Philadelphia Eagles debate table: Is Marquand Manuel Philly’s best option?
This one can be called a good idea and confusing. Was Marquand Manuel the best option for the Philadelphia Eagles’ vacant defensive backs coaching job?
We were told the Philadelphia Eagles would take their time and really dig into the process of filling the four vacancies they had at offensive coordinator, defensive backs coach, wide receivers coach, and defensive line coach. If you polled ‘Birds’ fans, you wouldn’t find many objections to that idea. These are hires they have to get right. Well, it looks like we have some movement. On Friday according to a report by ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, Philly interviewed Marquand Manuel.
A decision is expected in the near future, but is he the right guy to fix a secondary that’s been the subject of criticism seemingly since Super Bowl LII? Here are three immediate reactions to the news.
1. Let’s start with his background.
Manuel was a sixth-round selection of the Cincinnati Bengals in 2002. After an eight-year run in the NFL, he took a job as the Seattle Seahawks‘ assistant special teams coach in 2012. That led to a promotion to becoming a defensive assistant in 2013 and the assistant secondary coaching gig in 2014.
He followed Dan Quinn to the Atlanta Falcons in 2015 to become their secondary coach. In 2017, they promoted him to the defensive coordinator position. He was dismissed on December 31st of 2018 after the team finished the season with a 7–9 record.
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2. Whether or not he’s Philly’s first choice is questionable.
Manuel sat out of the 2019 season and hasn’t been talked about much since. A report by ESPN’s Jason La Canfora earlier in the week stated the Eagles were also interested in interviewing Cleveland Browns defensive backs coach DeWayne Walker.
It’s not certain if one or the other is the favorite or if they’re the only options. We’ll have to wait and see what happens.
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3. Does this qualify as a retread?
In the minds of many, hiring coaches who were termed elsewhere doesn’t inspire a ton of confidence in the fan base or media, but let’s be fair. Manuel had proven himself as a coach in Seattle, and from the outside looking in, it doesn’t appear that there’s much that anyone can do fix what’s going on in Atlanta.
It would seem that it was Quinn that was the real issue in Atlanta, but that’s another story for another day. In Philly, Manuel gets a talented but underachieving secondary. can he command the room? Can he get the most out of these guys? Those are the more important questions that we should be asking now.