In Roob's Observations, just how young is the Eagles' offensive coaching staff? originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
In this week’s Roob’s 10 Random Eagles Offseason Observations, we take a look at the nearly unprecedented youth of the Eagles’ offensive coaching staff, what Lane Johnson’s return means for this year’s draft and a forgotten aspect of the legendary 4thand 26 play from the 2003 playoffs.
And tons more, including a new Jeff Lurie-produced film that looks fascinating if you’re a fan of the Beatles or Rolling Stones.
We’re all over the map this week.
1. One notable thing about the offensive coaching staff the Eagles have assembled is just how young it is. Of the newcomers, Sean Mannion is 33, Josh Grizzard 35, Ryan Mahaffey 38 and Chris Kuper 43. Among the incumbents, Parks Frazier is 34, Aaron Moorehead 45 and Jemal Singleton 50. That’s an average age of 39.7 among the primary offensive coaches. That makes this the Eagles’ youngest offensive coaching staff in 29 years, since Ray Rhodes’ 1997 staff averaged 38.3 years old. That staff, which included three future NFL head coaches, consisted of offensive coordinator Jon Gruden and quarterbacks coach Sean Payton, who were both 33, offensive line coach Juan Castillo, who was 34, receivers coach Gerald Carr, who was 37, offensive line coach Bill Callahan, who was 40 and running backs coach Ted Williams, who was 53. There are plusses and minuses about having a staff this young. The risk is the lack of experience. Mannion, Grizzard, Frazier, Mahaffey and Kuper have an average of five years of NFL coaching experience, and Mannion has only two. These are young guys who are going to have to convince a room full of NFL players that they can help them get better as players and help the team win. But the positive is that at least in theory you get an injection of youthful energy, fresh ideasc and new concepts, elements this offense desperately needs. I like keeping the two veteran holdover position coaches, Moorehead and Singleton, to provide experience to this young staff and add a thread of consistency from 2025 to 2026. In theory, this staff has a ton of potential. What that winds up looking like we won’t know for quite some time.
2. The Eagles and Rams are the only NFL teams that haven’t drafted a wide receiver in the first four rounds over the last four years. The Eagles and Rams both drafted WRs early in 2021, the Eagles taking DeVonta Smith 10th overall and the Rams taking Tutu Atwell in the second round in 2021. The Rams did land Puka Naua in the fifth round in 2023. The only WRs the Eagles have selected in the last four drafts are 2024 5th– and 6th-round picks Ainias Smith and Johnny Wilson, who have a combined 12 catches for 79 yards in their careers. The last time the Eagles went more than four years without taking a WR in the first four rounds was a five-year stretch 1985 through 1989. No matter what happens with A.J. Brown, I’d expect that streak to end in April.
3. Saquon Barkley has played the 58th-most games by a running back in Eagles history. He has the 5th-most 100-yard games in Eagles history.
4. Five of Andy Reid’s secondary coaches during his years with the Eagles went on to become NFL head coaches and four of them won at least one Super Bowl ring after leaving the Eagles. Leslie Frazier was Big Red’s first secondary coach, from 1999 through 2022, and he won a ring this month with the Seahawks. Steve Spagnuolo replaced Frazier in 2001 and stayed in that role through 2003, and he’s won four Super Bowl rings as an assistant, one with the Giants and two with the Chiefs. John Harbaugh spent 2007, his final year on Reid’s staff, as secondary coach and led the Ravens to a championship after the 2012 season. Next up was Sean McDermott, who was defensive coordinator when the Panthers lost to the Broncos in the Super Bowl after the 2015 season and reached the playoffs seven straight years as Bills head coach but hasn’t won a Super Bowl ring. And Todd Bowles, who began 2012 as the Eagles’ secondary coach before replacing Juan Castillo as defensive coordinator, won a ring on Bruce Arians’ Buccaneers staff after the 2020 season. Andy’s only secondary coaches who didn’t go on to become head coaches were Dick Jauron, who was on the Eagles’ staff in 2010 and had been head coach of the Bills from 2006 through 2008, and Johnny Lynn, secondary coach in 2011, who was never a head coach.
5. Lane Johnson coming back for a 14th season shouldn’t affect the Eagles’ draft plans at all. They still need to address offensive line and they still need to plan for Johnson’s retirement, which is still not far off. There should be some good options if Howie stays at No. 23 – potentially, 6-foot-7, 315-pound Monroe Freeling from Georgia, Utah’s 6-6, 305-pound Caleb Lomu and Alabama’s 6-foot-7, 365-pound Kadyn Proctor could go in that range. But when it comes to finding Lane’s ultimate replacement, nobody would be surprised if Howie moves up for someone like Francis Mauigoa of Miami or Utah’s Spencer Fano. I love the idea of drafting an offensive tackle with guard versatility – like Mauigoa, Fano or LSU’s Will Campbell – and letting him compete with Tyler Steen at right guard as a rookie while learning from Johnson and eventually moving into his right tackle spot. Great news that Lane is coming back, but it’s still time to think about his replacement.
6A. The crazy thing about 4th and 26 that’s easy to miss is that the Eagles barely got the play off in time. When I was working on the book “The Greatest Plays in Eagles History,” I watched 4th and 26 with Donovan McNabb in former Eagles PR guy Rich Burg’s office about a dozen times, and he was as surprised as I was that the play clock was winding down from 1 to 0 just as Hank Fraley snapped the ball. Literally another half second and it’s delay of game. Turns out 4th and 26 was almost 4th and 31.
6B. Another interesting thing about that play is that it was the longest 4th-quarter reception of Mitchell’s career, regular season or postseason. His next-longest career 4th-quarter catch was a 15-yarder from Jeff Blake in the meaningless late-season loss to the Rams in 2004.
7. Jalen Hurts Stat of the Week: Hurts has started 82 games, and in 39 of them he’s had at least one touchdown pass and no interceptions. Only two quarterbacks have ever had more games with at least one TD pass and no INTs in their first 82 career starts: Russell Wilson and Patrick Mahomes each had 42. Aaron Rodgers and Justin Herbert also had 39.
8. What’s your confidence level in Nolan Smith ever paying off as a 1st-round pick? We’re three years in now and other than a flurry late in 2024 and in the postseason, the production just hasn’t been there. Injuries are part of the equation, and he missed five games this year, but the bottom line is even including the postseason he has 15 sacks in three seasons, and that ranks 70th in the NFL during that span. People wanted to run Mike Mamula out of town and he had 18 ½ sacks his first three years. He was a higher 1st-round pick, but still. The thing about Smith is that there’s clearly something there. We saw it when he had four sacks in the 2024 postseason and 8.0 sacks the last 11 games of the season. He’s fast, strong, athletic and physical, but the production hasn’t matched his traits. You worry that at his size he just won’t hold up for the long haul, especially with way he plays. And three sacks and 14 pressures in 12 games this year is just not good enough for a 1st-round pick and a guy the Eagles are counting on to make life rough for quarterbacks. Of 43 edge rushers who started at least 10 games this past season only five had fewer pressures. Smith is eligible for a new contract this offseason, but I’d be really careful about it. Fifth-year option makes the most sense to give Smith a chance to prove he’s worth a big-money extension. The option year would be somewhere around $15 million. So you’re not committing huge money (relatively) but he gets a decent paycheck and an opportunity to prove he’s worth keeping around. He very well could blossom in Year 4. But so far we just haven’t seen enough.
9. Since Nick Sirianni got hired, the Eagles have won more playoff games than the Raiders, Titans, Cards, Browns, Panthers, Vikings, Jets, Falcons, Saints, Colts, Dolphins, Chargers, Steelers, Giants, Bears, Broncos, Cowboys and Packers combined.
10. Keep an eye out for, “That’s the Way God Planned It,” a new documentary on the life of the legendary keyboard player Billy Preston, the so-called Fifth Beatle. Jeff Lurie was executive producer for the project, which debuted this weekend in New York in advance of general theatrical release. Preston had a successful solo career – “Will it Go Round in Circles” in 1973 and “Nothing from Nothing” in 1974 both reached No. 1 on the Billboard singles chart – in addition to working as a session musician with artists from Eric Clapton to Elton John to Johnny Cash to Joni Mitchell to Ray Charles. He’s the only musician to play with both the Beatles and Rolling Stones and is probably best-known for his iconic Fender Rhodes solo on the Beatles’ “Get Back,” which is credited to the Beatles and Billy Preston. Preston, a two-time Grammy winner, had a difficult and tragic life and the film explores his drug addiction, sexual abuse as a child and secret homosexuality, which he didn’t reveal until just before he died in 2006. Lurie first told me about the project at a practice at the Jefferson Health Training Complex three years ago, and he said he’s always been intrigued by Preston’s life and had always wanted to produce a film about him. Lurie’s production company previously produced the Oscar-winning documentary, “Summer of Soul,” chronicling the forgotten 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival concerts.