Doug Pederson has telling comment about succeeding Urban Meyer

Mar 1, 2022; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Jacksonville Jaguars coach Doug Pederson during the NFL Combine at the Indiana Convention Center. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Jacksonville Jaguars coach Doug Pederson can tell he has a lot of work to do with his new team. That is true not just in terms of building a winning team, but fixing the culture.

Pederson on Friday alluded to former coach Urban Meyer when he said there had to be “healing” with the players due to what he cited as a “lack of trust.”

“I do believe there has to be some kind of healing with the situation and everything that transpired last year because it’s just there’s a lack of trust that was broken, I think,” Pederson said, via Bobby Kownack of NFL.com. “For me, it’s about gaining the trust back and they have to see it through me. They have to see the transparency, the honesty. I’ve always said I’m going to be open with them and I want them to be open with me.”

Pederson has been around for a while, so one would figure he knows a dysfunctional locker room when he sees it. The fact that Pederson is willing to say this publicly suggests things really were as toxic as they sounded under Meyer in 2021. In fact, it’s a mess the organization as a whole is still trying to put behind it.

While there were a lot of stories about Meyer, comments made by those in the building best outline what went wrong while he was there. Pederson is probably being smart by not beating around the bush and simply calling it like it is.