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Eagles coach Doug Pederson has no plans to give up play-calling

Pederson considers it one of the perks of his job, which is why he doesn't plan to surrender the role.

Philadelphia Eagles head coach Doug Pederson.
Philadelphia Eagles head coach Doug Pederson.Read moreYong Kim/Staff Photographer

Doug Pederson considers offensive play-calling one of the perks of his job, which is why the Eagles coach doesn't plan to surrender those duties anytime soon.

"After going through a year of calling a full season, it's hard to give that up personally, selfishly," Pederson said. "It's fun, and you're in control of the game. Being a quarterback and a former quarterback, you're kind of in charge. You are. You're calling the plays. You're touching the ball every time. You're part of the game, the whole fabric of the game. It's just hard to give it up. I'm still kind of in my mind processing all of it, how it would work if I did that [give it up]. But as of right now, I'm not."

Pederson was a full-time play-caller for the first time last season. His coaching staff includes offensive coordinator Frank Reich and quarterbacks coach John DeFilippo, both of whom have experience calling plays in the NFL. Pederson uses their help when constructing the game plan, but he did not want to cede those play-calling duties. The Eagles ranked No. 23 in the NFL last season with 337.4 yards per game. They were 20th in third-down conversions (37.9 percent) and 16th in points per game (22.9).

He changed the play-calling structure before the 2016 season, streamlining the call so he gave it directly to the quarterback. He previously planned on using Andy Reid's system, which had the play-caller relay the call to the offensive coordinator, who then told it to the quarterback.

"It was that way when we were in Green Bay, because [Mike] Holmgren would call the game through Andy and Andy would call it to us, and when he came here, he went through the coordinator to call the game," Pederson said. "I don't want to say [the current system is] better. The only thing I like about it is it gives you a little more time on the clock if one guy is doing it, but not without a lot of input, too. It's not just me. I'm listening to Frank and the guys upstairs because they're seeing it from a different perspective than the guys on the field, too. Play-calling is a collaborative effort. Ultimately, it's my decision."

When Pederson was the offensive coordinator in Kansas City, Reid let him call parts of the games. Asked if he would consider doing that with Reich, Pederson said he's "still kind of working through some of that," but he conceded he does not want to go in that direction. However, he emphasized he is delegating more in his second season.

"Now that Frank has been in the system for a year and turning more things over as far as the planning," Pederson said. "My time can now be geared toward managing the team and spending more time preparing myself for practice, whether it be a schedule or whatever it might be is geared toward the team. I found myself delegating a little more."