Reports surfaced today that Eagles’ wide receiver coach, Mike Groh, will be promoted to fill the vacant Offensive Coordinator position. This doesn’t come as much of a surprise, as many suspected the position would be filled from within the organization. What does come as bit of a surprise is that the position wasn’t filled by long time running backs coach, Duce Staley. Duce has been a part of the coaching staff long before coach Pederson arrived, even long before Chip was head coach. Duce began his coaching career in 2011 under Andy Reid as the special teams’ quality control coach. He was then promoted to running backs coach in 2013 when Chip came to town and he’s held that position ever since.
Duce’s long tenure with the team did pay dividends for him though, as he was promoted to Assistant Head Coach on the same day Groh was named Offensive Coordinator. Doug and company believed Groh was the better choice for the OC spot and it’s not hard to see why. Groh was a former college and NFL quarterback and we all know how much Doug loves his former quarterbacks. Former OC, Frank Reich, was also a quarterback, so it’s obvious Doug prefers a QB-like mindset to help run his offense. Groh was also masterful as the wide receivers’ coach last season. He played a huge role in the resurgence of Nelson Agholor and the receiving core as a whole. The season prior to Groh’s arrival, the Eagles were tenth in passes dropped with 24. In his first season as the wideouts’ coach, they improved to twentieth with 19. His impact on the team was immediate.
While he’ll most likely still work with the wideouts in his new role as OC, it’s imperative that the Eagles fill his former position with a competent replacement. Above all else, this teams’ success was in large part to the great coaching staff that Doug and Howie put into place. I would imagine that they will promote another coach who’s already with the team to fill that spot. It’ll be interesting to see how everything pans out, but I have faith in Doug to choose the right person for the job.