Jacksonville Jaguars executive vice president Tony Khan is already excited about the work Doug Pederson has done as the team’s head coach, even though the team hasn’t yet played a regular season game.
In an interview with Yahoo Sports, Khan said excitement is “through the roof” in Jacksonville after watching Pederson lead the team through training camp. And it sure didn’t sound like Khan misses having Urban Meyer at the helm of the franchise.
“You can’t force people to respect someone or like someone or want to work with someone,” Khan told Yahoo. “I think at the end of the day, someone needs to do the job on their own merits and the command Doug has of the whole building, respect he has from everybody and the genuine way he conducts himself has gone a really, really long way with a lot of people, including all the staff, everybody around the office and the players.
“It feels very different, in a good way, and very organized and a lot of that is based on the experience of Doug and his staff and the achievements they have in this business, the playoff wins, championship games and Super Bowl rings.”
Meyer was fired by the Jaguars in December after leading the team to a 2-11 record through 13 games. During his short tenure in Jacksonville, Meyer was the subject of several scandals including an accusation that he kicked the team’s kicker Josh Lambo, and another that he called his assistant coaches “losers.”
