They Call Me Mr. Fipp
Posted: October 19th, 2017 | Author: Tommy Lawlor | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 113 Comments »
How amazing is Dave Fipp?
I was re-watching the Panthers game and it hit me what all he has had to deal with. Back in May, it looked like the Eagles would once again be a special teams juggernaut.
- PR Darren Sproles was one of the best in NFL history.
- P Donnie Jones was an outstanding veteran, good as a punter and holder.
- K Caleb Sturgis was coming off a terrific season and had a bright future.
- LS Jon Dorenbos was a proven veteran who was highly reliable.
- KOR Wendell Smallwood was back for his 2nd year. He showed big potential as a returner in 2016.
- ST’er Chris Maragos was back, to both be the key leader and key cover man.
That is a pretty good looking crew of STers.
And now?
Sproles is done for the year. Sturgis might be done for the year. Dorenbos got replaced (and is now recuperating from heart surgery). Smallwood has missed half the season. Maragos is probably out for the rest of the year.
Fipp hasn’t cried about any of this. Wait…can those eyes actually cry? That’s a scary thought. Instead, he’s gone about focusing on the next man up. According to Football Outsiders, the Eagles STs have slipped all the way down to 3rd in the league.
That’s absurd.
How the heck does Fipp do this? He gets the team to sign Jake Elliott, a rookie kicker cut by the Bengals, and now Elliott looks like one of the best kickers we’ve ever seen. He hit a 61-yard FG to win a game. We would have all been very impressed if he hit a winning kick from 51 yards out. Heck no, he was 10 yards further back than that. The kid has an explosive leg. He has been an amazing find.
Rick Lovato beat out Dorenbos this summer. Lovato had a couple of poor snaps in the Carolina game, but has mostly been right on the money.
Kenjon Barner has averaged 18 yards per PR since replacing Sproles. He had a 76-yard return in the win over the Cardinals.
The Eagles are 11th in KOR average. They haven’t run one all the way back, but have had some good returns.
The next challenge for Fipp is trying to replace Maragos, who is very good at what he does. The Eagles could turn to Corey Graham to fill that role. Or maybe Jaylen Watkins. They could go with someone who isn’t a DB for the job. We’ll have to wait and see what they do.
For now, I trust Dave Fipp.
And you should too.
*****
Not all heroes wear capes. Some wear #Eagles jerseys… https://t.co/uJscmLd3gc
— Matt Mullin (@matt_mullin) October 18, 2017
Chris Long has been a good DE for the Eagles this year. He’s also been a good fit off the field. Long is one of the reasons this team has such good chemistry. He is a leader and gets along well with his teammates.
No matter where you fall on the political spectrum, you have to respect someone who backs his words up with substantive actions, such as donating all 16 of his game checks from the 2017 season.
It always feels good when the Eagles have good players that are also good guys.
_
I wonder how much longer he will be our ST coordinator- he has proven to be an excellent coach both schematically and in preparing his players to make plays.
Of course, I wouldn’t mind him sticking around here for another 5 years or so, just to celebrate our 3rd Super Bowl victory.
Dude’s going to be a head coach someday!
Maybe he takes over for Dug after we win a number of Super Bowls?
Hopefully here with DP as “senior adviser for player morale”, Reich stays as OC.
Chris Long definitely looks good on the field. Schwartz seems to favour him when we go all out on a passing down, moving 55 inside next to 91 and 96 manning the other end.
He’s been a great addition
Tommy, it seems odd that you would have a picture of Mitchell in your post today;-) Regardless, it was a good article on Fipp.
It does seem that Donny Jones is probably in his last year on the team. He only has 6 punts inside the 20, which puts him in a tie for dead last in the NFL.
Context- we’re going for it more often than most teams on 4th down, and we also have a kicker who can boot 50 yard FG’s on a regular basis.
Jones isn’t getting many opportunities to bloat his stats. I’m okay with this……..
If we cut him next year, we save $1.6m as opposed to a $250k dead money charge. He’s worth the $1.8m salary.
Plus he’s the second best holder in NFL history.
I’m sure Jimmy K would let him hold his balls any day.
Im actually Daves identical twin so I can understand the mix-up. Mom never could stand when we BOTH starred at her with oir crazy eyes!
That’s weird because there’s a guy who posts on here that looks just like Fletcher Cox too…
Howie has a fetish for twins.
If I strain my eyes, I can even almost see some Mr. Sidney Poitier in Mr. Fipp. Will he be like Harbaugh and eventually coach DBs before moving on to greener pastures?
He’s 43. If he wants to be a head coach he could probably get a gig at a non power 5 school, as he was a DC for 6 years at Cal Poly, Nevada, and SJSU.
Is there any way to further incent him to stay? Probably depends quite a bit on his goals and what drives him. But would be interested to know if anyone has info on how he gets paid relative to the OC/DC here and elsewhere.
You can pay however much you want to coaches.
NFL position coaches generally make from $150-500K
OC/DC: High six figures to a million and change
So ST coordinators probably make in the mid six figures range.
Looking at NCAA HC figures Fipp would probably be more in the 600k-1.5 mil range.
So he would be in line for a raise if he became a college HC, but it’s also a fuckton more work with recruiting, gladhanding boosters, His current workweek is probably 50-60 hours and that would go to 80-100 running a program.
Simply put being the Eagles STC is a better gig than being the HC of New Mexico.
Most likely Lurie gives him a raise and he stays, he’s got 3 kids.
As always D3… thanks for the perspective!
Good stuff, thanks.
I”m happy they promoted Gerry. At the very least, it will lift the spirits of Guy Media 🙂 Truthfully though, he probably helps bolster ST – no Maragos, but still…
YUCK
Oh boy, Darby is practicing!!!
The hard line according to…
All the beats, pft, bgn…
Wishing well?
Over my head
Thank me now.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynIHsHYaig0
Thank me later.
The man who said he’d be bigger than the Beatles.
Cool song, though…
He’s super talented.
https://media.giphy.com/media/HyDAt79JnlY4M/giphy.gif
THIS upvote feels so good!
I’m seriously impressed with Chris Long. He is filling the Connor Barwin role of being a great dude off the field for the Eagles.
https://twitter.com/Dcorrigan50/status/920794027917697024
Fultz looks like he’s afraid of the hoop or something and needs to hide behind the ball. This can’t be a form he’s been coached into can it?
Both him and Simmons need to improve majorly at the line. Horrible and another reason why the NBA needs a real minor league system.
It’s much different these days. They actually have a much better chance to improve their FTs in their world class facility.
The facility and Brett Brown and staff and their sports science are huge reasons why that Simmons and Fultz and other top prospects would never be in a minor league system at this age or in a second year in college.
Fultz FTs and shooting is an example why they don’t want to put him in other coaches hands too.
What I don’t get about Fultz is… How can you be a world class athlete and have such an awful free throw motion? I had a better motion in the third grade and I’m not in the same galaxy as someone like Fultz when it comes to athleticism.
I think these guys develop habits and they don’t want to abandon them, like Joakim Noah’s jumper. His jumper is almost identical to what I used to do when I was a little kid, but I did that because I didn’t have the strength and coordination to keep the shot lined up using a traditional shooting motion.
He likely has never been taught the motion or technique properly and has never had to worry about it until now. Another reason why the lack of a minor league system is bad: it hurts the players.
Huh? Skill development is what a minor league system is all about.
All the coaching strategies, sports science etc. would be integrated in all levels of the 76ers minor league system.
When a player is called up to the NBA team, he’ll be much better prepared to perform in the way the 76ers want him to and have the skills to do so effectively.
Learning on the job at the NBA level while taking up roster & cap space plus burning contract years is a very inefficient process.
That’d be fine from 18, they’d have more time for hoops than in college. . I thought you meant you wanted them in the G League now . I was just picturing them now, not if they had a year in the G League instead of college.
Simmons is already in top third of the league’s players after 1 game. He had an outstanding debut.
Football is a really tough sport. The things a veteran nearing the end of his career has to do to stay healthy and stay in game shape, it’s a real grind. Doing that and leaving it all on the field to boot, all for free? I’m impressed with Long’s dedication to the game on top of his charity.
[cynic] He’s going to double that cash in endorsements and free cheesesteaks [/cynic]
And I wouldn’t begrudge him a penny of it.
1 mil in game checks 850k he got in bonuses. He is keeping he bonus, but hell, wouldn’t be surprised to see him donate those too.
good point forgot about the bonus
timeline of outside views of the Eagles from beginning of season til now.
..
Last in the division…8-8 at best…are they good?…possible nfc east title…can they secure 1st seed for NFC.
inside view:
Hope for improvement but 8-8 probable with that schedule… ok 9-7 is looking good… ahh damn Chiefs, maybe 8-8… oh not bad playoffs might happen this year… wow NFC East might be ours… WOW NFC championship here we come! …. NOTHING LESS THAN A SUPER BOWL WILL DO (if you listen to the radio callers, which I do sometimes while I commute don’t judge me).
I was hoping for 9-7. That would be on improved play alone, they could easily flip two of the games from last year. It feels like there have been 2 games already they would have lost in ’16 that they’ve won this year.
Beyond that, 10-6 with some lucky bounces.
I’m still on the 10-6, NFC East winner based on the Eagles alone. But then, looking around the league -maybe they’re more like 11-5 #2 seed. Wouldn’t surprise me if they were better, would be a major disappointment if they dropped to .500.
It’s really unusual to swing 4 wins in a season from 7 to 11.
I’d be happy with a Wild Card or Divisional win (if bye). Anything beyond that is exceeding expectations.
12-4, 13-3…w/lucky bounces
In 2016, there were 254 “wins” to go around…
The standard deviation being 3.15 (rounded)
14.3=2 Std Dev
11.15=1 Std Dev
8=mean
4.85=1 Std Dev
1.70=2 Std Dev
So, most teams should expect to end the season somewhere between 4.85 wins and 11.15 wins this year. Exceptional teams may escape the pull toward the middle and achieve a 2 Standard Deviation in one direction. Interestingly enough, 8 teams were able to achieve the 2 Standard Deviation mark last season (4 above average and 4 below) while the other 24 teams gravitated toward the middle.
Right now, it feels like we’re on track for 12 or 13 wins, but that’s probably irrational exuberance, isn’t it? Realistically, we’re not going to be able to close out close wins on a regular basis.
I’m living in that are they good camp. Starting to think they are.
Giants and Dallas fans have come up to me and say ‘have to admit – Eagles are good’….Good feeling 🙂
Is it bad that makes me uncomfortable?
A Cards fan I met was convinced we’d murder them–he was right.
Before I forget…All Rise! 🙂
Shut up and sit down.
Don’t be surprised to see Josh Norman on the field on Monday night.
Thank me later!
Watching Wentz thow touchdowns of course right?
Is that a reverse verhexen?
Ha. I like that German word.
I hope so as it doesn’t appear he’ll be at 100%.
https://twitter.com/lizclarketweet/status/921067844154089472
lol, did Breeland try to practice when the coaches told him not to? Or did he aggravate it during the drill and that’s why the coaches yelled stop. I want to know.
Alshon will thank you as he’s owning half speed Norman.
Dave Fipp is also an avid home brewer and children’s book author! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKBux80RHpc
There is a symmetry in the NFC standings presently. Whereas the first-place Eagles are 5 – 1, the last-place Giants are 1 – 5. And whereas the second-place Redskins are 3 – 2, the third-place Cowboys are 2 – 3. I think it is a reasonable hope that this symmetry can be maintained for another week. Dallas will probably defeat the 49ers, and Seattle will almost certainly beat the Giants. This would put the Redskins and Cowboys in a tie to be broken next week when they play each other. Two teams at 3 – 3 will alter but not kill symmetry. 3 -3 sandwiched between 6 – 1 and 1 – 6 would have a poetic allure. So the monday night showdown in South Philly will be not only for pride and dollars, it will be for numerical balance and aesthetic appreciation. May the football gods take this under consideration.
Interestingly, the 5-1 Eagles needed a major clutch comeback to beat the 1-5 Giants. Shows that record can be misleading and that surprises are always lurking.
True, but didn’t they have 3 key defensive injuries that game?
Us or them? A lot of teams have injuries.
The Eagles had lots of injuries during that game, I think that had a big effect on the tightness of the outcome
Division games are different.
But records often reflect a team’s skill in the 4th quarter at crunch time. Winning those close games is a great mark of talent and coaching. See England, New. Belichick’s teams, rarely are the type of team that blows out their opponents, The 19-0* team was a rare exception.
Is it Fipp, or should we give more credit to Roseman/Douglas who went out and snagged Jake Elliot?
If reports are accurate they got him based on Fipp’s pre-draft input.
Most likely the process went like this: Predraft the scouts brought Fipp 10-20 guys they thought might be viable (scouts frankly aren’t experts, they can tell the difference between good and bad but not likely to differentiate)
Fipp then put grades on them.
The pro personnel staff then tracked the handful they liked most that weren’t likely to win jobs throughout preseason.
Sounds like a good process.
D3- how do they track them? Preseason games, yes, but do they have contacts from other teams? I’d think it’s a pretty tight lipped community (coaching staff vs coaching staff).
Just wondering how that would work out, if you have any input.
Primarily through preseason games. They’ll also track practice reports or talk to reporters. When a reporter has a “anonymous AFC South scout says xyz” that comes from a relationship they’ve developed.
Also the college scouts all know each other and some information is distilled that way.
For first year guys the most important factor will still be pre-draft grade, with the importance of the mix shifting over time.
Thanks for the info!
PSA: The Eagles will probably be losing 1-4 games at some point the rest of this season. “Any Given Sunday” is not just a movie title. There will likely be one bad loss against someone we have no business losing to. Start building up your mental fortitude now.
The NFL is seeing the most parity that perhaps it ever has. The good news: there is absolutely no great team between us and the ultimate goal. Bad news is we are on top of a merely good or ok pile. We are vulnerable to any number of 2-3 teams and better. Eagles will need to play their tails off, but 2017 is a monster opportunity if they seize it. Start praying and making offerings to the football gods, this could be the year, even if it almost certainly won’t be the cleanest most dominant march to glory.
From least to most permissible of those loses
– Monday vs. Washington – bury them or throw your lazy gutless selves in a volcano
– @ Dallas (assuming no Zeke)
– Dallas
– @ NYG
– Niners
– Bears
– Raiders
– Denver
– @ Rams
– @ Seattle
They’re not going 9-1, but they’ll be a favorite in every game with the exception of @ Seattle.
agreed, I’m at that weird spot where I expect them to win every game because I know they can, but I know they won’t. That’s just football. Stupid shit happens.
I want that win in Seattle more than anything. That’s the prize, because if we are anywhere near the ballpark of where we are in the standings right now, that will probably be a game that maps the road to a super bowl.
Or we might implode and go 9-7 and I’ll feel really dumb and bitter.
Seattle has beaten us so many different ways that I’ve emotionally detached myself form that game. It’s just happened too many ways too many times. And I’m in two boats; I demand/expect a win this Monday night because we’re better than Washington, at home, and a win buries them, but I also know there are mystery losses on this schedule for sure.
I like our chances vs the seattle c ocks more than every this year … no marshawn to run over us and we have better F with their O not so improved ..
And our O had more ideas and options than ever before .. I’m tsking US in that game .. at least up to 6 points
PTi showed a chart of Cowboys remaining schedule .. their chart had them at 51% chance of beating us .. that means as of right now, the Boys are favorites ..
They’re assuming Elliot isn’t suspended.
That’s what the lead story was. .but wasn’t specified.
.
Hey i hope we play HIM. . I want to beat him and know and know that they know that we are better
Almost nailed it – flip Denver and Rams. I’m scared by how frequently I agree with you these days.
ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha
Not to sound pessimistic or anything but as of pre Monday night we would be considered favorites in all of those games minus Seattle. If we lose that could easily change.
According to PFF our man JP is the highest rated T in the league. Amazing for JP due to his age. It has to be unprecedented. LJ is aratef as the fourth best.
Winning a SB this year guarantees he’s a first ballot HOF’er. Let’s do it. For the big guy.
Too early to think like that but yes please! Make it happen
Easily my favorite Eagle of all time after Dawk
Thou shalt not say the ‘S’ word. Speaking the ‘S’ word condemns you to the 700th level of hell during in a never-ending Dream Team year.
Hey Scott Green…………..FUCK YOU!
http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/21077982/nfl-referees-association-denounces-reports-bias-officiating
Is this fucking guy for real? He needs to visit the Linc on Monday and stop by one of the radio tent to explain himself. What a fucking piece of shit.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scott_Green_(American_football_official)
He’s from Doylestown, so it shouldn’t be hard for him to drive down and own up to his embarrassing comments in person. Fucking douche.
He’s saying the numbers are lying.
..
That smoke isn’t coming from a fire.
..
That 2 wrongs dont add up to a right, but 10 do.
Just bcause we wont pay our refs doesnt mean we dont trust them
71,000+ signatures. :). We’re slacking. Lololololol
Yeah, we need to push that to 100,000+
Is it Monday yet?
Amen!
Raiders win I guess
http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/FCC-to-Unveil-Net-Neutrality-Killing-Plan-Ahead-of-Thanksgiving-140560
Fight for net neutrality, also Ajit Pai can get reamed to death by elephants.
I support the cause, but let’s put this in context. This country was made possible by massacring the indigenous peoples. Power was assumed by white landowners, most of whom were also slave owners. There were arguments and fights among this small group, but NONE of them wanted democracy if by that was meant majority rule. That was a major point on which virtually all agreed. John Jay, a signatory to the Treaty of Paris, and a contributing writer of the Federalist Papers (along with James Madison and Alexander Hamilton), is often cited for this quote: “Those who own the country ought to govern it.” He also argued, as did most of his peers, that ownership of property is a right that cannot be denied ever!
Fast forward to today, and corporations own our politicians, our supreme court and our media. The two-party system is a pretense that offers a choice between corporate lackeys called Republicans and corporate lackeys called Democrats. the former wears their allegiance proudly on their sleeve, while the latter deploys a forked tongue to give rhetorical support to everyone who doesn’t line their pockets, while answering only to those that do.
The supreme court has decreed that corporations “legalistically” are persons. They are accorded rights and are permitted to have expectations of fair and proper treatment from those who govern. It has also used the sparse language of the second amendment to rule that it must be read literally, even though it was obviously established as a means of defending a vulnerable colony from armed British raiders. And recently, the supreme court has ruled that outlandish contributions to politicians does not prove corruption. And further it has ruled that dollars spent on political campaigns = speech, and thus no limit may be placed thereon, less the first amendment is breached.
What is clear as a bell: A vast majority of Americans have expressed a desire for a limit on the availability of guns, and on the amount of private money permitted in elections, and the corporatocracy will have none of it. Social security, which most working people pay into regularly is now known as an “entitlement” to suggest that it is a government giveaway that is subject to be rescinded. A single-payer healthcare system has been proposed numerous times – another political position supported by a majority, but the Democrats who deploy two tongues say that that will never happen because…it’s too complicated. The Democrats, who gave us Obamacare, a massive policy of rules and penalties and subsidies which give insurance companies a windfall if they play along, would say with a straight face that a single-payer system is beyond our ability to implement. Every developed country on the planet can figure it out but we are not up to it.
This is the state of affairs wherein the concept of net neutrality is being promoted, fought and decided. There is no reason that I can identify that would persuade our whoring political leaders to stop what they have been doing for generations, and heed the will of the people. If Comcast, Verizon, ATT want net neutrality it will happen. Otherwise we can probably kiss it goodbye .
阅读博客获得的进步不亚于阅读一本书。
Ran a QB draw with Carr. HE HAS A BROKEN BACK. There should be some negligent homicide charges brought against their staff.
Yeah, that was bad. Not even a scramble or a lunge forward, a full-fledged tuck the ball and try to get the 8 yards on third down.
It’s time to make bad challenges a bigger penalty. Give them a 15 yarder on top of the lost time out. It’s the only way to extinguish this shit.
http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2017/10/19/jay-gruden-on-carson-wentz-i-dont-know-how-he-got-to-philadelphia/
Gruden fully slobbing wentz
Next time we play the Chiefs we will beat them.
That game was insane!
I sort of hope he misses the extra point so we go to OT.
Oh god. Are Eagles #1 now? This is not good. Fuck. I can’t handle this kind of pressure. We can only lose.
Or we can win… last few years the best teams after 6 games went to the Superbowl…
Big game against the Washteam on Monday. We should win it, but it will be a tough game and if we do then we should have a great chance to go on to be the no.1 team in the NFC going into the bye week.