Why Jaguars coach Doug Pederson deserves NFL's Coach of the Year award

After the Jaguars won the AFC South title Saturday night, speaking at the podium inside TIAA Bank Field, outside linebacker Josh Allen was asked if it felt surreal to even be at this point. Considering all the losing of previous seasons. Considering the team's winless streak in October. Considering the 2-6 start to the season.

Allen's response? An emphatic "no."

"Back in training camp, we kind of had this type of swag," he said, "this type of aura that we were going to go far."

His words demonstrated how quickly Doug Pederson has changed the culture for Jacksonville, historically not one of the NFL's most relevant franchises. Before a game was played, the Jaguars knew things would be different — then manifested that reality.

It's why Pederson should be a front-runner for 2022 NFL Coach of the Year.

In his first season coaching the Jaguars (9-8), Pederson produced arguably the best improvement of any team in the league. He led Jacksonville to its first AFC South title since 2017, going from last in the division the previous four seasons to first. The team also increased its win total by six this season (nine in 2022; three in 2021), tying Detroit for the largest improvement in 2022. The Jaguars' six-win increase was the highest of any team with a new coach.

Pederson's coaching chops have been on display in how the team has dealt with adversity. Despite winning just two of their first eight games, the Jaguars went 7-2 to end the regular season. Jacksonville joined the 1970 Bengals and the 2020 Commanders as the only teams in the Super Bowl era to make the playoffs after starting a season 2-6.

Not only were the 2022 Jaguars not derailed by the rough start, but they're also carrying momentum into the postseason under Pederson. The Jaguars are just the fifth team in NFL history to reach the playoffs in a season with both a winning and losing streak of at least five games, according to The Associated Press.

"If you're not aligned with what your leader is saying, it's hard to go somewhere," quarterback Trevor Lawrence said earlier this month. "He's the same person every day, whether we won or lost, we lost five in a row, we've won however many in a row — he's the same way every day, and I think that's something that we've all rallied behind."

One of the biggest things the former Eagles coach has done is spearhead Lawrence's ascension.

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Emmanuel Acho and LeSean McCoy discuss who they are more confident in heading into the playoffs between two quarterbacks starting against each other: the Chargers' Justin Herbert or the Jaguars' Trevor Lawrence.

A generational prospect coming out of Clemson in 2021, Lawrence struggled and threw a league-high 17 interceptions as a rookie. But he's hit his stride since the midway point of this season, playing like a franchise quarterback and operating Pederson's offense at a high level.

Since Week 9, the former No. 1 overall pick ranks first in the NFL in passer rating (104.6), second in completion percentage (69.7) and third in interception percentage (0.7).

For the season, Lawrence completed 66.3% of his passes for 4,113 yards for 25 touchdowns with 8 interceptions, and added five rushing touchdowns. He's the first player in franchise history to have 25 passing touchdowns and five rushing touchdowns in a season, and his 369 completions broke the team's single-season record.

Under Pederson, who's the offensive playcaller, Lawrence has experienced one of the biggest year-to-year improvements for a quarterback in NFL history. According to NFL Research, he's just the second signal-caller since 1950 to double his wins (nine this year; three last year) and passing touchdowns (25 this year, 12 last year) and cut his interceptions in half (eight this year, 17 last season) from one season to another, joining Drew Brees (2003-04).

"Just the way we communicate, whatever the situation is, ‘Hey, this is an opportunity to take a shot,' or ‘let's be smart, let's take a completion, keep the chains moving.' Whatever it is, he does a good job of kind of reminding me of some of those things," Lawrence said in December. "Now as it's gone more and more, he doesn't have to as much because we're on the same page."

One of the first things Pederson did when he became the Jaguars coach was build trust with the team. It had been broken, he said.

During the offseason, Pederson's biggest focus was making sure the players got to know him, so they could see him as someone that could be trusted. He was open and transparent with them.

"As we got into it, I think that's when their tension may be eased a little bit, and they got more comfortable with who I am and who I was at the time, and it just builds," Pederson said. "It just builds from there. The more honest I can be, and I'll be honest with them in a way that, from a correction standpoint right on the field. I'll be honest with them if they act up off the field. I'll just keep presenting the same message the whole time, and I think that slowly gains their trust as we headed into training camp and obviously through the season.

"It's not an overnight (switch)," he added. "I said this way back then. It's not an overnight fix. It's going to take a process. It's going to take a journey … I think we just built over time that trust factor, and it began to show throughout the course of the year."

He believes it's why the team is in the playoffs. The trust, he believes, prepared the team to deal with the challenges of their roller coaster season.

"Just connecting with everybody," wide receiver Christian Kirk said Saturday of his coach. "He connects with everybody within the locker room. He treats us fair, and he sticks to his word. He is always thinking about us, and he puts us first. To have a coach like that who is always going to put you in the right position to succeed, it's pretty easy to buy into."

The 2022 Coach of the Year race will be tight. Kyle Shanahan has the 49ers buzzing, thriving with their third-string quarterback in rookie Brock Purdy and riding a league-leading 10-game winning streak. First-year coach Brian Dabboll has the Giants in the playoffs for the first time since 2016. Nick Sirianni led the Eagles to 14 wins. Dan Campbell led the Lions to a six-win improvement.

But the Jaguars' irrelevance prior to Pederson's arrival, coupled with a division title in an up-and-down season and helping Lawrence's historic improvement, gives the Super Bowl-winning coach one of the strongest — if not the strongest — case for the award.

"I think Coach 100 percent should be in the conversation and could win the award," Lawrence said Jan. 4. "You look at what he's done here, the energy, not only the X's and O's and football stuff, but just the energy, the culture that we've created here. Obviously, he's had a huge part in bringing here. It's tough to do, especially in the first year and a bunch of new people. I just can't say enough about the job he's done and how much I love playing for him and appreciate him."

Ben Arthur is the AFC South reporter for FOX Sports. He previously worked for The Tennessean/USA TODAY Network, where he was the Titans beat writer for a year and a half. He covered the Seattle Seahawks for SeattlePI.com for three seasons (2018-20) prior to moving to Tennessee. You can follow Ben on Twitter at @benyarthur.

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