A Staff Shakeup Is What the Eagles Need
After the Eagles 2019 season came to an end, it looked like the Eagles staff was mainly going to stay the same.
Doug Pederson had assured the press that Mike Groh would be back as offensive coordinator and Carson Walch would be back working with the wide receivers. However, less than a week later both were fired by the team.
On the defensive side of the ball, the Eagles lost defensive backs coach Cory Undlin as he was hired to be the Detroit Lions, defensive coordinator. Defensive Line coach Phillip Daniels was also released by the team.
With all of this in mind, it is fair to say that some coaching changes are to come for the Eagles. These changes are not splashy changes, but changes nonetheless that should only benefit the team.
Over the past two seasons, the Eagles have finished with a record of 9-7. It was clear that the team was still on a hangover from the Super Bowl during both 2018 and even into 2019, with the roster consisting of a lot of veteran players from that Super Bowl-winning team. General Manager Howie Roseman even admitted to this in his press conference days after the Eagles had been knocked out of the playoffs.
“When we looked at our team from 2017 to 2019 we knew that we had one team, a team we were basically going to stick with,” Roseman said. “We didn’t have a lot of resources in terms of draft picks and we made trades for veteran players to go win.”
With the Eagles organization looking to add fresh talent to the roster, it makes sense to do the same to the coaching staff. It was easy to see that coaches such as Walch, Undlin, and Daniels were not helping veteran players improve.
While young players started to produce at the end of the season, the general trend of players performing poorly under these coaches showed that they should not be around in the future. For a team that is looking for, “an infusion of youth” a coach not being able to develop personnel is not something you want around young players.
For these vacant coaching positions, it seems like the Eagles will look for names outside of the organization. As the team searches for new offensive coordinator names such as Jay Gruden, Jim Caldwell, and most recently Graham Harrell have all come to the forefront. Hines Ward’s name has also been reported recently as a possible candidate for the wide receiver coaching position. Adding football minds that are not currently apart of the team will help bring new ideas and a new identity to the team, something that the Eagles have definitely needed over the past two seasons.
It is fair to say that this upcoming season for the Eagles will be different for both the team and the fans. If the team is able to land new coaches that can bring fire and intensity with them, there is no question that the Eagles can stay in Super Bowl contention for years to come.
However, if the team cannot hire coaches that can do this, then it might be a rocky road ahead for both Howie Roseman and Doug Pederson.
Featured Image: Mitchell Leff/Getty Images
Discover more from Philadelphia Sports Nation
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
