The Philadelphia Eagles look less like themselves as Conference Championship Sunday arrives. Everyone else might be talking about the Kansas City Chiefs, Buffalo Bills, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and Green Bay Packers, but in the Birds’ fan base, all of that takes a backseat to what the midnight green is doing.
January 24th will be a date that sticks in our minds for a while, not only have the Eagles officially announced the hire of their new head coach, according to a report by NBC Sports Philadelphia’s John Clark, assistant head coach and running backs coach Duce Staley has reportedly asked out of his contract with the Birds. Can you blame him?
There’s no need to waste a ton of everyone’s time. We thought there was a chance of this happening. Some had already convinced themselves that this would happen. Here are three reactions to the news.
Okay Philadelphia Eagles fans, let’s talk.
1. Again, can you blame him?
Duce has been a part of three Eagles coaching staffs (Andy Reid, Chip Kelly, and Doug Pederson). He’s been a mentor to everyone from LeGarrette Blount to Jay Ajayi and Miles Sanders.
Still, after being overlooked by the Philadelphia Eagles brass for the offensive coordinator position, we think (rumor has it that Duce also turned the job down), following Philadelphia’s decision to bring Nick Sirianni in to be the 24th head coach in franchise history rather than promote Staley from the inside, it appears that one of the most beloved Eagles of all time is looking for employment elsewhere.
2. How will this affect the team?
Staley has long been seen as one of the few stabilizing forces that the Eagles had. He’s respected by both players and coaches, but with what seems like a divided locker room and after seeing this team finally work together on something (making a pitch for Jeffrey Lurie to promote Staley to the head coach’s seat), you have to wonder what’s going on in their minds.
Sure football is a business. It’s also a game centered around loyalty in the locker room. Duce has to feel betrayed right now, to some extent, but what about the players that would run through a brick wall for him. How must they feel right now?
3. Might Chicago be an option?
Earlier in the week, The Athletic’s Adam Jahns tweeted that the Chicago Bears had some interest in Duce for ‘a role on Nagy’s staff’. He, soon after, deleted the tweet but did state the following shortly thereafter.
"Let me rephrase this: the #Bears haven’t spoken to Duce Staley. I deleted the original tweet because of it. I jumped the gun a little bit. There is interest there, however. That’s it for right now."
Is anyone else thinking that Doug Pederson joining forces with Matt Nagy in some sort of assistant head coaching role and Duce Staley joining both in some capacity makes sense? Maybe it’s a stretch, but come on. It’s hard not to think about that one seriously, isn’t it?