KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid will face off with arguably one of his most successful disciples when they host the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday.
Doug Pederson took over as head coach of the Jaguars this past offseason.
Before beginning his coaching career, Pederson suited up as a quarterback and played for Reid in 1999.
From 2009 to 2012, he joined Reid’s coaching staff at the Philadelphia Eagles. He then followed Reid to Kansas City in 2013 where he assumed the role of offensive coordinator for three seasons.
Pederson then returned to the Eagles as head coach for 5 seasons where he won Super Bowl XXXI.
Now, he faces his old mentor for just the second time.
“Got a lot of respect for him and his family. He’s taught me a lot about this game. It’s always fun to go against him and his teams because you know they’re gonna be well coached and well disciplined, always has great talent. It’ll be fun,” Pederson said. “But once we tee it up, were focused on the game.”
Their first matchup came on Sept. 17, 2017, when the Chiefs beat the Eagles 27-20.
Five years later, and on a new team, Reid said he can tell the Jags are buying into Pederson’s coaching.
“When you watch enough tape there’s a certain trust that you can see through the players to the coaches indirectly, but you see that,” Reid said. “What’s being called, how fast they play, their body language, all that. I think both sides of the ball there’s a tremendous amount of trust, special teams there’s trust. And this is just year one, so they don’t give up.”
The Jaguars are coming off a come-from-behind win against the Las Vegas Raiders, much like the Chiefs, who came back against the Tennessee Titans.
The Chiefs and Jags kickoff on Sunday, Nov. 13, at 12 p.m.