JaguarsTalk: Why Doug Pederson is a Super Bowl Winning Coach

JT: Coincidences were flying around yesterday like F/A-18 Super Hornets. Sorry Goose but it’s time to buzz the tower

Have you seen Top Gun Maverick? If you have not then stop reading this column right now and go see it, in a crowded theater (because there really is no better way to experience it). We are two sentences into this column and already we are taking a trip on a tangential train (all aboard with alliteration). Let the tangent begin. Movie sequels have had a rough go of it. Generally speaking they are bad. Produced to capitalize on the success of the first film in order to rake in money and then, more often than not, the franchise tends to die. There are a couple notable exceptions to this rule however. I used to say that the only sequels worth watching were The Godfather 2 and Bad Boys 2. Then the Godfather went and ruined things by taking it a film too far and Will Smith went and ruined things by slapping Chris Rock. The third Godfather was awful and while Bad Boys For Life was good, I don’t see a Bad Boys 4 in the works, like ever. I’m not sure they would have been able to make another Bad Boys movie anyway with the way Martin Lawrence’s waste line is increasing with each installment. Unless they transferred from the narcotics department to the diabetic division, the storyline just wouldn’t be believable. 

Now, there have been some notable franchises with decent follow up films. Lethal Weapon comes to mind, Die Hard 2 was horrifically awful but then they reversed course with the third film. One can’t count the Marvel universe films as sequels, though you may be able to count the individual superhero films in that way. If we do that then Iron Man 2 was just plain bad. Several of the earlier Batman’s were terrible, which is a shame because the first Batman movie with Keaton and Nicholson was groundbreaking. That series was saved by Christian Bale, Heath Ledger and Tom Hardy. I will leave you, the reader, to let me know of all the good and bad sequels I missed in the comment section below. 

Bottom line, since this tangent is getting long winded, is that good sequels are very difficult to make, especially when the first movie was an instant classic and one of my top five favorite movies of all time, Top Gun. JaguarsTalk took the entire crew out to see Top Gun Maverick yesterday and they crushed it. Hit it out of the ballpark, over the Monster and onto Landsdowne street. It was amazing. We loved every second of the film. The callbacks, both subtle and not, to the first film were tastefully done and fun to pick out. It was pure entertainment and invoked a sense of pride in our American military. It might just stand alone as the prime example of what a sequel should be. Now, after that long winded movie themed paragraph, comes my attempt to tie this back to Jaguars football with a smooth and seamless transition. 

In Top Gun Maverick (spoiler alert. I told you to stop and go watch the movie) there was a throwback scene where all of the fighter pilots, excuse me “naval aviators,” were playing football on the beach, amazingly all wearing their aviator sunglasses which never seemed to fall off. Now, I could stop here and make a rookie like tie in to the Jaguars because they also play football, but I’m going to dive a little deeper and wax philosophical on ya’ll today. In that beach football scene (throwback to the original’s volleyball scene), Tom Cruise and John Hamm have a conversation concerning the loss of precious training time. Hamm argues that it is wasted playing football on the beach when they should be flying. Maverick exclaims, you wanted a team, there’s your team. And the camera pans to all of the pilots getting along, having fun, forming the necessary bonds needed to perform at their best back at their real job. This is where the coincidences come flying in. Yesterday, right before we left to see the movie, I watched Doug Pederson give a live press conference where he announced that not only will the team’s veterans get next week off, but instead of the regularly scheduled Thursday OTA, he surprised them by taking them all to Top Golf. Team. Building. They may as well have been playing football on the beach. Doug Pederson pulled a Maverick move hours before I saw the Top Gun sequel. Coincidence? The universe works in mysterious ways. 

This was a class move by the new Jacksonville head coach. He knew the time and effort that our team has been putting into voluntary OTAs. He sees the drive these gentlemen have to bring our city a team of which we can be proud. He sees their dedication to the cause and at the exact right time, he coupled that with the necessary component of Top Golf team building followed by the reward of a week off. The best part about this move is that the players will want to reward the coach right back for recognizing their hard work by continuing to study the playbook, come back to the facilities to workout or watch film, and continue to hang out and bond during that week off. Pederson, with this unbelievably simple decision, has not only built team unity and camaraderie between the players, he has very importantly reestablished the trust that was stripped away last season between the team and the coaching staff. The team gave Pederson 110% during OTAs (with 90%+ participation) and it didn’t go unrecognized or unrewarded. You can check “trust in the coaching staff” off the list and the Jacksonville Jaguars can focus 100% of their energy on winning football games. It was no coincidence that JaguarsTalk watched Pederson’s press conference right before seeing Top Gun Maverick and it was no coincidence that Pederson took the team to Top Golf and rewarded their hard work with next week off. What it was is great coaching.

OK, I know you’ve been itching to tell me everything I’ve missed so please feel free to leave your movie sequel thoughts in the comment section below. Remember, however, if you tell me that Speed 2 was an instant classic you will be banned from the site forever (figuratively speaking).

P.S. Call sign - Braveheart, because William Wallace was a truly trustworthy and winning leader. Seems fitting.