Coaching Stuff

I’ve gotten a lot of questions in recent posts about whether the Eagles will lose any assistant coaches this offseason or whether they will make any additions to the staff.

I covered the first question in a column for BGN. I don’t see the Eagles losing anyone this offseason. Chip Kelly hired a bunch of grinder types that aren’t “sexy” coaching candidates for other teams. There are no Jon Grudens on this staff.

I also think a major factor is that other teams will see Chip Kelly as the key person. Just how valuable are the other coaches? Jeff Stoutland is a good OL coach. Bob Bicknell is a good WRs coach. And so on. But there are plenty of good OL and WR coaches in the NFL. Those guys aren’t special. Chip Kelly is the special coach. You need him to really get the Kelly magic. If he had a long time lieutenant, you could go for that guy, but there isn’t one who really fits the bill. Jerry Azzinaro is the closest thing to a right hand man and he’s a DL coach. That doesn’t have the same value as a QB coach or coordinator.

As to the other question, will the Eagles look to add anyone, I doubt it. There are going to be some good assistants on the street. Would the Eagles want to go for Ray Horton to join the defensive staff? Would they have interest in Wade Phillips? Vance Joseph is a terrific assistant for the Texans. The Vikings have several good defensive coaches – Leslie Frazier, Mike Singletary, and Alan Williams. The Eagles would have lots of potential targets if they wanted to add someone.

I tend to think the Eagles will stand pat with their guys. Wade Phillips is the one coach who I’d really be interested in, but he might get the HC job in Houston or the new coach may keep him around. Phillips has worked with Bill Davis before so they could work something out.

My guess is that Kelly likes the vibe on the team and the staff. He’s not going to shake that up unless he feels it is something that is just too good to pass up. As we saw late in Andy Reid’s tenure, you need chemistry on a coaching staff. Building an all-star staff doesn’t work in and of itself. The guys have to get along. The personalities have to mesh well.

It does feel really good to be having a discussion like this compared to the one we had a year ago. We didn’t know who the coach would be. We didn’t know what kind of staff the new guy would hire. We lived and died with every rumor that Schefter, Glazer and Mort reported.

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Sean McDermott is going to interview for the Skins job. Todd Bowles may get some interviews after his great year with the Cards. Why didn’t things work out for them in Philly?

They have 2 very different situations. McDermott has always been a smart, talented coach. He is able to come up with creative gameplans. The biggest problem he had in Philly was personality. Reid referenced the difficulty in succeeding Jim Johnson. McDermott had to coach in his shadow. My guess is that McDermott decided to be forceful with those around him to not be seen as JJ-Lite. He wanted to let people know he was to be taken seriously. This wasn’t received well by anyone around him.

Reid worked hard to make sure McDermott had somewhere to go. He still very much believed in the young coach. Reid knew that McDermott just needed a different situation. My guess is that the two of them have a solid friendship even after the firing. I don’t know that for a fact.

McDermott is in a much better place in Carolina. He’s working with Ron Rivera, a head coach with a defensive background. McDermott runs the defense, but has input from Rivera, a very successful DC in his own right. McDermott was unknown to those players. He didn’t bring any baggage. He didn’t have anyone’s shadow to deal with. He could just be himself. I’m happy for his success.

As for Bowles, he was given an impossible set of circumstances last October. He took over a defense midseason. He was running a scheme that was new to him and one that he didn’t believe in. He had players in DRC and Nnamdi that gave inconsistent effort, to put it mildly. And Bowles had to deal with Jim Washburn being an a-hole to everyone who wasn’t a defensive lineman.

The results made Bowles look awful, but no one who really studied that situation could hold him accountable. Essentially Bowles played the role of Sandra Bullock in Speed. He happened to step onto the wrong bus on the wrong day. And then he ended up in the driver’s seat as all hell broke loose.

I had a high opinion of Bowles when the Eagles hired him and when they fired him. He did the best he could with a disaster. This year he inherited good players and a scheme he liked. The results were simply outstanding. Good for him.

I hope both McDermott and Bowles get to be head coaches in the future.

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Here is a good piece from Jimmy Bama on how Ron Jaworski and Cris Collinsworth differ in their opinion of some of Foles habits under pressure. There are also comments from Jaws about how the weather will affect Drew Brees on Saturday night.

Good stuff.

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Playmakers

One of the big differences in the Eagles win on Sunday night is that they made plays while the Cowboys didn’t. Think about all the plays the Eagles made.

* Brent Celek made a huge catch down the left sideline. That led to a TD.

* Jason Avant made a key catch down the right sideline. That led to a TD.

* Mychal Kendricks had a FF and an INT.

* Connor Barwin batted down a 4th down pass.

* 3 of Alex Henery’s KOs were for touchbacks. And he hit a 47-yard FG.

* Donnie Jones nailed a 56-yard punt late in the game to back Dallas up.

* DeSean Jackson had a 23-yard PR that gave the Eagles very good field position.

* Cary Williams broke up the 2-point conversion attempt.

* Brandon Boykin broke up a deep pass to Bryant and then picked off the pass at the end.

* Chris Polk caught a 3rd down pass and turned it into a gain of 34. That set up the FG.

* LeSean McCoy converted a pair of 3rd/1 runs on the TD drive in the 4th quarter.

* James Casey had a crucial block on Bryce Brown’s TD run. That took out 2 defenders.

The Cowboys won the battle on the LOS. They didn’t dominate the Eagles, but they did win the overall battle. Dallas out-gained the Eagles, 417 to 366. The Eagles were better on 3rd downs. They were better in the Red Zone. Dallas kicked 3 FGs. You aren’t going to win a big game kicking FGs. You must score TDs.

The Eagles simply made more key plays.

This feels kinda weird. In the past, the Eagles were the team that didn’t make the plays. Remember Jeremy Maclin dropping the key pass against the Falcons in 2011 and then fumbling late against SF? There was the Ronnie Brown disaster vs SF. Jason Avant made critical mistakes in a loss at Buffalo and then Juqua Parker jumped offside to seal the game. There was the loss to the Cardinals when Asante Samuel decided to jump an underneath route and left Kurt Coleman 1-on-1 with Larry Fitzgerald. Go back to 2010. There was the playoff loss to the Packers. David Akers missed 2 FGs. Michael Vick forced a downfield throw to Riley Cooper, who then compounded the problem by not breaking up the pass. There was a midseason game against the Titans that was filled with little moments that cost the Eagles the game. And on and on and on.

The 2013 Eagles have started to make the key plays. Celek has made some really tough catches. Same for Riley Cooper. Nick Foles is a good Red Zone QB. Brandon Boykin has 2 Red Zone INTs and a FF down there. He’s sealed 2 wins with INTs. Shady McCoy has dominated the 4th quarter in wins over TB, GB, DET and DAL. Donnie Jones has hit some clutch punts that have been crucial in wins.

We need to see if this continues into the future, but it is a great sign for now. It will be even better if the Eagles can find a Safety who can be a consistent playmaker.

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The other day I wrote about the fact the Eagles are now a running team.

LeSean McCoy not only led the NFL in rushing yards, but he also led in rushing attempts. Did you ever think an Eagles RB would lead the NFL in carries? Duce Staley was 4th in 1999, Andy Reid’s first year. The difference is that Reid wanted to throw, but didn’t have the QB or weapons. Kelly wanted to run and took advantage of his stud RB.

The Eagles led the NFL in rushing. They were 2nd in TDs, 4th in team rushing attempts and 1st in yards per carry.

Conversely, the Eagles finished 10th in rushing defense. They were 4th in the league in yards per carry.

So…how weird is it to know the Eagles can run the ball and stop the ball? This is what you always wanted, Eagles fans. Enjoy it.

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