Eagles Announce Coaching Staff

The Eagles officially announced their coaching staff Friday afternoon. Here is how it looks:

Pat Shurmur (offensive coordinator)
Bill Davis (defensive coordinator)
Dave Fipp (special teams coordinator)
Greg Austin (assistant offensive line)
Jerry Azzinaro (defensive line/assistant head coach)
Bob Bicknell (wide receivers)
Erik Chinander (assistant defensive line)
Mike Dawson (defensive quality control)
Matt Harper (assistant special teams)
Josh Hingst (strength and conditioning)
Shaun Huls (sports science coordinator)
Bill Lazor (quarterbacks)
John Lovett (defensive backs)
Todd Lyght (assistant defensive backs)
Bill McGovern (outside linebackers)
Rick Minter (inside linebackers)
Justin Peelle (assistant tight ends)
Duce Staley (running backs)
Jeff Stoutland (offensive line)
Press Taylor (offensive quality control)
Ted Williams (tight ends)

Kelly will hold a press conference at the NovaCare Complex on Monday at 1:30 pm. Assistants will be available to the media following the press conference.

The Eagles also named Chris Peduzzi as the team’s head athletic trainer. He replaces Rick Burkholder, who followed Andy Reid to Kansas City. The 41-year-old Peduzzi has spent the past 14 seasons on the Eagles athletic training staff.

Some initial thoughts:

— Including Chip Kelly, there is a total of 22 coaches to oversee a 53-man roster. That is a pretty solid ratio.

— Given that Kelly is employing both an outside linebackers coach (McGovern) and inside linebackers coach (Minter), there is a really good chance the team will be using some 3-4.

— What is a sports science coordinator? Here is the job posting for the same role at Oregon to help explain (thanks to Jimmy Kempski for the link). It reads, in part:

Responsible for coordination of a comprehensive sports performance program to assess and enhance athlete readiness, performance, and recovery for…athletes. Director will also assist in the operation of the weight room and implementation of conditioning, strength, speed and flexibility programs.

Huls most recently served as the head strength and conditioning coach and combatives coordinator for Navy Special Warfare. So, pretty bad ass. (Here is a podcast of Huls talking about SEAL training if you are interested.)

A quick bio on some of the more significant hires, courtesy of the Eagles:

— Pat Shurmur returns to the Eagles after originally spending 10 seasons as the team’s tight ends coach (1999-2001) and quarterbacks coach (2002-08). He most recently served as the head coach for the Cleveland Browns from 2011-12.

— Bill Davis, 47, has 21 years of NFL coaching experience after most recently serving as the Cleveland Browns linebackers coach from 2011-12. Under Davis’ tutelage, D’Qwell Jackson blossomed into one of the NFL’s most productive linebackers, registering 277 tackles, seven sacks and three interceptions over the last two seasons. Davis has also held two defensive coordinator jobs, first with the San Francisco 49ers from 2005-06 and then with the Arizona Cardinals from 2009-10. He first joined the NFL coaching ranks as a defensive quality control coach for the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1992. Davis has worked under Dom Capers, Bill Cowher, Vic Fangio, Dick LeBeau, Mike Nolan, Wade Phillips and Marvin Lewis during his coaching career.

— Dave Fipp, 38, most recently served as the assistant special teams coach for the Miami Dolphins from 2011-12. During his two years in Miami, the Dolphins ranked 2nd (2011) and 4th (2012) in the NFL in overall special teams rankings, according to the data compiled by esteemed Dallas Morning News columnist Rick Gosselin.

— Jerry Azzinaro will coach the defensive line after serving in the same role on Chip Kelly’s staff at Oregon from 2009-12. During that span, the Ducks defensive line compiled a total of 76 sacks. Prior to joining the coaching staff at Oregon, Azzinaro was the defensive line coach at Marshall University in 2008 and at the University of New Hampshire in 2007.

— Bob Bicknell, 43, joins the Eagles after a three-year stint with the Buffalo Bills as their wide receivers coach (2012) and tight ends coach (2010-11). Prior to his arrival in Buffalo, Bicknell spent the previous three seasons with the Kansas City Chiefs as assistant offensive line coach (2007), offensive line coach (2008) and tight ends coach (2009).

— Bill Lazor, 40, joins the Eagles after spending the previous three seasons as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at the University of Virginia. Lazor boasts seven years of NFL coaching experience and most recently served as the quarterbacks coach for the Seattle Seahawks (2008-09) and Washington Redskins (2006-07).

— John Lovett comes to Philadelphia with nearly four decades of coaching experience on his resume, primarily at the collegiate level. He initially was hired by the University of Cincinnati this offseason after serving as the defensive backs coach at Texas Tech in 2012, mentoring a unit that led the Big 12 conference in pass defense. Lovett’s career includes stints as defensive coordinator at Miami (Fla.), Bowling Green, Clemson, Auburn, Maine and Cincinnati. He also spent one season as the defensive quality control coach for the New York Jets in 1984.

— Bill McGovern most recently served as the linebackers coach at Boston College for the past 12 seasons and as their defensive coordinator since 2009. During his time there, McGovern guided two linebackers to ACC Defensive POY honors – Mark Herzlich (2008) and Luke Kuechly (2011).

— Rick Minter has more than three decades of experience coaching in the collegiate ranks, including a 10-year stint as the head coach of Cincinnati from 1994-2003, where he won more games (52) than any head coach in school history. Several current head coaches were on Minter’s staff throughout his tenure at Cincinnati, including Baltimore’s John Harbaugh (special teams coordinator, 1989–1996), Pittsburgh’s Mike Tomlin (defensive backs, 1999-2000), New York Jets’ Rex Ryan (defensive coordinator, 1996-97) as well as Florida State’s Jimbo Fisher (offensive coordinator/quarterbacks, 1999). Minter spent the last two seasons as the defensive coordinator at Kentucky.

— Jeff Stoutland, comes to Philadelphia after serving as the University of Alabama’s offensive line coach for the past two seasons. In 2012, Stoutland’s offensive line unit featured two first-team All-Americans in Barrett Jones and Chance Warmack, who helped the Crimson Tide rank 20th nationally in rushing (224.6 ypg) and 15th in scoring offense (38.5 ppg). In addition, Jones became Alabama’s first Rimington Trophy winner as the nation’s top center. Stoutland joined the Alabama staff in 2011 after spending 14 years as an assistant coach at Miami (2007-10), Michigan State (2000-06) and Syracuse (1997-99).

— Shaun Huls most recently served as the head strength and conditioning coach and combatives coordinator for Navy Special Warfare. After beginning his career as a student assistant and a student strength coach with the University of Nebraska, Huls held various strength and conditioning posts with Nebraska, the University of Nevada and Hampton University. During his career, Huls has trained numerous current NFL players, professional baseball players, MMA fighters, track and field, wrestling and swimming Olympians. In addition, Huls is a championed collegiate Olympic lifter and Brazilian jiu-jitsu competitor.