He promotes from within.

Thus, yesterday, 2007 season coaching intern Otis Smith officially joined the Eagles' staff as assistant secondary coach, and 2007 training-camp intern Mike Caldwell came aboard as defensive quality control coach, as former quality control coach Bill Shuey was promoted to linebackers coach, and linebackers coach Sean McDermott moved over to the defensive backfield coaching job vacated by John Harbaugh when Harbaugh became the head coach of the Baltimore Ravens. Smith (cornerback) and Caldwell (linebacker) are former Eagles players.

The Eagles also added a coach, bringing in former Steelers quarterbacks coach Mark Whipple as an offensive assistant. The story there seemed to be that the team was ready to add Whipple as Pat Shurmur's replacement, should the quarterbacks coach have gotten the offensive coordinator's job with Harbaugh in Baltimore. When that didn't happen, Reid decided he wanted Whipple on the staff anyway. Reid said he feels Shurmur will get a coordinator opportunity soon, and that he might as well prepare.

"[Shurmur] has gotten enough play here over the last couple of years that it's just going to happen," Reid said. "We've been fortunate enough to keep Marty [offensive coordinator Mornhinweg, who was head coach of the Lions for two seasons] here for the time being, but at somewhere along here, Marty's going to get another opportunity to be a head football coach in this league. We've seen how some of these guys, when they get their second go-round, how well they've done, as head coaches. Marty, I think his days are numbered here, too. I just want to make sure that I've got somebody trained who can come in and work in that position."

Reid said Whipple's former boss in Pittsburgh, Bill Cowher, gave such a strong recommendation that Reid felt he neded to bring Whipple to the Eagles.

"Bill told me, when he came back, that would be the first guy he'd hire," Reid said.

The only really unexpected thing, among all the shifts, was the moving of McDermott, after a year in which the Eagles' linebacking corps improved dramatically.

"I don't think there are a lot of secondary coaches as good as Sean McDermott," Reid said of the 1993 La Salle High grad, who coached safeties under a slightly different secondary coaching setup before moving to linebackers last season. McDermott will coach safeties and corners this time. "His versatility is second to none with defensive coaches in this league. It made it easy to move Sean back."

Reid said he makes more use of interns and quality control coaches than some coaches do, and perhaps is then more willing to promote them.

"I look at those guys as coaches, and not just as computer guys. The next step allows them to step up and move forward," Reid said. "You can back that up to my administrative assistant position. I look at those guys as future coaches . . . I kind of put a lot of weight on those guys, to do projects for me . . . When I'm hiring them initially, they're young guys who have an opportunity to come up through the ranks and learn our system, and at the same time get out and explore that position that they might be coaching."

Smith, 42, played 13 years in the NFL, including two stints with the Patriots, where he was a Bill Belichick favorite. Reid recalled that Smith played at Missouri when Reid was offensive line coach there.

"Tremendous with technique," Reid said of Smith, who interned for the Pats in 2006. "He's got a nice way about him, he's very matter-of-fact. He challenges the players. I think he's got a good upside."

Caldwell, 36, played for the Eagles from 1998 to 2001, the last 3 years for Reid.

"I told Mike and [ex-linebacker] Ike Reese the same thing - if they ever decided to go into coaching, I'd hire 'em in a heartbeat. Mike beat Ike to the punch here," Reid said. "Mike's the first one to want to do that." *