JaguarsTalk: FEARLESS: How an Underdog Becomes a Champion-Part 3
JaguarsTalk: FEARLESS for a third time
This will be the last installment of our extended book report on Coach Doug Pederson’s New York Times Bestseller, FEARLESS: How an Underdog Becomes a Champion. In the third and final chapter we will be going through the memoir about Pederson and the Eagles 2017 Super Bowl winning season to bring to you our favorite quotes. As is our style here at JaguarsTalk we will of course add our two cents when necessary to enhance your reading experience. Why do we do that? Because “I am what I am, and I do what I do. A few guys make shoelaces, some lay sod, others make a very good living neutering animals.” We comment on things, so let’s get started.
“The way you do anything is the way you should do everything.” Coach Pederson is speaking about developing a mindset. It applies to coaching as well as life. He “operate[s] with an aggressive mentality all of the time.” This mind-set “puts the other team on notice.” In this first bullet point we get a very good understanding of what to expect from the 2022 Jaguars.
“Each week I identify an area of the field - between certain yard lines - where I will take a shot. And then I won’t bat an eye when the opportunity comes.” This nugget was something Pederson derived from his time with Coach Andy Reid. Reid believes that after a big offensive gain coaches do one of two things, they either play it safe with the next call or they go for the jugular. Coach Pederson determines where on the field he will go for the kill and if he hits a large gain in that area you can bet the next play won’t be a conservative call.
“More often than not, if we have a fourth down inside the five-yard line, we will go for it.” This is just self explanatory. Pure aggression. Players appreciate the confidence that Pederson has in them when he plays aggressively. How do we know? Because players have told him, “appreciate the confidence.”
When speaking about wide receiver Andre Rison (Bad Moon Rison). Of course we need to take some tangent time to remind everyone of Rison’s phenomenal ability to date sane women. In 1994 Lisa Left-Eye Lopes, of TLC fame, got a little angry at your boy and burned down his $1.3 million dollar mansion (which adjusted for inflation means… well you get the point). Moral: Don’t go chasing waterfalls. Now, back to football. Rison was known for his bad attitude and for not being much of a team player. I mean the man’s house was just burned to the ground. Either way, when the Packers brought him aboard he was a great addition and with him they won a Super Bowl. Pederson said “a big part of it is the culture takes over. Rison was put in an environment where he didn’t want to be the reason that his team would lose.” We really can’t argue with Pederson on this one. Look what the Patriots were able to do with some pretty “bad boy” receivers from other squads.
“Don’t worry about tomorrow; let’s figure out how to do this today.” Pederson’s philosophy about taking risks was shaped by watching Brett Favre do whatever it took to win games.
“So we embraced the underdog role. We used it as fuel and emotion. My approach was this - if it stirs something in us as players and coaches, let’s use it.” This is the exact spot in which Coach Pederson and the Jaguars currently find themselves. We can’t imagine a better head coach for Jacksonville right now.
When asked why Pederson always has a positive attitude, even when losing, Coach replied, “The sun came up, we have a chance to get better this week, we have a great opponent coming up. We don’t have time to be disappointed.” I mean, it’s a good point. Things always look better when the glass is half full. Would Lloyd Christmas have had a chance with Mary Swanson had he taken a glass half empty approach to life?
“One man can make a difference, but a team can make a miracle.” This is something to remember anytime a player goes down with an injury. This is what Pederson preached when Carson Wentz was lost for the remainder of the season. I can’t think of a more important player than your star QB, yet the team bought into Doug Pederson’s philosophy and won the Super Bowl with a back-up.
“There isn’t much player development going on around the league, and it’s a problem. If we’re not working with the bottom third of our roster, we’re not maximizing our potential.” Again, this is an example of Coach Pederson’s forward thinking. In the offseason, prior to the 2017 season Pederson “began a developmental program” for the young players, “the guys who normally don’t play on offense or defense, or who might not play at all.” This allowed his back-ups back-ups to continually get reps and remain game-ready when the injury bug came calling. Coach will have a lot of depth to develop in Jacksonville’s defensive front seven and offensive line. Let’s hope nothing happens to T-Law though because we don’t have Nick Foles on the sideline.
“I want to have a gadget or a trick play in the game plan every week. Whether I call it or not, I want to have it available.” Philly special.
“A lot of coaches don’t listen to their players, but I do. I know it goes against conventional wisdom. After all, coaches are the ones studying the tape all day, right? But we’re not the ones playing the game - they are. So if my offensive lineman says, ‘Hey Coach, we can really run this play,’ I’ll listen to him.” Again this is a huge example of empowering the players and earning their trust.
An interesting point that Pederson made about Carson Wentz in 2017 is absolutely applicable to Trevor Lawrence this year. Again, I say Pederson is the perfect guy for the job at this particular moment in Jaguars history. Coach said “He is the face of the franchise and the leader of our team. In 2017, his second season, he became a lot more vocal.” Everyone “in the know” makes a huge stink about the sophomore year for a starting NFL QB, and Pederson has the specific coaching experience to get Lawrence over his rocky freshman outing.
Coach Pederson goes beyond statistics when looking at players, especially quarterbacks. This next quote reminds me of the Adam Sandler movie Hustle. The 76ers owner (the son) didn’t want to listen to his scout (Sandler) about a player who had all of the necessary NBA measurables, but not the intangibles. So the owner drafted the guy, later admitting it was a mistake. Pederson writes, “intangibles, though, are critical.” He further explains, “How is he in the locker room? How is he in the huddle? Does he have a commanding presence? Is there confidence when he speaks? Do guys listen?”
This one scares me when it comes to Trevor Lawrence, but I am going to chalk it up to poor coaching last year. Pederson writes, “I also put a lot of emphasis on decision-making, timing, and accuracy. Touchdown-to-interception ratio tells you about decision-making.” I hope T-Law skipped over this page of the book.
Pederson is a stickler for getting the little things right. He emphasizes the little things in the way the players act and carry themselves off the field. “It carries over to their football assignments. If they don’t do the little things right, they won’t do the big things right. On the field, those ‘little things’ are details like eye placement, hand placement, all the nuanced body movements - lateral steps, vertical steps, drop steps.”
One of JaguarsTalk’s favorite quotes: “If there’s one bad apple, it’s easy to remove the apple. It’s another thing for the team to surround him, build him up, embrace him, and show him the way. This is the way we do things around here. Everyone needs to buy into what we are doing.”
“Chemistry doesn’t just happen. You have to plan for it and work on it.” That’s a football one, applicable to life in general as well, much like, “I learned a long time ago not to worry about things I can’t control.”
This is one from Pederson’s book that I heard Trevor Lawrence speak about as well. Lawrence attributed it to his college coach, Dabo Swinney. “Be where your feet are.” It’s as much a football directive as a way of life. Be present in the moment. You are right here right now so make the most of this time and situation.
I have read extensively about how surprising it was that Jacksonville General Manager Trent Baalke remained with the team following the 2021 mass exodus. Coach Pederson has a philosophy about GMs and head coaches. “The most important relationship in the building is between the general manager and the head coach.” He continues, “Ultimately we are going to be united on every decision we make.” It seemed to work well in the 2022 draft.
Coach Pederson is a fan of inspirational quotes. One that he mentions in FEARLESS is an interpretation of Aristotle by Will Durant. “We are what we repeatedly do…excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” Another quote which Coach Pederson strives to live up to is, “Patience conveys the idea of someone who is tremendously strong and able to withstand all assaults.” Again, there are a plethora of nuggets in this book that are applicable to both football and life. My man is dropping jewels left and right.
In going over the outline of a typical in-season week Pederson writes, “On Wednesday, I drill down further with more specific keys to the game. Usually I present three keys to how we will win the game.” Just look at how he worded that sentence. That is glass half full stuff right there. He said “three keys to how we will win the game.” Presentation is everything and when it’s presented to the team like this, it is difficult not to believe.
I often say, “complacency is the seed from which failure blooms.” I’ve actually never said it and frankly this is the first time I’ve even typed it. But man if it ain’t a great inspirational quote. Maybe Coach P. will put my saying up on his wall as well. Either way, Coach Pederson believes that “Iron sharpens iron. That’s what I preach today. Bring in competition at every spot and embrace it.” This way nobody gets complacent.
Another similarity between the 2017 Eagles and the 2022 Jaguars comes to light when Coach Pederson writes, “It can be a problem when everyone is telling you how good you are. For the Eagles in 2017, part of the reason we had an edge is everyone doubted us. It was part of our identity.” Again, nobody is telling Jacksonville how good they are and everyone is currently doubting them.
Another great look into how Pederson will coach the Jags can be seen here. He writes, “We play eight defensive linemen through the game, so they are constantly rotating. [One] might get fifteen to twenty snaps, and [one] stays fresh.” JAX certainly has the O-line and D-line players to do that, this year.
A look into Pederson’s offensive mind shows us this, “I’m not real concerned about the league catching up to what we do offensively, which is a little different from most teams. We use many different personnel groups and formations. We do a great job of self-scouting. With the way we structure our game plan, if an opponent takes away one thing, it will open up another. As long as we maintain a good balance with run and pass, teams might have an idea of what we like to do, but they won’t know what’s coming or when it’s coming.” The question becomes whether Pederson can operate this way with the Jaguars' personnel. I think Jacksonville certainly has the offensive lineman to do the job. If Etienne and Robinson can stay healthy, adding Armstead and Connor means the Jags certainly have a stout backfield presence. The real offensive questions stem from Trevor Lawrence’s sophomore year maturation and the revamped stable of Jaguar’s receivers. It will be interesting to see how things pan out.
“Your life’s journey is about continuing to improve.” Coach Pederson took this gem from Texas coach Mack Brown. Do you know who’s also taking this journey to improve? Trevor Lawrence. As I sit here typing, Trevor just posted pictures of his teammates and him practicing and lifting together in their downtime. Lawrence wrote “All you need to know is the boys will be ready.” You show me Coach Pederson and I’ll show you a quarterback that has already bought into his system. FEARLESS is worth the read.
Please feel free to leave your inspiring sayings in the comments section below.