Opinion: Bills SHOULD hire Doug Pederson as assistant HC

[BringBackFlutie]

On 1/30/2025 at 8:30 PM, The Cincinnati Kid said:

Pedersen, Nagy, Bienemy, Rivera, Shurmer, Bowels (sure he is the HC of the Buccaneers, but what is that getting him??? I’m sure he’d love to be the asst. to the assistant’s assistant Head Coach in Buffalo), Childress, and Leslie Fraizer would probably come back, right? All these guys are available (except Bowels, but I covered that).

While we’re at it, let’s get Frank Reich back home to Buffalo and maybe he can get ol’ Jimbo to finally do some coaching. I hear Marv is looking pretty spry and is tired of Chicago. You know, Big Mike McCarthy is considering a year off, but why not throw him a line and see? Did I forget anyone? What the hell is Fitzpatrick doing? He loves Buffalo. Let’s get him in here, too.

 

.... bro 🤣🤣🤣

[CodeMonkey]

IMO what the Bills need to hire is an analytics guru that can be on the headset during games with McD and stop him from doing stupid things. His in-game management, including but not limited to clock management, is often catastrophic.  Also, IMO it's his Achilles heel and his only glaring weakness.

[RkFast]

15 hours ago, CodeMonkey said:

IMO what the Bills need to hire is an analytics guru that can be on the headset during games with McD and stop him from doing stupid things. His in-game management, including but not limited to clock management, is often catastrophic.  Also, IMO it's his Achilles heel and his only glaring weakness.

 

They already have this. 

 

On 1/31/2025 at 1:24 PM, BADOLBILZ said:

 

 

Yeah I view Pederson as a Wade Phillips type HC.   Sloppy, no attention to detail.  Pederson won that SB by taking over a team that had trained harder than any other for 3 years under Chip Kelly and had been at the forefront of the RPO under Kelly.   People forget that Kelly with Nick Foles playing at a 27 to 2 TD/INT ratio and lead the NFL in passer rating at yards per attempt under Kelly in 2013.  Pederson got the double bump because the players were ecstatic that Kelly was gone but also primed physically and schematically for success.   Wade got a similar bump in Dallas taking over for Parcells and getting better results(until the playoffs) initially.   Until, of course, his lack of attention to detail eroded the foundation that Parcells had built.

 

The guy I would like to see the Bills bring in with some kind of promotion is Davis Webb.  He seems like the obvious successor to Brady.......other than the fact that he has no actual play calling experience.   Would be great to have him working with Brady for a year.    Ronald Curry might not like that but I presume he'd follow Brady as his OC when Brady gets his HC job in that scenario.  

 

Wade Phillips is considered one of the best, most innovative DC's. Not sure thats a great example. And Davis Webb? For a fanbase that is so concerend about "wasting" Josh Allen, they sure do love giving him coordinators that are more green than Allyn Hayne's lawn. 

Edited Monday at 02:07 PM by RkFast

[Don Otreply]

On 1/31/2025 at 10:06 AM, Back2Buff said:

Probably wont be a popular opinion here, but I was hoping Brady got a HC job because I think Pederson would have got the OC job.  I think this team needs more experience with their coaches.

Experience is fine as long as it comes with a nimble creative mind. 

[GunnerBill]

19 minutes ago, RkFast said:

 

They already have this. 

 

 

Wade Phillips is considered one of the best, most innovative DC's. Not sure thats a great example. And Davis Webb? For a fanbase that is so concerend about "wasting" Josh Allen, they sure do love giving him coordinators that are more green than Allyn Hayne's lawn. 

 

But was a bad Head Coach for the most part because he lacked attention to detail on the finer points of managing a team. 

[Back2Buff]

25 minutes ago, Don Otreply said:

Experience is fine as long as it comes with a nimble creative mind. 

 

He ran a trick play on 4th down in the super bowl where his QB was the receiver.  

[Don Otreply]

56 minutes ago, Back2Buff said:

 

He ran a trick play on 4th down in the super bowl where his QB was the receiver.  

Not necessarily what I was thinking, lol

[BADOLBILZ]

3 hours ago, RkFast said:

 

They already have this. 

 

 

Wade Phillips is considered one of the best, most innovative DC's. Not sure thats a great example. And Davis Webb? For a fanbase that is so concerend about "wasting" Josh Allen, they sure do love giving him coordinators that are more green than Allyn Hayne's lawn. 

 

 

Yeah I wouldn't comp Pederson and Phillips as coordinators..........but let's face it,  DC's are clearly the 3rd class citizens of the coaching hierarchy.

 

The innovators come from the offensive side of the ball.   And offense is mostly a young man's game.   Hence, Davis Webb.  

 

The last real innovation on defense was the zone blitz 30 years ago.   Experience is more valuable on that side of the ball, because even what we perceive as innovative on offense always has some kind of comp to the past that a wise old vet can reference with solutions to combat.  Which is why Baltimore pulled 75 year old Dean Pees out of retirement to help Zach Orr get out of his own way.  

 

Wade Phillips wasn't innovative really, he was excellent at utilizing his personnel and coaching/teaching in a manner that allowed his team to adapt opponent specific game plans.   Others have done it, but he was really good.   I'd be all for having Wade around as a consultant because that's a weakness with this D staff.  

 

But as a HC Wade had no legs.  If the table was set he could run with it for a few years.  But that's about it.  It's a different skillset.   Pederson has the same problem in a leadership role.  I could be wrong about what he could bring to the table offensively but I wouldn't want Pederson floating around in the mix in Buffalo,  I just don't see what the team could gain from it.   

[GunnerBill]

3 minutes ago, BADOLBILZ said:

 

 

Yeah I wouldn't comp Pederson and Phillips as coordinators..........but let's face it,  DC's are clearly the 3rd class citizens of the coaching hierarchy.

 

The innovators come from the offensive side of the ball.   And offense is mostly a young man's game.   Hence, Davis Webb.  

 

The last real innovation on defense was the zone blitz 30 years ago.   Experience is more valuable on that side of the ball, because even what we perceive as innovative on offense always has some kind of comp to the past that a wise old vet can reference with solutions to combat.  Which is why Baltimore pulled 75 year old Dean Pees out of retirement to help Zach Orr get out of his own way.  

 

Wade Phillips wasn't innovative really, he was excellent at utilizing his personnel and coaching/teaching in a manner that allowed his team to adapt opponent specific game plans.   Others have done it, but he was really good.   I'd be all for having Wade around as a consultant because that's a weakness with this D staff.  

 

But as a HC Wade had no legs.  If the table was set he could run with it for a few years.  But that's about it.  It's a different skillset.   Pederson has the same problem in a leadership role.  I could be wrong about what he could bring to the table offensively but I wouldn't want Pederson floating around in the mix in Buffalo,  I just don't see what the team could gain from it.   

 

And it shows. Average age of DCs in the league is significantly older than OCs these days. I did the numbers in another thread somewhere the other day. Think it was 14 or 15 current OCs are 40 or younger.

[SoTier]

On 1/30/2025 at 8:04 PM, MrEpsYtown said:

Whatever people think about Doug Pederson, he has been around Reid and Spags for a very long time. He gives you a guy who has won Super Bowls, and has deep, deep knowledge of Andy’s offense. 
 

He could serve a multitude of roles, not only could he be a sounding board for Joe Brady and Josh Allen, he could be even more useful to Bobby Babich by working with him on ways Reid will attack his scheme. He could help identify the shortfalls we have and help the defense get prepared for their arch nemesis.

 

Pederson is not going to get a HC job in this cycle, and if there is anyone who really truly knows how Reid thinks, it’s him. Going all the way back to his days in Green Bay as Brett Farve’s backup, as well as coaching under him in various places, Doug may be able to get us over the hump. 
 

I understand that this brain trust isn’t going anywhere, so I am trying to think of ways we can improve this year on the coaching side, bringing in a hired gun like Pederson is something I hope the Bills consider. It also helps Doug rebuild his reputation after being so terrible in Jacksonville. He is said to be a pretty loyal guy, so is he willing to help McDermott and company overcome his mentor in Reid? Only time will tell. 

 

What, exactly, has Pederson done since he won the SB after the 2017 season to warrant consideration for the job "assistant HC" on any team, much less the Bills?   In his 8 years as a HC, his teams have made the playoffs exactly once, 2017.   Pederson had the #2 overall pick in Philly in QB Carson Wentz.  He had the #1 overall pick in Jax in QB Trevor Lawrence.   Both QBs' play declined the longer they played for Pederson.

 

IMO, Pederson caught lightning in a bottle in 2017 when he won the SB with a backup QB on a gadget play.  Big pass.

[MrEpsYtown]

1 hour ago, SoTier said:

 

What, exactly, has Pederson done since he won the SB after the 2017 season to warrant consideration for the job "assistant HC" on any team, much less the Bills?   In his 8 years as a HC, his teams have made the playoffs exactly once, 2017.   Pederson had the #2 overall pick in Philly in QB Carson Wentz.  He had the #1 overall pick in Jax in QB Trevor Lawrence.   Both QBs' play declined the longer they played for Pederson.

 

IMO, Pederson caught lightning in a bottle in 2017 when he won the SB with a backup QB on a gadget play.  Big pass.

 

The basis of this idea was not about wins-loses or accomplishments. No one on our staff has accomplished anything ever really. Peterson has won a SB as a head coach, and been there as a player as a backup QB in Green Bay...more than we can say for pretty much anyone on our staff. I think Aaron Kromer is the only one with a SB as an assistant. So wins-loses have nothing to do with my thought process.  

 

The basis of the idea was to have a guy who has worked very closely under Reid both as an OC and a player which gives him a unique skill set/experience. A deep amount of knowledge of that offense, more than most around would have. He knows more about Reid than McDermott or Nagy or Bienemy or any of those other guys. He has a unique connection and perspective that in theory could help us get over the hump IMO. 

[SoTier]

28 minutes ago, MrEpsYtown said:

 

The basis of this idea was not about wins-loses or accomplishments. No one on our staff has accomplished anything ever really. Peterson has won a SB as a head coach, and been there as a player as a backup QB in Green Bay...more than we can say for pretty much anyone on our staff. I think Aaron Kromer is the only one with a SB as an assistant. So wins-loses have nothing to do with my thought process.  

 

The basis of the idea was to have a guy who has worked very closely under Reid both as an OC and a player which gives him a unique skill set/experience. A deep amount of knowledge of that offense, more than most around would have. He knows more about Reid than McDermott or Nagy or Bienemy or any of those other guys. He has a unique connection and perspective that in theory could help us get over the hump IMO. 

 

I think your idea has some merit, but Doug Pederson is not the candidate to put forward for it.  I'm especially concerned that both Wentz and Lawrence regressed under his coaching.  It's entirely possible that they're both just not very good, but Lawrence's decline this past season says that Pederson is not particularly effective. 

[BigAl2526]

At the very least, it is an interesting proposal.

[Solomon Grundy]

On 1/30/2025 at 8:06 PM, JohnNord said:

I’m not sure that Brady really needs the help.  If anything they’d be wise getting a new voice for the defense 

Brady needs to explain why he wasn't feeding Cook until he threw up 😎

On 1/30/2025 at 8:04 PM, MrEpsYtown said:

Whatever people think about Doug Pederson, he has been around Reid and Spags for a very long time. He gives you a guy who has won Super Bowls, and has deep, deep knowledge of Andy’s offense. 
 

He could serve a multitude of roles, not only could he be a sounding board for Joe Brady and Josh Allen, he could be even more useful to Bobby Babich by working with him on ways Reid will attack his scheme. He could help identify the shortfalls we have and help the defense get prepared for their arch nemesis.

 

Pederson is not going to get a HC job in this cycle, and if there is anyone who really truly knows how Reid thinks, it’s him. Going all the way back to his days in Green Bay as Brett Farve’s backup, as well as coaching under him in various places, Doug may be able to get us over the hump. 
 

I understand that this brain trust isn’t going anywhere, so I am trying to think of ways we can improve this year on the coaching side, bringing in a hired gun like Pederson is something I hope the Bills consider. It also helps Doug rebuild his reputation after being so terrible in Jacksonville. He is said to be a pretty loyal guy, so is he willing to help McDermott and company overcome his mentor in Reid? Only time will tell. 

McDermott ego wouldn't allow this