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Eagles coaches: The winners if they win, losers if they lose | Marcus Hayes

Which coaches gain the most if the Eagles win this season? Which lose the most if they lose?

Eagles’ defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz.
Eagles’ defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz.Read moreDAVID MAIALETTI / Staff Photographer

What's next?

Every assistant coach in the NFL has that question on his mind. Asked when he began thinking about his next job, a former assistant of Andy Reid's admitted, "As soon as I start the one I'm at."

You can't blame them. When it's time for the head coach to get fired, NFL owners tend to purge, not promote. And, if a staff is successful, the head coach usually stays put, which creates a ceiling. The only way to rise is to leave.

Over the last seven months or so, the composition and qualifications of the Eagles' coaching staff has been a topic of gossip and conjecture for many current and former NFL insiders; witness the Haterade bath Mike Lombardi gave Doug Pederson at Ringer.com on Sunday.

Lombardi is not alone in his conjectures. Pederson and his staff have been an object of fascination throughout the league. You could be talking about the free-agent receiver market when executives, or agents or even coaches would, unsolicited, give their opinions about the futures of Pederson, Frank Reich, Jim Schwartz, or even quarterbacks coach John DeFilippo. Who gains the most if they post a winning record? Who loses the most if they crash and burn?

So, as the Eagles' staff begins its second season Sunday at Washington, to it seems appropriate to present an aggregation of the scuttlebutt about the coaches' possible fates, either as winners or losers.

As winners

Head coach Doug Pederson: Pederson is charged with turning  Carson Wentz, a talented, 23-start FCS (I-AA) quarterback, into a franchise NFL player. The results from Wentz's rookie season were astounding, considering he was supposed to redshirt as a third-stringer. Logically, if the Eagles improve, then Wentz also must improve. There's plenty of room to improve. Only one team had a winning record with a regular starter who had a worse passer rating than Wentz's 79.3; Brock Osweiler. The team could be a defensive disaster, which would mitigate the blame on Pederson but would shift it squarely onto Jim Schwartz.

Defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz: Ten wins and a top-10 defense might get Schwartz a ticket out of Philly. A former head coach, Schwartz has the outsize personality and bravado that owners love even if his credentials don't quite equal his charisma. Those credentials would improve if the Eagles remain relevant through December. NFC East rivals Washington and Dallas were among the league's top five offenses last season, and the Giants could have a top-five receiving corps. So, if the Birds are decent, they'll have to be decent against good offenses. If the wide-nine scheme is pounding those quarterbacks, then Jim Schwartz jumps back onto the head coaching carousel.

Offensive coordinator Frank Reich: It was Reich who stumped hardest for the Eagles to manuever upward in the 2016 draft in order to pick Wentz, whom Reich identified as the draft's most important talent the first time he saw video of him. If Wentz improves, Reich again becomes a viable head coaching candidate; as the Chargers' coordinator he interviewed with the Bills and Jets before the 2015 season and, in January, he interviewed with the Bills again.

Quarterbacks coach John DeFilippo: With Derek Carr on his resume and a year as offensive coordinator in Cleveland (the Browns still like him), DeFilippo is the Eagles' Golden Child. Progress by Wentz will assure DeFilippo a spot as a coordinator again somewhere, perhaps even in Philadelphia. The Eagles refused the Jets' request to interview DeFilippo for their OC spot in January because they wanted DeFilippo to stay with Wentz another year but they won't stand in his way again. If things fall right — 11 wins, a playoff win, a Pro Bowl for Wentz — DeFilippo might even be a head coaching candidate. After all, Andy Reid was the Packers' quarterbacks coach when the Eagles hired him in 1999.

Defensive backs coach Corey Undlin: He needed the most help and he got Ronald Darby. If he can develop Rasul Douglas and get progress from second-year corner Jalen Mills, Undlin should have a shot as a defensive coordinator in Philadelphia (assuming Schwartz moves on) or somewhere else.

Wide receivers coach Mike Groh: No one has a better chance to impress than Groh. If Wentz does well that means that the receivers improved, too. If Groh can resurrect Alshon Jeffery and/or Torrey Smith and can save Nelson Agholor's young career, he could be in line to move into DeFilippo's office. He coached quarterbacks twice in college.

As losers

Pederson: It might be two-and-through for Pederson if Wentz doesn't progress, and the team tanks, and Pederson looks as lost in 2017 as he occasionally did in 2016. Lurie has ready replacements in Schwartz and Reich, but they might not survive, either.

Reich: Reich is in charge of developing the offense while Pederson runs the team. If Wentz regresses for whatever reasons — including poor receiver play or spotty offensive line play, both distinct possibilities — Pederson could use Reich as a scapegoat. That's what happened to Reich in San Diego in 2015.

Schwartz: He won't be fired, but he'll be on the clock. Schwartz's scheme depends on disrpution from the defensive line. He has the horses: big-money first-rounders Brandon Graham, Fletcher Cox, and rookie Derek Barnett, as well as expensive end Vinny Curry and veteran Tim Jernigan. He also has Pro Bowl safety Malcolm Jenkins; handpicked safety Rodney McLeod; linebackers Jordan Hicks, whom he inherited, and Nigel Bradham, whom he imported; and, finally, third-year corner Ronald Darby, who cost the Eagles their best recevier over the last three seasons, Jordan Matthews.

Defensive line coach Chris Wilson: This is Wilson's first NFL job. That talent on the defensive line needs to produce. Stat.

Running backs coach Duce Staley: Duce is Lurie's darling, his project, his nostalgic link to the past. Staley inherited LeSean McCoy, perhaps the best back in team history, in 2013, and had him for two seasons. Staley has since overseen the DeMarco Murray debacle and the enigmatic tenure of Ryan Mathews. So far, rookie Donnell Pumphrey has been a disappointment. Exiting the preseason, the running game is the offense's most pressing concern despite the addition of free-agent touchdown machine LeGarrette Blount, and the team is carrying five backs on the active roster.

Offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland: In four seasons Stout has worked minor miracles with marginal players; has coached converted quarterback Lane Johnson into a dominant right tackle; has squeezed two good enough seasons from future Hall of Fame tackle Jason Peters; and has turned center Jason Kelce into a Pro Bowl player. If Wentz suffers because the line doesn't hold, or because the line can't run-block, then Stout might be sacrificed, fairly or not.

Undlin: Leodis McKelvin and Nolan Carroll flopped last year. If Darby gets victimized by the NFC East's top receivers and if free agent Patrick Robinson struggles, Undlin's stock will drop.