Coaching Changes

Posted: January 18th, 2019 | Author: | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 1 Comment »

Doug Pederson is a nice guy. That doesn’t mean he can’t make tough choices. With the season over, the Eagles have begun the process of self-scouting. The first area that was reviewed was the coaching staff.

Let’s talk about the changes.

Brewer was hired just a year ago, after Mike Groh was promoted to offensive coordinator. Brewer had been purely a college coach and I wonder if that ended up being an issue. Some guys make the transition smoothly (Jeff Stoutland), while others struggle.

I follow Brewer on Twitter and he would regularly post things about UNC, where he coached in recent years. He posted plenty of Eagles material as well, but you could tell the impact his previous job had on him. He seemed to love the place, the people and college football.

Not everyone is cut out for life in the NFL. Brewer said and did things that had a collegiate feel to them.

Constantly referring to the WR corps as Freaks or Freakshow just feels very college to me. And I can see kids eating that up. Sure didn’t seem like Eagles receivers were overly inspired by it.

Chris Wilson has been the DL coach for three years. His departure makes less sense, from a simplistic point of view. Fletcher Cox just had the best year of his career. Brandon Graham has been highly disruptive in recent years. Chris Long has played well the past couple of years. Michael Bennett was productive and disruptive this year.

So what gives?

One thing that both Wilson and Brewer may have had in common was a lack of player development.

DE Derek Barnett had a solid rookie year in 2017. He played better this year, but didn’t take such a leap forward that it blew you away. Elijah Qualls failed to show much progress in his time with the Eagles. Josh Sweat didn’t show any progress this year. He looked completely raw.

Shelton Gibson caught one pass in 2018. It felt like Nelson Agholor took a step back. Mack Hollins got hurt and missed the year, but he wasn’t overly impressive in the offseason camps.

Developing talent at the NFL level is hard. You have to be a great teacher. You also have to know how to motivate men. That means being both tough and positive. Greg Lewis wasn’t tough enough on the receivers in 2016. He got fired. Groh was tough on them in 2017. The receivers played really well and he got promoted.

As for Chung, we don’t know if he’s being let go or he wanted to leave. Chung may want to pursue being an OL coach rather than Stoutland’s assistant. You would think the Colts might have some interest in Chung, reuniting him with Frank Reich.

We don’t have any good replacement rumors yet. Philip Daniels is the assistant DL coach. Carson Walch is the assistant OL coach. Those guys could get promoted.

The Eagles aren’t looking for help in mid-February so they should have good options. They may have already talked to people. They could be waiting to see the outcome of the games this weekend if there is a coach they like. We’ll have to wait and see how things play out.

*****

Mr. Bama is exactly right. Linehan ran a simple, predictable offense in Dallas. It worked when the OL was dominant and things clicked with the passing game, but Dallas enjoyed almost no schematic advantages.

It will be interesting to see what they do.

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One Comment on “Coaching Changes”

  1. 1 Eagles News: New York writer says Giants need to go after Nick Foles – SportsNewsNow said at 2:24 PM on January 19th, 2019:

    […] Coaching Changes – Iggles BlitzOne thing that both Wilson and Brewer may have had in common was a lack of player development. DE Derek Barnett had a solid rookie year in 2017. He played better this year, but didn’t take such a leap forward that it blew you away. Elijah Qualls failed to show much progress in his time with the Eagles. Josh Sweat didn’t show any progress this year. He looked completely raw. Shelton Gibson caught one pass in 2018. It felt like Nelson Agholor took a step back. Mack Hollins got hurt and missed the year, but he wasn’t overly impressive in the offseason camps. Developing talent at the NFL level is hard. You have to be a great teacher. You also have to know how to motivate men. That means being both tough and positive. Greg Lewis wasn’t tough enough on the receivers in 2016. He got fired. Groh was tough on them in 2017. The receivers played really well and he got promoted. […]