Philadelphia Eagles: Doug Pederson has no rival in NFC East

With only two full seasons as Philadelphia Eagles head coach, Doug Pederson has set himself apart from the rest of his NFC East rivals

When taking a look at the coaches in the NFC East ,it’s easy to see that Philadelphia Eagles Coach Doug Pederson is in a class of his own. Entering only his third season as a head coach, Pederson has separated himself from the rest of the NFC East mediocrity.

Among all four coaches: Pederson, Jay Gruden, Jason Garrett and Pat Shurmur have a combined total of four playoff victories, and that’s including the three wins that Pederson obtained last year. It’s safe to say that this group is a far cry from the Landry, Parcells, Gibbs and Ryan days of the 1980s.

With that in mind, there’s no better way to prove that Pederson is the best coach in the division then by making NFC East coaching power rankings.

4. Jay Gruden (28-35-1 in four seasons, 1 Playoff Appearance)

Ranking the worst coach in the NFC East is like ranking your favorite pizza topping: there are a lot of solid options. While Jay Gruden is by no means a horrible coach, his résumé doesn’t scream future Hall of Fame coach either. After a poor 4-12 first season he was surprisingly able to guide the Redskins to a 9-7 record and NFC East title in his second season.

After two consecutive third-place finishes in the division, including a 7-9 record last year, things appear to be on the downside for Gruden. Even with the addition of Alex Smith it’s hard to imagine Gruden inspiring his team to make a run to the playoffs this year. In fact, if the Redskins don’t start the season off strong he may be watching the playoffs from home and simultaneously looking for a new job.

3. Pat Shurmur (9-23 in two seasons with Browns, plus one win as interim coach with Eagles)

The obvious choice for worst coach would be new Giants head coach Pat Shurmur, but I’m giving him a break since his only two seasons as a head coach before now were with the Cleveland Browns. Browns fans would beg for a 9-23 record in two seasons compared to what they’ve experienced lately.

With starting quarterbacks of Colt McCoy, Seneca Wallace, Brandon Weeden and Thaddeus Lewis, it’s actually impressive that he was able to win nine games. He also deserves some credit for being the offensive coordinator for the Vikings last year and getting to the NFC Championship with Case Keenum as his quarterback.

2. Jason Garrett (67-53 in 7.5 seasons, 1 Playoff win in 2 Appearances)

Kudos to Cowboys Coach Jason Garrett for actually still having his job with only two playoff appearances in seven full seasons. Almost any other franchise in the NFL would have kicked him to the curb by now (the Bengals, however, would have signed him to a 10-year extension with that résumé).

Three consecutive 8-8 seasons to start his head coaching career put him on a semi-hot seat until he was able to break through in 2014 with a 12-4 record and his only playoff victory. After that he has gone 4-12, 13-3 and 9-7. Talk about an up-and-down stretch. Going forward he gets to coach the QB-RB combo of Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott. So, as long as he doesn’t foul things up too badly, he should have a bright future at the helm of the Cowboys.

1.  Doug Pederson (23-12 in 2 seasons, 3 Playoff Wins, 1 Super Bowl Win)

With just two seasons leading the Philadelphia Eagles it was an easy choice to label Pederson as the best coach in the NFC East. Since his only previous head coaching experience was at Calvary Baptist Academy in Shreveport, LA, it’s extremely impressive that he was able to win a Super Bowl in just his second season.

He was hired as the Eagles were deemed to be in a “Re-Build” with a rookie quarterback Carson Wentz, and yet they were still able to finish 7-9 in his first season as head coach. Followed by a 13-3 record in his second season, along with winning a Super Bowl with backup quarterback in Nick Foles, it’s an obvious choice to crown Doug Pederson as the King of the NFC East.

Next: NFL 2018: Biggest offseason mistake for each team

Now it’s time to see if the likes of Garrett, Shurmer and Gruden have what it takes to dethrone Pederson. That won’t be an easy task as the future only looks brighter for Pederson and the Eagles.