Doug Pederson sends strong message on experience of Auburn football coach he poached

Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson loves the experience former Auburn football defensive line coach Jeremy Garrett he poached this offseason brings to the table; specifically, the two years with the Cleveland Browns in 2021 and 2022.

“He obviously has a really good background, a collegiate background, but he’s been in the NFL, he’s been an intern, been an assistant different places,” Pederson said on February 27 at the NFL Combine (h/t AL.com). “So he knows. He’s been around great players. He had a chance to be around Myles Garrett in Cleveland, Olivier Vernon in Cleveland.”

Pederson was tight-lipped about whether Garrett was one of the coaches who mentioned the state of NIL when making the jump from the collegiate ranks to the pros.

“There was a few comments of that,” Pederson said. “Guys are always looking. They love the NFL, they love football. In our game, you don’t have as much recruiting and all that kind of stuff that you’re dealing with. A few guys had made that comment, yes.”

Former Auburn football DL coach Jeremy Garrett part of Doug Pederson's culture changeup

Garrett is part of an initiative from Pederson to overhaul a Jags coaching staff that was holding the team back from their goals. In Pederson's words, at least.

“Since our season’s end, I have made the difficult decision to relieve several members of the coaching staff – on both the offensive and defensive sides of the ball – of their duties,”  in a statement (h/t On3). “I want to thank each of these coaches for their tireless efforts these last two seasons. Ultimately, I felt change was necessary to allow our football team to reach the goals for which we are capable."

Back in the NFL, Garrett could aim to stick around. Given he followed Hugh Freeze from Liberty to Auburn, you have to think the Plains will always be an option.

As long as Freeze is around.