Former Philadelphia Eagles coach Doug Pederson says God answered his prayers after he was hired as the new head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Pederson coached the Eagles for four years and led the team to its only Super Bowl championship back in 2018 before he was fired in January 2021, Sports Spectrum reports.
He played football for the University of Louisiana Monroe and was a quarterback for 13 seasons in the NFL – mostly as a backup.
The Jaguars announced Thursday that the 54-year-old would be the team’s seventh head coach in its franchise history.
A proven winner and leader, Doug Pederson becomes our seventh head coach in franchise history.#DUUUVAL
— Jacksonville Jaguars (@Jaguars) February 4, 2022
On an episode of Sports Spectrum’s “Weekly Slant” in December, Pederson revealed that he had been praying for God to lead him to his next role.
“I know that good things are going to happen in the future and what I continue to pray about is just, ‘God, lead me to a place where I can continue to lead and continue to show my faith with a group of men and an organization that would have me and give me an opportunity to coach again,'” he said. “I’m looking forward to that and hopefully that’s His plan for my life.”
“God’s had His hand on my career and my life for a long, long time,” Pederson told Sports Spectrum. “It hasn’t been easy, no one expects it to be easy, it’s just been a blessing all season, and looking back on my life and some of the things that He’s done for me.”
While he was away from coaching for a year, Pederson confessed that he did miss the game but he’s happy to be back in the NFL, USA Today reports.
“Did I miss football? Yeah, I did,” the coach said. “That’s why I went and visited some guys in training camp last year because I just wanted, I just needed that fix of football and be around it. As the season progressed and I’m watching the entire league, it just got me. I guess those football competitive juices (came) back.”
“I had chances to interview with other clubs. This one really drew me in, and here I am and ready to go,” he added.
While coaching the 2017 Eagles, Pederson recalled how he saw God’s hand at work.
“God had His hand on that group of men because, you know, we played the Carolina Panthers on a Thursday night, and they were baptizing guys in the swimming pool the night before,” he noted. “It was a strong group of men and it took us obviously all the way to the pinnacle of our sport.”
When the Eagles won the Super Bowl the following year, many of the players publicly gave God all the glory. Pederson showed them the way.
And he was open about his Christian faith, spending time reading his Bible and welcoming conversation about God’s Word.
“They knew I was a man of faith and they knew I believed and had a relationship with Jesus Christ, and I made that known to them,” Pederson said of his time with the Eagles. “But at the same time, I wanted to make sure they understood that I wasn’t pushing that on anybody.”
Pederson looks forward to his future with the Jaguars and seeing what God has planned for them.
Welcome to #DUUUVAL, Coach Pederson!
— Jacksonville Jaguars (@Jaguars) February 4, 2022
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