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Matthew Harper News & Rumors

Eagles Make Staff Changes

February 25th, 2019 at 10:02pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Eagles are bringing on more staffers and reshuffling assignments for some holdover coaches. Two new coaches are joining Philadelphia’s staff, and three others will receive promotions.

Phillip Daniels will move from assistant defensive line coach to overseeing that position group. The 15-year NFL defensive end joined the Eagles when Doug Pederson was hired in 2016. A seventh-year Eagles staffer, Matthew Harper will make a more notable shift, transitioning from assistant special teams coach to assistant wide receivers coach. T.J. Paganetti will move from assistant offensive line coach/offense quality control to assistant running backs coach.

The new coaches joining Philly’s staff will be Mike Bartrum (assistant tight ends coach) and Luke Thompson (assistant special teams). An NFL long snapper from 1993-2006, Bartrum comes to the Eagles after being a head high school football coach in Ohio. He finished his career with seven seasons in Philadelphia. Thompson will also make a big level jump, joining Pederson’s staff from Lafayette (Pa.) College. His most recent role was serving as Lafayette’s defensive coordinator. Thompson, however, has been a college coach for 20 years.

Joe Pannunzio was already reported to be joining the Eagles’ front office, but the team revealed his role will be to director of team development. This marks a return to the front office for Pannunzio, who served as an Eagles exec from 2015-16. He was an Alabama assistant in 2017 and Murray State’s head coach in 2018.

Additionally, the team tinkered with its front office. Patrick Dolan will move to the role of VP of football technology. Dolan is a 30-year NFL staffer and is in his seventh year with the Eagles. Jon Ferrari‘s title is now VP of football operations and compliance. Ferrari was an NFL league office staffer from 2007-16. Former Browns exec Andrew Berry is now the Eagles’ VP of football operations.

Eagles Hire 15 Assistants

January 20th, 2016 at 5:46pm CST by Luke Adams

5:46pm: The Eagles have made Reich’s hiring official. They’ve also named 14 other assistants to posts. Seven of those coaches are holdovers from Chip Kelly‘s staff. Here’s the list (unless otherwise specified, the names come courtesy of the Eagles’ website):

  • Eugene Chung, offensive line/tight ends/running game
  • Phillip Daniels, defensive quality control/assistant defensive line
  • Dave Fipp, special teams
  • Ken Flajole, linebackers
  • Matthew Harper, assistant special teams
  • Tim Hauck, defensive backs/safeties
  • Greg Lewis, wide receivers (Twitter link via ESPN’s Adam Caplan)
  • Justin Peelle, tight ends
  • Jim Schwartz, defensive coordinator
  • Duce Staley, running backs
  • Jeff Stoutland, offensive line
  • Press Taylor, offensive quality control/assistant quarterbacks
  • Cory Undlin, defensive backs/cornerbacks
  • Dino Vasso, defensive quality control/assistant secondary

On the heels of these moves, the Eagles released offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur and linebackers coaches Rick Minter and Bill McGovern from their contracts, according to Caplan (on Twitter). They let go of previous D-coordinator Billy Davis on Monday, per Caplan (Twitter link).

1:40pm: The Eagles have reached an agreement with Frank Reich to make him their new offensive coordinator, according to Jason La Canfora of CBSports.com, who reports (via Twitter) that it’s a “done deal.” Reich had been scheduled to have a formal interview with the team today, and Adam Caplan of ESPN.com had suggested “it would be an upset” if he wasn’t hired (Twitter link).Frank Reich

[RELATED: Eagles hire Jim Schwartz as defensive coordinator]

Reich, recently fired as the Chargers’ offensive coordinator after two seasons leading San Diego’s offense, interviewed for the same position on Adam Gase‘s Dolphins staff, but Miami ultimately chose Clyde Christensen as their new OC.

Had he become the Dolphins’ offensive coordinator, Reich wouldn’t have called the team’s plays (Gase will do that), and it looks as if he won’t handle that responsibility in Philadelphia either. New head coach Doug Pederson indicated during his introductory press conference on Tuesday that he expects to call offensive plays in 2016.

In San Diego, Reich was let go in large part due to the Chargers’ ineffective running game, but he did just fine with the team’s aerial attack — Philip Rivers led the NFL in completed passes in 2015, racking up nearly 4,800 yards passing to go along with 29 touchdowns.

Injuries have plagued the Chargers over the last couple years, and health problems on the offensive line likely contributed to the struggles of first-round running back Melvin Gordon, but Reich took the fall for the offense’s regression. In 2014, Reich’s first year as offensive coordinator, San Diego went from second in offensive DVOA to 11th. The team slipped to 15th this season, and the Chargers also went from scoring nearly 25 points per game in 2013 to just 20 by 2015.

In addition to reaching a deal with Reich, the Eagles have also reportedly agreed to hire former Browns offensive coordinator John DeFilippo as the club’s quarterbacks coach. The new additions to Pederson’s offensive coaching staff likely spell the end of Pat Shurmur‘s time in Philadelphia, despite the fact that the new head coach said on Tuesday that Shurmur would receive consideration for the OC role.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Extra Points: Tannehill, Foles, Bryant

February 3rd, 2015 at 10:01pm CST by Zachary Links

Former Creative Artists Agency employee Ben Dogra is now the co-CEO of the football division at Relativity Sports, as Darren Heitner of Forbes.com writes. As of September 26, Dogra was on record as representing 39 players signed to NFL deals, but it’s not clear how many he’ll be taking over with him. Dogra will share duties with contract advisor Eugene Parker, an interesting twist since the two men were bitter rivals for nearly two decades in the business. More from around the NFL..

  • There is a lot of work for the Dolphins to do this offseason, but their biggest decision might be how to handle the contract situation of starting quarterback Ryan Tannehill, James Walker of ESPN.com writes. Miami could trigger Tannehill’s expensive fifth-year team option at $15MM, work out a long-term extension, or roll the dice and wait it out with the QB. The $15MM option is obviously steep, but Miami could theoretically justify it by contrasting it to Tannehill’s $2.117MM salary for 2015. Averaged out, that’s just $8.5MM per year.
  • Sheil Kapadia of Philadelphia Magazine looked at the Eagles‘ quarterback spot. There has been buzz that the Eagles will replace quarterback Nick Foles with Marcus Mariota, but it seems like a longshot that they can move up to No. 1 to grab the Oregon product. Instead, Kapadia sees Foles staying while the Eagles bring in a new backup to replace Mark Sanchez and a developmental prospect to replace Matt Barkley.
  • Tim Cowlishaw of The Dallas Morning News is optimistic when it comes to the Cowboys‘ chances of keeping their two star free agents. He’s about 100% certain that Dez Bryant will be back in Dallas and 70-75% on DeMarco Murray.
  • The Patriots announced that special teams coordinator Scott O’Brien is retiring and assistant coach Joe Judge has been elevated to his role, according to Ben Volin of The Boston Globe (on Twitter).
  • The Eagles announced (on Twitter) that Matthew Harper will be the team’s new assistant defensive backs coach while Michael Clay will be the new assistant special teams coach. The Eagles (link) also hired Princeton’s inside linebackers coach Stephen Thomas to be the team’s defensive quality control coach.
  • Alabama Director of Football Operations, Joe Pannunzio, is also headed to the Eagles, according to Aaron Suttles of The Tuscaloosa News (on Twitter).