Staff Changes

The Eagles announced their coaching staff changes on Thursday. On Friday, they announced changes to the training staff and the front office.

We’ll start on the health side of things since that has been such a huge issue the past two seasons. The new hires are:

I’m not going to pretend like I can judge these hires with any kind of expertise. Both guys do have good resumes.

Hunkele joins the Eagles as the team’s director of sports medicine after spending the last 14 seasons with the Minnesota Vikings, where he served as the coordinator of rehabilitation/assistant athletic trainer. In his role with the Vikings, Hunkele assisted in the evaluation and care of all injuries sustained and helped to implement proactive treatment and rehabilitation programs.

And

In 2019, Hunkele was recognized as the Tim Davey Assistant Athletic Trainer of the Year for the NFC. He was also part of a Vikings staff that was honored by their NFL peers as the 2017 Athletic Training Staff of the Year.

Huenkle has experience. It sure sounds like he’s good at what he does. I like the fact he was with the Vikings for a long time. Huenkle worked for multiple GMs and multiple coaches. That tells you he did a good job for them. A lot of time regime changes mean overall staff changes. Huenkle kept right on grinding and kept the organization happy.

It is also good that Huenkle has a history with the Eagles. He worked for NovaCare and did some work for the team prior to going to Minnesota.

As for Rath:

Prior to his time in Los Angeles (Rams), Rath spent one season as the assistant strength and conditioning coach for the Miami Dolphins (2016) and seven seasons in the same role with the Detroit Lions (2009-15).

And

In 2017, Rath was named the Strength Coach of the Year by the Professional Football Strength and Conditioning Coaches Association, an award voted on by strength and conditioning coaches around the NFL. That season, according to Football Outsiders, the Rams finished as the healthiest team in the NFL based on adjusted games lost due to injury.

Another guy with NFL experience and a strong track record.

Rath spent time in Detroit with Jim Schwartz and then in Miami with Matt Burke so he’s got connections to the Eagles coaching staff.

There is one issue with Rath.

Ted Rath, the Eagles’ new director of sports performance, was charged with sexual battery when he was with the Rams. He was acquitted in a jury trial. The Eagles say they did their due diligence and feel confident in hiring him. He was reinstated by the Rams after his acquittal.

— Les Bowen (@LesBowen) February 7, 2020

He was acquitted and that is important. I don’t think the Eagles would have made this hire without really doing their homework.

These two men don’t insure the team will now magically stay healthy. The Rams had their share of injuries to deal with in 2019. But the men have a track record of success in the NFL. They bring new ideas to an organization that has struggled with injuries in recent years.

These sure seem to be good moves.

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Onto the personnel side of things.

There were rumors that Washburn might be the assistant DL coach, but Nathan Ollie kept that position. Instead, Washburn will help the defense and also work in the personnel department.

Last year Washburn was the “advanced projects coordinator”. That sounds like a made-up title for a young coach that the team wanted to hire. There is no salary cap on coaches. I’m all for hiring smart guys and then finding roles for them over time.

Washburn has been an OL coach for multiple teams, but he also has been a scout and worked in personnel. The Eagles obviously think very highly of him if they made him Director of Player Personnel. You don’t give that position out lightly. This is someone the team really liked.

Because of his background as an OL coach, Washburn could offer the defense a set of eyes that looks at things differently. There could be real value in that.

The Eagles think very highly of Barwin, Celek and Sproles so it isn’t a shocker that they tried to keep those former players around. There is a real balance in trying to reward former players with jobs and wanting people who are the best at what they do.

The best example is Dan Marino. He told the Dolphins he wanted to be GM so they gave him a front office job. Marino lasted about a week. When he realized how many hours and how much work was involved, he quit.

This group could be very different. None of them were huge stars in the NFL. You can make a case for Sproles as a Hall of Fame candidate, but that’s partially due to the sheer volume of his numbers and the length of his career. He played 15 years. Sproles came into the league as an undersized RB/RS and worked his tail off to become the player he did.

Celek was a late round pick who played more than a decade. He came in as a pass-catching TE and developed into a good blocker through hard work.

Barwin had the easiest route, coming in as a second round pick. He was an athlete with good size. Barwin played a decade and was very much a blue collar type of player.

All three of these guys should have the right mentality to handle off-field jobs. I was around Barwin and Celek at the Senior Bowl and they sure seemed to be taking their new jobs seriously.

I’m not always a big fan of highly successful former players getting into coaching/scouting. Too often they seem stuck in the role of former player and not current coach/scout. Some guys can flip that switch. Duce Staley is a terrific RBs coach. Ozzie Newsome was a great GM. John Lynch sure looks like a good GM right now. I had my doubts about him, but he’s off to a great start with the Niners.

Celek, Barwin and Sproles were excellent leaders during their playing careers. They were high character guys who were just as good off the field as on it. There can be real value in keeping those guys around. I would rather the Eagles do this than keeping veteran players on the roster too long.

Is there a fear of too many cooks in the kitchen? That is always possible.

All of these guys will report to Howie Roseman. It is up to Howie to decide if they are giving him good advice and information. He obviously feels strongly enough right now to give them the chance.

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