The Eagles lost offensive coordinator Frank Reich as part of their coaching staff when he took the Colts head coaching job this week and head coach Doug Pederson said he hasn’t decided how the team will proceed without him.
One possible internal replacement might have been John DeFilippo, but the former quarterbacks coach took the offensive coordinator position with the Vikings shortly after the Super Bowl. There was a report this week that the Eagles might not have a coordinator in 2018 and Pederson confirmed that’s a possibility during an appearance on SiriusXM Radio’s Basketball and Beyond with Coach K with Duke basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski that airs at 6 p.m. ET on Thursday.
“I’m thinking through a lot of things and processing a lot of things right now, a lot of names,” Pederson said. “I haven’t ruled out not having an offensive coordinator. But you know, as a head coach and some of the responsibilities that I have to do during the week and some of the other obligations, I’ve got to look at that too. Because that’s where your offensive coordinator can really step in so, like I said, I’m processing a bunch of things. I’m not going to rush into it, I’m going to make sure it’s the right person, the right fit for what we’re doing. I think that’s important too, that that person fits the culture and his way of thinking has to coincide with the way we’re thinking and ... calling the plays and go from there.”
Running backs coach Duce Staley and wide receivers coach Mike Groh have been mentioned as coaches who could take on more responsibility with the Eagles offense in the wake of Reich’s departure and Pederson said he thinks both would make good coordinators. However the responsibilities get divvied up, it’s hard to imagine the Eagles doing major tinkering with an offensive approach that worked very well for them in 2017.