scratcher. Following the failed Chip Kelly experiment, it seemed like owner Jeffrey Lurie was eager to bring back a shred of what he lost when the team parted with Andy Reid. Pederson seemed like nothing more than a Reid retread at the time, but he has developed his own identity since taking the reigns in the Eagles locker room.
Lombardi is incredibly narrow-minded by calling Pederson the most unqualified coach he has ever seen. A small bit of research will show that Pederson's career in the NFL, both as a player and coach, has been littered with mentors considered to be among the greatest coaches of their generation.
Pederson played in locker rooms led by the likes of Mike Sherman, Mike Holmgren, Don Shula, and Andy Reid. Those four head coaches have a combined 720-420 career regular season record, with one NFL championship, three Super Bowls, eight conference titles, and 30 division titles between them. Pederson's experiences with these men gives him a truly distinguished pedigree that many head coaching candidates lack.
As a coach, he was handpicked by Andy Reid when Reid called Pederson and asked him to join his staff in Philadelphia in 2009 as an offensive quality control coach after serving as head coach of a private high school in Shreveport, Louisiana from 2005-2008. The school's football program was only three years old when Pederson led them to their first district title in 2007.
Pederson served under Reid, a borderline hall of fame head coach, from 2009 to 2016 when he was hired as the Eagles' head coach. Pederson rapidly ascended Reid's coaching ladder moving from quality control coach, to quarterbacks coach, and then to offensive coordinator in 2013 when Reid was hired by the Kansas City Chiefs.
Let's pretend that Reid's stamp of approval means nothing for a moment, and look to what one of his players thinks of him.
Nick Foles's quarterbacks coach as rookie with the Eagles was none other than Doug Pederson, now his head coach after Foles rejoined the Eagles in free agency. Foles had quite the defense for Pederson following Lombardi's comments:
"I think that's a ridiculous statement from a former GM to make about someone. Especially someone like Doug. Coach Pederson has always been an outstanding coach. He was personally my quarterback coach. At that time, we all knew that he was going to eventually be a head coach. It was just a matter of time and continuing to grow and develop under coach Reid…He played the position a long time. He's taught the game for a long time, and he's coordinated. He's a great head coach. He knows how to lead a room. That's what quarterbacks do. That's a ridiculous thing for anyone to say, because he's a great head coach."
Eagles' owner Jeffrey Lurie also was quick to have his coach's back. “I have a strong endorsement of Doug,” said Lurie. “Those comments, you guys call it ‘click bait’ or ‘hot takes.’ That's how I saw that.”
Pederson's standing as a head coach came under fire again when Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer wrote a piece the day before the Eagles' season opener in Washington which reported that there is a fox in Pederson's proverbial henhouse.
At the very least, the optics aren’t favorable. One Eagles staffer said the only coach who probably doesn’t think Schwartz is trying to undercut Pederson is Pederson. Three players, who requested anonymity, said that it’s become well-known in the locker room that Schwartz is waiting to usurp power.
“He walks around the building like he thinks he’s the head coach,” one player said.
McLane's piece raises the question of whether or not Jim Schwartz is looking to dethrone Pederson and take over as head coach of the Eagles. McLane should not be blamed for simply reporting on what his source had told him – that is his job after all – however the report found its way into the Eagles' locker room and the players did not seem to agree with the sentiment presented in the article.
Usually coaches are not given a Gatorade bath for winning the first game of the season, but this victory represented more than one on the football field. As the Eagles defeated the Redskins, Pederson was validated for at least one more week, and doused in the popular sports drink by Kamu Grugier-Hill and a teammate who did not dress for the game after a victory that was equally about football and the team's head coach.
"We had to get this win for Doug," said Eagles' veteran left tackle and captain Jason Peters following the game. "It's a good feeling getting the win for him."
Tight end Zach Ertz also came to Pederson's defense after the season opener. "There was a lot of hooplah with the article that came out the day before the game, which was very unfortunate," said Ertz. "We love playing for Doug. We don't really care about what outside people are trying to say"
McLane provided a quote on the matter from Schwartz as well:
Jim Schwartz: I am very comfortable with my relationship with Doug Pederson. I run what he wants. And I take that seriously.
— Jeff McLane (@Jeff_McLane) September 12, 2017
With emphatic endorsements from his players, his owner, and the man supposedly waiting to steal his job, Pederson has proven that he is worthy of the position without making a significant comment on the matter. Pederson has not had to defend himself because those close to him are quick to do it for him, which is a sign of a strong leader. Pederson has earned the respect and loyalty of his players, a feat that some coaches struggle to ever accomplish.
For a supposedly unqualified and unprepared head coach, he has won over a locker room with strong minded veteran leaders like Jason Peters and Malcolm Jenkins in a little over a year. He, along with his staff, has molded an obscure quarterback prospect into a widely praised potential franchise quarterback. He led a rebuilding franchise to a 7-9 record in his first season. These are hardly tasks that any random coach can accomplish.
Pederson's greatest accomplishment, however, may be in how he has weathered the storm of the Philadelphia sports media during this time of harsh criticism with an incredible amount of grace. With a respected figure in the industry calling him the worst head coach in the league, and a report that his colleague is waiting to stab him in the back, Pederson had the light of the large spotlight that comes with being a coach in Philadelphia magnified. Pederson responded by focusing on the task at hand and coached his team to victory over a team that they had not beaten in over two years, and in a stadium that they had not won in since 2013.
