A year after promoting Press Taylor, the Eagles are not bringing back the quarterbacks coach and passing game coordinator, according to NJ.com’s Mike Kaye.
Not a big shock here, especially after Jeff Lurie reportedly bristled at the thought of promoting Taylor when presented the idea by Doug Pederson. Pederson was fired a week later.
And we already know that Kevin Patullo will be joining new head coach Nick Sirianni as the pass game coordinator. The Eagles have yet to hire a new quarterbacks coach.
Stay in the game with the latest updates on your beloved Philadelphia sports teams! Sign up here for our All Access Daily newsletter.
Early in this offseason, the Eagles were expected to sit down with Carson Wentz and try to mend a relationship that is, at the very least, strained. Firing Pederson should help. But Taylor and Wentz have become very close over the last several years and it remains to be seen how this move affects the relationship between Wentz and the organization.
Taylor, 32, came to Philadelphia back in 2013 when he was hired to Chip Kelly’s staff as an offensive quality control coach. He was promoted to assistant quarterbacks coach in 2016 upon the arrival of Wentz and was promoted to quarterbacks coach in 2018 after John DeFilippo left to take an offensive coordinator job.
After two years as the quarterbacks coach, the Eagles promoted Taylor last offseason and added the title of passing game coordinator to his resume.
“Maybe responsibility here in terms of scripting something for practice has changed a little bit, but still involved just as much as I ever have been in the quarterback meetings, in constant communication with Doug, with Carson, with all the other offensive coaches, as well, and this continues to be a collaborative effort,” Taylor said in September about his expanded role.
NFL
“I don't know that much has changed. Everybody has always had their piece of the puzzle, and then we all put it together and come together and all agree on what we're doing, our philosophy in situations, how we're going to attack each game plan, what we're thinking in each situation within the game plan, so that hasn't changed much I would say.”
The Eagles clearly thought highly of Taylor and showed that by promoting him several times throughout his time in Philadelphia but in 2020 the Eagles’ offense continued to struggle and struggled mightily in the passing game.
In 2020, the Eagles ranked 10th in passing attempts and 28th in passing offense. So there was a clear disconnect between what the Eagles wanted to do and what they were able to do.
The offensive struggles coincided with a major regression from Wentz, who went from being a top-10 quarterback to one of the worst in the NFL this past season. It’s unclear how responsible Taylor was for that downturn but it’s hard to keep your job when the guy you’re in charge of coaching regresses to that point.
Wentz this season completed just 57.4% of his passes and threw 16 touchdowns and 15 interceptions. It was by far the worst season of his NFL career and he was benched after 12 starts.
Subscribe to the Eagle Eye podcast:
Apple Podcasts | Google Play | Spotify | Stitcher | Art19 | Watch on YouTube