Philadelphia Eagles part ways with another coaching assistant, 3 reactions

The Philadelphia Eagles have decided to part ways with another of their assistant coaches.

Well, Philadelphia Eagles head coach Doug Pederson stated that he would be evaluating each of his head coaches, and that’s exactly what he seems to be doing. Many thought that the evaluation process was probably done after Mike Groh and Carson Walch were both relieved of their duties, but each of us who shared that theory was wrong.

Earlier this week, they said goodbye to defensive backs coach Cory Undlin. On Friday, they let another assistant go. Here are three thoughts.

1. Who is it this time?

There’s always the who, what, when, where, why, and how with any narrative. In this scenario, much of that puzzle is missing, but we definitely know the answers about ‘who’ we’re talking. According to Jeff McLane, Eagles reporter for the Philadelphia Inquirer, Philly’s decided to part ways with defensive line coach Phillip Daniels. He had only served in the role for one season.

2. This one’s a bit of a surprise, sort of.

Daniels was actually one of the guys that most of us thought was safe. Philly’s defensive line wasn’t too shabby in 2019. They finished with 33 sacks, just three and a half sacks less than their league-leading total of 36.5 in 2018 as Mclane also pointed out in his report.

Prior to 2019’s regular season, the unit lost Chris Long and Michael Bennett who combined for 15.5 of the previous season’s total number. The defensive line also battled injuries all season long, including an early loss of Malik Jackson. Still, the team seems to be getting very little from their young guys, particularly Josh Sweat and Shareef Miller, while Derek Barnett seems to be stuck in neutral. Could some of that be a part of what led to the decision?

3. There are now four vacancies to fill.

Many of us have asked about what could be taking so long to fill the team’s vacancies. Perhaps, this is part of the reason. Doug Pederson has seemingly decided to take his time in evaluating his current staff while looking to fill the holes his staff has. Many of the vacant positions across the league have been filled, and that could be why the Eagles are taking their time. They want to get each hiring right.

Philly now needs a wide receivers coach, a defensive backs coach, a defensive line coach, and an offensive coordinator. McLane also reports that on January 17th, they’ve interviewed Graham Harrell, offensive coordinator for the USC Trojans. We’ll have to wait and see if he becomes one of the favorites as we move through the interview process.