JaguarsTalk: Coach Doug Pederson’s FEARLESS - Part Deux
JaguarsTalk: What do Topper Harley and Doug Pederson have in common? FEARLESSness
I need to craft some sort of organization for this column. There exist many storylines throughout Coach Pederson’s memoir that merit mention so I will be jumping around the book, pulling together bits and pieces that relate to one another and tell the tale that y'all deserve to read.
The first deals with Coach Pederson’s aggressive nature. I know that we touched on this subject in the previous installment of JaguarsTalk: FEARLESS but today I want to dive a little deeper to truly understand the reasoning behind the aggression. I find it fascinating that it isn’t aggression for aggression's sake, meaning Pederson puts a great deal of thought into his aggressive play calling. Behind it is actual meat and potatoes, so pull your chair up to the kitchen table and dig in.
The reasons behind the aggressive nature of Pederson’s play calling are three-fold. First, Pederson uses analytics to help decide when to be aggressive and when not to be. Sure he sometimes uses his gut instinct but even then it is somewhat calculated. Pederson writes “There are times when I ignore the numbers. Maybe we are in a six-, seven-, eight-play drive and we’re moving the ball. I don’t care what the numbers say then. At that point, if the gut says go for it, I’m in.” Most often, however, Pederson bases his decision “on a number of variables. How well are we playing offense? How well are we playing defense? What is our field position and distance for a first down or touchdown? Who is the opponent?” He’s a big picture guy that requires, actually expects, input from everyone. If football is a team sport then coaching football is also team oriented. Pederson’s aggressiveness operates based on charts. His defensive quality control coach in the box would tell him, “If you could get it to fourth and one, the numbers say we go for it.” This calculated approach to coaching has earned Pederson a reputation for two point conversions and making the other team prepare to defend on all four downs.
B) This is the most important reason from a football standpoint. Pederson is an aggressive coach because his players need him to be. His aggressive nature emboldens and empowers his players. Pederson explains it best when he writes, “Coaching that way sends a message to the team. It shows the level of confidence that I have in the guys. When I go for it on fourth down, it not only shows confidence in the offense, but it also signals to the defense that if we don’t get the first down, I trust them to stop the opponent and get the ball back.” That’s the mentality players love and the type of coach for which players want to play. More importantly players will play for a coach like that, meaning players will summon that something extra. They will play even harder and truly leave it all out there on the field, for a coach like that. Players don’t do it because the coach is aggressive with his calls, they do it because when the coach is aggressive it signifies that extreme level of trust upon which any human, in any occupation, thrives. When someone can tell you to get something done and then walk away knowing that it will get done and they don’t have to say another word, or hover over you, or micromanage, or worry, or wonder, that is the ultimate level of trust. That is what Doug Pederson displays when he gets aggressive with his play calling. In his book he tells his players, “You’re going to get my best on Sunday. I’m going to stay aggressive and so are our other coaches. We’ll put you in a position to attack.” Later in the book he says, “never doubt my players and always trust in the process and preparation.” Not only is Pederson putting trust in his guys to achieve said goal, he isn’t leaving them on an island. He gives them everything they need to get the job done. He and his coaches are there for them. Jacksonville, of all teams, needs that level of trust after last year's coaching debacle. One could argue you can make it to the playoffs on talent alone. Without that level of trust, however, you certainly won’t win the Super Bowl.
Lastly, Pederson is an aggressive coach because that is how he lives his life. He’s not an aggressive person but he makes aggressive life decisions. He is constantly moving forward, on offense, making things happen. He is living life. Life is not dictating its terms to Coach Pederson. He read a book entitled “The Navy SEAL Art of War” written by Rob Roy in which the author describes how individuals limit themselves. Roy writes about asking people how many pushups they can do and the answer he always got was a specific number. Roy’s point is why limit yourself to that number. He, in fact, says to “think bigger and give yourself a chance to do more.” Coach Pederson walked away from this book with the notion that “there is no benefit to putting ourselves in a box. Let’s expand our boundaries, think bigger. Let’s not play it safe and then have regrets.” In reading FEARLESS you come to see that this is a way of life for Pederson, it’s not just a way to coach football. The more I find out about Doug Pederson the more I realize that coaching football, at its highest level, fits perfectly within the framework by which he already lives. He walks the walk.
The above paragraph can best be illustrated by the Pederson pillars. These are his four pillars to success in life and subsequently football. “First, we need to create energy.” He continues, “You have to bring the juice. Every single day.”
“Second, eliminate distractions.” In the football world those could be social media, regular media, ticket requests.
“Third, attack everything. We will attack the way we train. We will attack the way we practice, the way we eat, the way we sleep, the way we study. That needs to be in your mind-set from day one.”
“Fourth, fear nothing. Not our opponents, not failure, not anything in our lives.”
The examples provided under these steps to success are football related simply because FEARLESS is a book about the game. A few months ago, however, when I heard Coach Pederson speak in person he talked about them as a foundation for one’s life. Employing these four principles will lead to a successful career, a successful marriage and a happy life.
More to come folks. By the time I’m finished with FEARLESS columns you won’t have to read the book yourselves, but you should. As always please comment below. Aggressively if you must but preferably well thought out, calculated musings.