For turning the Jaguars around, he was awarded the AFC Coach of the Year title. His nursing wife Jeannie provides us with behind-the-scenes information about her husband Doug Pederson.
Florida’s JacksonvilleFirst Coast News had a conversation with Doug Pederson’s wife, the head coach of the Jaguars.Jeannie Pederson provided a realistic glimpse into their family life, including their steadfast faith and their first date. (By the way, the date was blind!)
5 facts about the well-known coach and his family that you might not be aware of:
1) Jeannie practiced hand signals in case their blind date didn’t work out.
“My friend and his brother fixed us up on a blind date,” she says.And they made it to the blind date at Monroe, Louisiana’s Johnny’s Pizza.
The idea was that Jeannie would approve of Doug if she felt the same way.If not, she would give a thumbs down, and that would be the plan of escape.She gave Doug the thumbs up, they struck up a conversation, and her “watch team” was off the hook. She states, “The rest is history.”
2) Coach Pederson proposed down on a knee
Recalling it, Jeannie Pederson smiles and chuckles a little. That’s because, unlike what you might imagine as a young woman, she wasn’t all dolled up. Rather, she was employed as a nursing assistant at a hospital and had just finished a lengthy shift. She went on to become a nurse.
“He had requested my hand in marriage from my parents. I had just returned from a 12-hour shift, looking horrible in my work attire. She says, “He actually proposed to me at Mom and Dad’s house by getting down on one knee.”
Call it Southern custom or respect, but she’s happy with this: “Our boys, our two married sons, they followed the same path.”
Three kids and two daughter-in-laws of Jeannie and Coach Doug Pederson
3) Jeannie Pederson does not like ice cream. But her husband does, a lot..
“I married a man who eats ice cream every night,” the woman explains. Every night before going to bed, he consumes it.”
His preferred? Topped with Hershey’s chocolate syrup, Haagen-Dazs Vanilla
We’re out of Hershey’s right now, she says.”He had me put that on the list.”
He also like cereal at night, by the way. Berries with Special K. Even at night, Jeannie quips, it’s the “breakfast of champions.”
4) Â Jeannie Pederson DOES have a comment about a touchy subject, her son getting cut from the Jaguars.
Not very long ago, one of the three lads from Pederson made headlines when he was cut from the squad. Many spectators attempted to fathom the difficulty of Coach Pederson cutting his own son.
She replies, “My husband, no one knows that job and that role and that feeling more than he does. I will tell you when the cut-downs happened.” He spent 14 years as a player, so he is familiar with what it’s like to be cut. During his playing career, he was cut six times. On the practice squad, he was.”
Son Josh has joined the Jags practice squad as of late.
She remarks, “It was incredible that he was given the chance.” My husband is the best person I can think of for him to work under and learn from.”
Tex and Lucy are Coach Doug Pederson’s and his wife Jeannie’s pet children.
5) Jeannie Pederson has a certain chair at her home where she sits every morning for a quiet time.
They each have a favorite Bible scripture, according to her, and they place a high value on their Christian religion.
“Philippians 4:13 is Doug’s. ‘I am able to accomplish anything because Christ is my strength.’ Romans 8:28 is mine as well. “Everything can work for the good of those who love God,” she declares.
According to Jeannie Pederson, her husband and she are steadfast in their Christian beliefs.
Jeannie Pederson is upbeat about the Jaguars’ campaign this year. The staff, coaches, and players, according to her, “are hungry” for a record-breaking season. They simply walk in exuding confidence. Not ‘Can you do it?’ but ‘Yes, we can.'”
Which two teams does she think will play in this season’s Super Bowl, just for kicks?
“Jaguars, naturally,” she replies. “And from the NFC…I’ll go with the 49ers.”
