By Paul Letlow, ULMWarhawks.com Online Columnist
The Pederson name gained national clout as the NFL's Philadelphia Eagles surged toward their Super Bowl berth.
Doug Pederson steered the team to greatness in just his second season as head coach, guiding the Eagles to a 13-3 record, the NFC Championship and a Super Bowl LII showdown with the New England Patriots. Although he played quarterback in the NFL and served time as an assistant coach in the professional ranks, his recent success elevates Pederson to a different level of fame in the sporting world.
Now a larger audience is discovering more about a man and a family that University of Louisiana Monroe supporters have known well for more than 30 years.
"I'd say this about Doug," longtime friend Greg Andrews said. "No matter where he's been as a player or coach, he always has time for family and friends here. He's never more than a text or phone call away. I do a high school football radio show and I asked him to talk about his days at Calvary and he did. He made time for a local radio show because of a friendship, not because ESPN or Fox wanted it. No cameras around, just two friends talking."
Throughout his journey as a player and coach, Pederson remained a proud representative of ULM and northeastern Louisiana.
"It's the family, the friends and spending so much time here," said Pederson, who earned his degree in management from ULM in 1990. "Even when I spent 14 years in the NFL, Monroe was always our home. We always came back here in the offseason and still have a home here."
Doug and his brother Craig Pederson were both football players at the former Northeast Louisiana University and have remained avid supporters ever since. Doug is an L Club Hall of Famer, a lifetime member of the Alumni Association and is sometimes spotted wearing his ULM garb during Eagles press conferences.
"Doug has always been a great ambassador for ULM financially but also represents the Warhawk Nation up north," Andrews said. "He's held countless press conferences in Philadelphia wearing the ULM logo on a hat or jacket. That speaks volumes about the kind of guy he is. He's one of Monroe's most precious gems."
The Pedersons aren't just a pleasant memory on the ULM campus either. Doug's son
Josh Pederson is a tight end on the football team and Craig's daughter Victoria is on the softball team.
"It keeps the name here and keeps the name in town," Victoria Pederson said. "That's a big deal. The Pederson name has been known around here because of Doug. He went here and did big things. My dad went here and did big things. We're keeping the Pederson name at ULM."
Josh Pederson said, "Me and Vic, we see each other around campus and we always bring it up, like that's crazy how we all ended up in the same spot."
Doug Pederson returns to Monroe when his schedule allows and was able to see Josh play in person once in 2017 at Malone Stadium. On his visit, he donned an ULM shirt and blended right into The Grove scene with old pals before watching the game.
"Just having an opportunity to come back and be around a lot of the same people who supported me when I played ball here, to come back and they're out here supporting ULM with my son on the team, it just adds to the fun," Doug Pederson said.
For both current student-athletes, the chance to extend the family legacy was a natural fit and an opportunity earned on their own merit.
"Everybody always asks me where I'm from and I say, 'Monroe, Louisiana,'" said
Josh Pederson, who moved around with his family as his father's NFL coaching career bloomed and eventually signed with ULM out of Blue Valley North High School in Overland Park, Kansas. "That's where I grew up and that's where my roots are. It's awesome to be back here. I have family here and grandparents here. I have a fan base right here in Monroe. Just to have that in my corner has been a blessing."
Victoria Pederson made the crosstown move to ULM from Ouachita Parish High School.
"I was for sure going to go here," Victoria said. "I had one other thing for cheer, so it was that or softball. It was the choice of staying close to home or going out of state."
ULM football coach
Matt Viator met the Pedersons through the recruiting process and was immediately impressed with the family.
"They are first class," Viator said. "Last year recruiting Josh and getting to know Doug and Jeannie, they are great people and positive about ULM. Josh has come in here and done fantastic. He's a great young man and going to be a really good player too. But he's a tremendous young man who smiles every day and enjoys it."
Said Andrews: "His support system is the key to success. His wife Jeannie (Ouachita Parish High School class of 1987) is the cog in the wheel. Two truly blessed people."
ULM softball coach
Corey Lyon knew he'd found a special player when he started recruiting Victoria Pederson.
"It just takes one look at Victoria and you can tell she's an incredible athlete," Lyon said. "I went out and watched her in a fall game at Ouachita and one look, you could tell. The great part about here is she comes from parents and a family that really understand what athletics are all about – the importance of being a student-athlete and what all it takes. That first and foremost is one of the most impressive things about her. But then you can add to that the fact that she's got one of the strongest arms on the team and she's one of the fastest kids on the team. She can hit, and she's got untapped power potential. She's just a special athlete."
Josh laughs when asked to compare his football talents to those of his father, who spent much of his career as Brett Favre's back-up quarterback with the Green Bay Packers.
"My uncle actually played tight end here, so we have more in common since my dad played QB,"
Josh Pederson said. "He talks about when they were here together and when they played and all the stuff they had going on.
"Being a tight end, I'm not really following in his footsteps. It's kind of in the same path, but not exactly in the same footsteps. I like that, and I like playing a different position."
Josh Pederson's earliest memories of ULM's Malone Stadium predate his own college experience. Before entering the NFL's coaching ranks, Doug Pederson was head coach at Calvary Baptist in Shreveport.
"When my dad coached for Calvary and we'd come over and play in the jamboree," Pederson said. "I'd sit way up there by the skybox and watch Calvary play here. I was young."
The offensive-minded NFL head coach was impressed with the potent ULM attack he followed throughout the season.
"Anytime you rack up those kinds of numbers offensively, you've got the output you want," Doug Pederson said. "It's a lot like our offense sometimes. We focus on tight ends sometimes with Zach Ertz, who is playing well right now. Then we've got the skill guys on the perimeter. It's very comparable. I know Josh is having a good time out there."
Doug Pederson was a member of the 1987 team that won a National Championship and set numerous passing records during his ULM career. For
Josh Pederson, a chance to be part of the program's reawakening provides daily incentive to work hard.
"Oh absolutely,"
Josh Pederson said. "The 2016 class they brought in, I think we all had that mindset. We're ready to turn this program around. Along with the coaches, they brought in the right guys to do it. We're on the right track."
Before Doug Pederson was mentoring players like Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz and Nick Foles, he was coaching his own three sons Drew, Josh and Joel.
"He taught us everything growing up,"
Josh Pederson said. "He was my tee-ball coach and helped us out in football. But his main thing was he let us do what we wanted. He never forced anything on us. He raised us to be the athletes we are today."
While it's commonplace to see Doug Pederson on national sports programs now, it's worth noting that Victoria had her ESPN moment last season too. One of her amazing diving catches in the outfield made the national highlights.
"That was really cool," Victoria Pederson said. "That's one of those things we do in practice all the time. When it happened in a game, it was like a surprise to everybody but not a surprise to me. It was huge.
"I honestly didn't expect that. They were like, 'Oooh, that's ESPN!' I was like, 'Sure.' We had news people here and got it on tape. He posted it online."
"It's exciting to have Victoria on the ULM softball team and she's doing well there," Doug Pederson added. "We try to keep it in the family as much as we can."
Even as he savors a successful run professionally with the Eagles, Doug Pederson is enjoying his ULM connection in new ways too through his son and niece.
"It's full circle for us," Doug Pederson said. "For me as an alumnus of the university and someone who played here, it's coming full circle. We were in Kansas City at the time when ULM came up and recruited our son. He came down and fell in love with the program and the coaching staff. He hit it off really well with Coach Viator. For me, it's been a great place and it's great to see my son back on the same field that I played on."
