Ford: Is Pederson in right place at right time?

Not that it is likely to help his case, but Doug Pederson, the former Eagles quarterback and assistant who interviewed Sunday for the vacant head coaching job, already has his jersey in the Hall of Fame for a Philadelphia accomplishment.

As with most things regarding Pederson, however, there are a few asterisks that go along with that story, most of which make you say, "oh," instead of, "OH!"

The same applies to his current candidacy for the job that came open when owner Jeffrey Lurie had his fill of Chip Kelly. Pederson is a reasonable name given the success of the Kansas City Chiefs, but being an offensive coordinator under Andy Reid is in keeping with his football life as a career backup who operated under the shadow of others.

Pederson was deep in the shadow of Dan Marino in 1993, serving one of his brief and unremarkable stints with Miami, when the Dolphins came to Veterans Stadium for a November game. Marino was out with an injury, but even that didn't get Pederson the start. He was behind Scott Mitchell and stayed there until Mitchell suffered a separated shoulder in the third quarter.

If this were someone else's story, Pederson would have thrown the winning touchdown and set the stage for making a name for himself in the NFL. It is Doug Pederson's story, though, so what happened was a sack by William "Refrigerator" Perry on his first play from scrimmage, then a lost fumble at the goal line. The Dolphins did manage a pair of field goals on the way to a 19-14 win, and that's what got Pederson's jersey shipped to Canton.

It did happen that the win was the 325th of Don Shula's career, breaking the record held by George Halas, and the Dolphins sent a whole bunch of other stuff to the Hall of Fame as well. Unless the Hall shipped it back, it's all still there someplace, including the No. 14 worn by Douglas Irvin Pederson.

As a stage-setter for greatness, however, the game didn't change much. Pederson would eventually be cut five times by the Dolphins before getting the call that has opened doors for him since, including the one that admitted Lurie, Howie Roseman, and Don Smolenski on Sunday. Pederson was signed by the Packers in 1996, although Green Bay also had a fairly sturdy roadblock at the quarterback position, a 26-year-old named Brett Favre. But the new backup hit it off with the team's tight ends coach, a burly redhead who would become the quarterbacks coach in 1997 and, two years later, the new head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles.

Reid signed Pederson, mostly to mentor the rookie quarterback he would later draft, and Pederson got just nine starts (2-7) before Reid went with Donovan McNabb. Reid says that season convinced him Pederson could be a coach someday, a belief that was cemented when Pederson got a second stint in Green Bay and Reid saw Favre come off the field and go straight to his backup for advice.

Their history together eventually brought Pederson back onto Reid's staff in Philadelphia and then in Kansas City as the coordinator. Would he be a good head coach? That would be a guess. Pederson hasn't really been a No. 1 for anybody since he was in college, and only then after a redshirt season and another on the bench at Northeast Louisiana University.

What Pederson represents, however, is a nice, safe pick. He's a quiet guy who will run a standard NFL offense and implement a football operation that closely resembles the smoothly humming machinery that is Reid's hallmark.

After three years of hair-on-fire joyriding with Kelly, a little stability might be attractive to the team's search committee. On another level, Pederson wouldn't be in position to demand roster control, which would make it possible to sell the myth of full collaboration between the new coach and Roseman's player personnel department. Pederson has grasped too many slippery bowlines in his career to consider rocking a boat.

That would not be the case with Tom Coughlin, or with some of the coordinators in the hiring pool who have previous head coaching experience, including the Eagles' own offensive coordinator, Pat Shurmur. It might not even be the case with experienced, headstrong coordinators like Sean McDermott or Dirk Koetter.

Lurie, Roseman, and Smolenski have to sort all that out; not just who would be a good head coach in the NFL, but who would be a good head coach for the Eagles within the franchise structure they envision going forward. The identity of the new hire will reveal a lot about that vision.

As for Doug Pederson, he's been in the company of greatness several times in his career as a player and coach. Maybe he's finally absorbed enough of it to claim some for himself. Anyone who can get into the Hall of Fame with two field goals knows it's just about being in the right place at the right time.

bford@phillynews.com

@bobfordsports