On January 11th, 2021, the Philadelphia Eagles fired Doug Pederson after the team went 4-11-1. Since then, they have been searching for the next head coach. As of this writing, the Eagles have interviewed nineteen candidates From Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, Cowboys offensive coordinator Kellen Moore, and others.
Some they have already interviewed, like Arthur Smith, have already found a new home, as in Smith’s case, the Atlanta Falcons.
Clearly, the Eagles were not prepared for this coaching search as others were. While four teams fired their coaches on black Monday, two teams got rid of their coaches in the middle of the season, and the Eagles waited a week later to fire their coach. While they have interviewed candidates for the job, one coach who should get a chance to lead the Eagles is Duce Staley.
The 45-year-old from West Columbia, SC, played for the team for seven seasons. He is regarded as one of the best running backs in Eagles history. For the fans who aren’t familiar with Staley, he is mostly known for the “Pickle Juice” game against the Dallas Cowboys in 2000.
Staley would play the last three seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers and win Super Bowl XL along with former Eagles offensive lineman Barrett Brooks.
Staley played 98 games with the birds rushing 112 times for 4,807-yards, and 22 touchdowns, along with 275 receptions for 2,498 yards and ten touchdowns. He is ranked fifth in the all-time Eagles rushing leader behind LeSean McCoy, Wilbert Montgomery, Brain Westbrook, and Steve Van Buren.
After retiring from football in 2007, Staley became a coaching intern under Andy Reid in 2010. A year later, he became the special teams quality control coach for two seasons before being promoted to running back coach for five seasons. Under Doug Pederson, he was then promoted to assistant head coach and running back coach for three seasons.
Under his leadership, the Eagles running backs finished in the top-ten rushing category four times since becoming the running back coach in 2013. In 2020, the Eagles rushers had 403 carries for 2,030 yards and sixteen touchdowns, good for ninth in the NFL.
Many Eagles players respect Staley. Some have advocated for becoming the Eagles’ head coach from current and former players Malcolm Jenkins, Brandon Graham, and Rodney McLeod.
Here’s where it stands with Staley. According to Howard Eskin, who appeared on 94WIP Joe Giglio show, he discussed the situation regarding Staley, saying, “I hear it is most likely going to come down to Josh McDaniels or Duce Staley. The reason that I believe that is because of what I hear from Howie (Roseman), who really likes Josh McDaniels…Jeffrey Lurie is not quite at that point, and the interview with Duce Staley, from what I was told, really went well. Jeffrey Lurie has also received quite a few text messages from players who are in support of Duce Staley. How much that means, I don’t know, but that will obviously have some input. In Duce’s interview, he was very through, had some good ideas for coaches, especially offensive and defensive coordinators, both from the pros and from college. He has got guys from what I understand he has talked to if he gets the job. He is prepared. From what I understand, that has impressed Jeffrey Lurie.”
So why not Duce Staley? He knows the city of Philadelphia; he knows the Eagles fans passion, and he knows the fans want to win another championship. The players respect him and want to play for him. Why not give Duce Staley a chance? He deserves a shot to be a head coach for the Eagles. If the Eagles pass on him, it will only be a matter of time before he becomes a head coach somewhere else, and that would be a huge mistake for the birds.
