THURSDAY, 10:24am: The Eagles have officially confirmed the hiring of DeFilippo as their quarterbacks coach. The announcement comes on the heels of the club naming 15 assistants, including new offensive coordinator Frank Reich, to Pederson’s staff on Wednesday.
WEDNESDAY, 9:05am: The Eagles don’t have an offensive coordinator in place yet, but they’re planning to bring the Browns’ former offensive coordinator to their staff in another role, per Mike Garafolo and Peter Schrager of FOX Sports (Twitter link). The FOX duo reports that Philadelphia is hiring John DeFilippo as its new quarterbacks coach.
[RELATED: Browns part ways with OC John DeFilippo]
It has been a busy few weeks for DeFilippo since the 2015 regular season ended. After serving as the Browns’ offensive coordinator in 2015, his hold on his job became tenuous when the club fired head coach Mike Pettine. As the Browns went through the head coaching search process and ultimately hired Hue Jackson, DeFilippo spoke to the 49ers about their head coach or offensive coordinator position, and also interviewed with the Rams for a spot on their staff.
While DeFilippo didn’t land in San Francisco or Los Angeles, and was let go by the Browns, he’ll end up in an interesting role in Philadelphia. The Eagles’ hiring of Doug Pederson as their new head coach received mixed reviews, but Pederson is putting together an impressive staff, with Jim Schwartz set to run the defense, and DeFilippo potentially paired with Frank Reich on the offensive side of the ball.
A Monday report indicated that Reich, the Chargers’ former offensive coordinator, was expected to secure the same position in Philadelphia, and he still appears to be on track for that job. He’ll have a formal interview within the next 24 hours, and it “would be an upset” if he’s not hired by the Eagles, tweets Adam Caplan of ESPN.com.
DeFilippo, who previously served as a quarterbacks coach for the Raiders and Jets, coaxed a respectable 236.4 passing yards per game out of the Browns this year, despite having to work with three different – and hardly elite – starting quarterbacks, in Josh McCown, Johnny Manziel, and Austin Davis. Reich, meanwhile, was let go by the Chargers due to the team’s ineffective running game, but he did just fine with the team’s aerial attack — Philip Rivers led the NFL in completions, racking up nearly 4,800 yards passing to go along with 29 touchdowns.
Of course, it remains to be seen who DeFilippo, and potentially Reich, will be working with at the quarterback position in Philadelphia in 2016. Sam Bradford is the incumbent starter, but he’ll be eligible for free agency this winter, and it’s not clear if the club intends to franchise him or extend him before he hits the open market.
Former Eagles wide receiver Greg Lewis is also under consideration for a role on Pederson’s coaching staff, though nothing is finalized yet, a source tells Caplan (Twitter link).
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
I think this is a really solid hire. Flip did a nice job with limited talent in Cleveland last year, and per Andy Benoit of SI, he’s really respected around the league.