Making sense of the Eagles' coaching moves
The Eagles announced a series of coaching moves today, finalizing their staff for whenever the next time is that football is played.
Here's the rundown, followed by some thoughts:
OFFENSE
* James Urban promoted to assistant offensive coordinator.
* Doug Pederson promoted to QBs coach.
* David Culley promoted to senior offensive assistant/WR coach.
DEFENSE
* Johnnie Lynn named secondary/cornerbacks coach.
* Bobby April Jr. named defensive quality control coach.
SPECIAL TEAMS
* Duce Staley named special teams/quality control coach.
Let's start with the defense. The biggest move the Eagles made this offseason was promoting Juan Castillo from offensive line coach to defensive coordinator. Soon after the decision was announced, I wrote about how important it was to surround Castillo with good, experienced assistants since he's never been a defensive coordinator in the NFL.
So did the Eagles do a good job of that? Twenty-four hours ago, I would have said absolutely not, but the addition of Lynn changes that outlook a little bit.
Lynn has coached the secondary in San Francisco, Baltimore and Tampa. And he was also the defensive coordinator with the Giants in 2002 and 2003. In case you're wondering about how his defenses performed, New York finished third in the NFL in scoring defense (17.4) in 2002 and 29th (24.2) in 2003.
Lynn joins Jim Washburn, who brings 12 years of NFL experience coaching the defensive line with the Titans.
Mike Caldwell and Michael Zordich lack experience, but the Eagles obviously liked what they saw as they gutted the coaching staff, but kept those two. Caldwell has progressed from intern to defensive quality control coach to assistant linebackers coach to linebackers coach.
Zordich went from intern to defensive quality control coach to defensive backs/safeties coach. It would seem reasonable to assume that he'll be taking his cues in part from Lynn.
The Birds shook up the offensive staff also. I'm not sure exactly what "assistant offensive coordinator" means for Urban, but it would appear to put him in position for an offensive coordinator position down the line. Marty Mornhinweg was mentioned as a head-coaching candidate this past offseason, although there were no reports that he interviewed anywhere. If he leaves next year, Urban could potentially take Mornhinweg's spot with the Eagles.
Pederson takes over as quarterbacks coach, and Culley gets promoted too as "senior offensive assistant."
April Jr. gets his first shot on an NFL staff, and Staley stays on as well.
The other move the Eagles announced was that they have claimed cornerback Isaiah Trufant off waivers from the Jets. I wrote about Trufant in detail last week.
And earlier today, I posted on Cardinals coach Ken Whisenhunt downplaying a report that the team was seeking input from Larry Fitzgerald about who their next quarterback should be.
You can follow Moving the Chains on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook.
Download our NEW iPhone/Android app for even more Birds coverage, including app-exclusive videos and analysis. Get it here.