The Philadelphia Eagles are starting to take shape under new head coach Doug Pederson. Pederson held his inaugural press conference on Tuesday, during which he confirmed the hire of Jim Schwartz as his defensive coordinator. He also made clear that special teams coach Dave Fipp would be retained, as would offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland. Interestingly, the offensive side of the ball remained conspicuously quiet over the first 24 to 36 hours of Pederson's tenure, which is interesting, of course, because Pederson is an offensive guy. You'd think his contacts in that area would far exceed whatever defensive coaching personnel he held close ties with around the league.
Either way, it sounds like on Wednesday Pederson started piecing together a staff on that side of the ball as well. According to Fox Sports' Mike Garafolo, former Cleveland Browns offensive coordinator John DeFilippo will be joining the Eagles as a quarterbacks coach. And if Adam Caplan of ESPN's report is correct, it'll be an "upset" if DeFilippo isn't operating under former San Diego Chargers offensive coordinator Frank Reich next season.
Reich had been rumored to be the top candidate for the gig, especially after the Kansas City Chiefs, Pederson's former team, promoted offensive assistant Brad Childress - a guy Pederson was said to be interested in hiring onto his staff in Philly - to the offensive coordinator position.
Reich spent his quarterbacking days in the league with the Buffalo Bills, Carolina Panthers, New York Jets and Detroit Lions. As a coach, he started out with the Indianapolis Colts as an offensive coaching assistant and worked his way to wide receivers coach before jumping ship to the Arizona Cardinals in 2012 for the same position.
The next year, he got back to his roots, working with quarterbacks for the Chargers and from there, was named offensive coordinator in San Diego. Reich worked wonders with Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers and the San Diego passing offense, but the running game struggled during his tenure. He was fired two weeks ago.
