Iggles Blitz

by Tommy Lawlor

Getting Coordinated

Posted February 6th, 2026 | 4 Comments »

When Jeff Stoutland stepped away from the Eagles this week he created two openings. The Eagles need to replace him as the OL coach and also as the run game coordinator. They took care of the RGC part on Thursday.

Mahaffey is another young coach to add to the offensive mix. He worked with Sean Mannion in Green Bay so they should be on the same page in terms of scheme and how they want it run. One of the goals of the offensive change is to have a cohesive scheme, where the pass and run games work together seamlessly.

Mahaffey played TE in college and then some fullback in a short NFL career. He has been a TEs coach at the college level. He assisted with the Packers OL in 2022 and 2023 before becoming the WRs coach the last two seasons.

Jason Michael was the TEs coach for the Eagles over the past five years, and Nick Sirianni always spoke very highly of him. Maybe Michael is a good coach, but you sure wouldn’t know it from his time in Philly. The highlight of his resume would be turning Jack Stoll from a UDFA into a solid #3 TE. That’s not going to get you a lot of jobs.

TE has been an issue since Zach Ertz left. He and Dallas Goedert were a good duo, but the Eagles have struggled to find and develop players since then. Howie Roseman gave Michael a handful of different guys to work with and none panned out. They weren’t great players mind you, but finding TEs is something almost every team can do. The Eagles failure to put anyone good with Goedert is hard to believe. There are more than a few teams with three good TEs. The Eagles haven’t been able to find or develop good depth.

I think Mahaffey will have better luck with the TEs. I’m not sure how it could get worse. The Packers had good TEs in recent years. While Mahaffey didn’t coach them directly, he should have worked with them while he was an assisting with the OL. He also would have spent time with them in offensive meetings and practices. Mahaffey should know what he’s looking for out of the position. Let’s hope the Eagles give him some good resources to work with. They must improve the TE position.

As for the run game, Mahaffey was the offensive coordinator for Northern Iowa so he’s got a feel for gameplans and play-calling. In the NFL the RGC will work with the OC to build gameplans and then make suggestions on gameday. Mahaffey has the background to handle that role and the scheme familiarity to work well with Mannion.

Only time will tell if the move works, but I like the thinking behind it. The Eagles are building an offensive staff that should have a good understanding of what they’re trying to get done. They are also coaches who have experience working together. That can help the staff come together quickly, which is important for a team that wants to compete for Super Bowls.

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No update on the OL coach opening. I’m guessing we won’t find out anything until Monday. The NFL doesn’t like distractions before the Super Bowl.

The Eagles wanted Stoutland to stay as the OL coach, but I’m sure they understood they could lose him. That makes me think they’ve got ideas on who they might want to hire. Obviously they are giving Mannion a lot of say in building the offensive staff so we’ll have to see who he likes.

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We found out the Eagles will be losing a member of the defensive staff.

Yelk is a young coach who was working toward becoming a position coach in the future. Now he gets that role at the college level. Good for him and good luck to him.

I posted a tweet in the last post about veteran coach Frank Bush joining the staff. Oops. Apparently he’ll be going to the Giants instead. He makes more sense on that staff.

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Jeff McLane reported that Landon Dickerson is considering retirement. I’ll write about this and the OL situation in a separate post. That’s a long topic.

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It may seem like there is a lot of negativity around the Eagles right now. Do yourself a favor and watch ESPN’s 30 for 30 documentary on The Philly Special. It is excellent and will definitely put a big smile on your face.

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A Big Change

Posted February 4th, 2026 | 5 Comments »

Stout is out. We got some shocking news on Wednesday night, learning that Jeff Stoutland is no longer the OL coach for the Eagles. According to reports this was his choice, but it was certainly affected by moves the team made during the 2025 season and so far this offseason.

Tim McManus has some info on the situation. It started with changes to the run game last season.

Stoutland was not consulted about the changes to what he felt was an appropriate degree, a league source said, to the point where he no longer desired the title of run game coordinator because he felt it no longer fit his job description.

Stoutland knows the shotgun run game. He isn’t as well-versed on the under center stuff the Eagles mixed in last year and could be going to more of this season. He was going to have to learn a new offense and adjust his way of doing things. That’s not ideal for a coach who will turn 64 next week.

Speaking with ESPN last week, Stoutland’s agent, Alan Herman, had indicated that Stoutland was frustrated with how this season transpired with his voice not being heard within the organization and said there was a chance he could move on. However, Herman had emphasized Stoutland was not planning to retire from football.

A lot of people are going to focus on the blame side of this situation. Who is at fault? That’s a complicated question. If Stoutland is upset over last season, a lot of that would go to Nick Sirianni and Kevin Patullo, the men running the offense. To be fair, Stoutland also has to look at the man in the mirror. His OL had their worst showing since 2020. A lot of that was due to injuries. Still, the OL fell off in a massive way and Stoutland had no answers for how to get it fixed. The Eagles wouldn’t have made changes to the run game if things were working well.

I’m more interested in where the Eagles go from here. Stoutland was a great OL coach and the Eagles almost always had one of the best lines in the league during his tenure. He and the Eagles proved to be a great marriage. Howie Roseman gave Stoutland great resouces to work with and they got great OL play in return. We’ve seen other teams invest in OL and not have things work out. Replacing him won’t be easy.

There is something to be said for rebuilding the offensive staff with younger coaches who can grow together. New hires Sean Mannion and Josh Grizzard are young. It might be smart to add an OL coach who knows the type of system Mannion is going to run. It is probably fair to say the Eagles offense has succeeded more in recent years because of talent more than scheme. Part of that may be due to the offense having been built by different people with different styles and backgrounds.

When you think about the Mike Shannahan offensive system, it started with a blocking style and run game that were married together. The passing game was then built off that. Everything worked together. It all made sense. That’s the kind of thing the Eagles are looking to get to. They have some offensive stars that are in the prime of their careers. If you can put them in the right system, this offense could thrive for the next several years.

We don’t know any candidates for the job yet. It certainly sounds like the team had some idea this might be coming so I’m sure they have a list of guys they are targeting. This is a huge hire and they need to get it right.

Stoutland is one of the best OL coaches in league history. He did an amazing job from the time he got to Philly in 2013. He coached at least two guys who will be Hall of Famers (Jason Kelce, Lane Johnson). Jason Peters has a chance to also join that list. Stoutland had a Pro Bowl OL in each of his 13 seasons with the Eagles. That is a crazy stat. Stout is a legend. We’ll see what the future holds for him. It sounds like he’s still under contract and the Eagles don’t want him going to another team. Maybe something gets worked out. Could you trade him for a draft pick?

I probably shouldn’t have been as surprised by this news as I was. We heard Stout was frustrated last year. There is a new offensive staff coming in. I just figured he and the team would figure something out. It is hard to picture him with another NFL team.

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The Eagles did get some good news.

We heard this would probably happen. Good to know Fangio is coming back.

He could have a new assistant working with him.

Interesting. Bush has coached LBs for most of his career. Maybe he’ll have a specialty role with the Eagles. Maybe Fangio wanted another veteran coach on his staff to help with something specific.

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Another coach is heading out. Scott Loeffler joined the team a year ago as QBs coach. He’s been let go.

The Eagles have talked to Connor Senger about that role. It sounds like they may have someone else in mind.

I like the thought of adding a veteran coach who has worked with Mannion. The key to me is having a cohesive staff that will all be on the same page in regard to the system and making it work.

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