Happy Friday, everyone!
Let's get right to it
Good morning to everyone but especially to...
USATSIDOUG PEDERSON
Doug Pederson is back in the NFL, and he has a new young quarterback to coach up. The former Eagles head coach has reached a deal to be the new man in charge of the Jacksonville Jaguars. Pederson, who led Philadelphia to a Super Bowl victory in the 2017 season, did not coach in any capacity this past season.
Pederson helped turn Carson Wentz into an MVP candidate in his second year in the league (2017), and he'll hope to do the same with Trevor Lawrence in Jacksonville. Lawrence ranked at or near the bottom of basically every passing category as a rookie, but given the dysfunction surrounding Urban Meyer and the poor roster around him, it's far too early to write him off as a bust.
In addition to Wentz, Pederson, a product of the Andy Reid coaching tree, has coached:
So he has the chops to develop Lawrence.
It was not an easy hiring process for Jacksonville. In fact, Pederson's hiring came on the same day Buccaneers offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich reportedly removed his name from consideration because he did not want to work with GM Trent Baalke.
Winning in Jacksonville will be no easy task, but it's still a good morning for Pederson, who was unceremoniously dumped out of Philadelphia three years after leading the franchise to its only Super Bowl title and after making the playoffs in three of his final four seasons. Jaguars owner Shad Khan has shown patience with his coaches (maybe even too much patience) -- something that wasn't necessarily afforded to Pederson in the City of Brotherly Love.
Honorable mentions
And not such a good morning for...
USATSIDAN SNYDER AND THE WASHINGTON COMMANDERS
On Thursday, six former Washington Commanders employees joined leaders of the U.S. House of Representatives' Oversight Committee for a roundtable discussion about workplace misconduct inside the organization.
CBS Sports obtained opening statements from all six. Among the notable new developments...
Former marketing coordinator Emily Applegate said she was harassed on a daily basis and told not to "speak... or look at" team owner Dan Snyder.Former video production manager Brad Baker said he was told to produce "essentially a soft-porn video" of cheerleaders "at the request of Dan Snyder." Former cheerleader and director of marketing Melanie Coburn corroborated Baker's allegation.Coburn said Snyder had private investigators sent to cheerleaders' homes and offered money in exchange for public silence regarding the misconduct. Coburn also alleged she was harassed by a player in 2005 and was told "If it's gonna be him or you [to go], it's gonna be you."Former cheerleader and marketing manager Tiffani A. Johnston said Snyder touched her inappropriately and without consent at a work dinner and that Snyder "aggressively pushed" her toward his limo before his attorney intervened."Daniel Snyder should not be managing any human beings," Coburn said Thursday. "He needs to be held accountable for his actions."
Snyder released a statement through his PR representative, saying in part "the allegations leveled against me personally in today's roundtable – many of which are well over 13 years old – are outright lies."
The NFL first launched its investigation of the team in July 2020. A year later, Washington was fined $10 million for a "highly unprofessional" work environment, though the exact findings have not been disclosed. In October 2021, in the wake of the email leak that led to Jon Gruden's resignation, the Oversight Committee asked NFL commissioner Roger Goodell to turn over all documents and findings, but the NFL declined for confidentiality reasons.
