The Eagles are facing an offseason full of changes, and one of those was Jeff Stoutland walking away from the team after 13 years. Reports at the time indicated the organization didn’t want to parts ways with the OL coach, and head coach Nick Sirianni confirmed as much ahead of the NFL Combine. Sirianni and general manager Howie Roseman spoke to reporters in an embargoed media session before heading to Indianapolis, and talked about losing Stoutland for the first time publicly since the announcement.
Sirianni was asked what exactly happened with Stoutland and the head coach deferred to the former OL coach, but shared his appreciation for everything Stout brought to the team.
Sirianni: “He’s been such a huge, important piece of the puzzle of what we’ve done here, not just in my time, but obviously prior to me being here, but I can only speak on the time I’ve been here. And so obviously we wanted him to stay and be involved in this – I don’t want to say rebuild, but, you know, reclassification, however you want to say it –, and then, at the end of the day, we got to where, Stout got to where he was, and I obviously wish him the best and I am going to deeply miss him, because he’s done so many things that have helped us throughout his time here.”
The head coach didn’t want to get into specific reports that Stoutland was stripped of some of his run-game responsibilities, but said that as the offense struggled later in the season, he stepped in to help every phase. Sirianni explained that while their process is naturally collaborative, some of their planning was a bigger group effort.
Sirianni: “There were definitely changes of what we did, but Stout still, you know, did a lot of the stuff where he brought the ideas of what he was thinking and then there would be like, hey, I want to run this particular run on our terms. So it was just…because it’s always been collaborative in everything that we’ve done here. But I guess it was just more collaborative as an entire group in the run game as opposed to run pod and pass pod, if that makes sense.”
That collaboration wasn’t just among Stoutland and the coaching staff, and extended to working with GM Howie Roseman, particularly with scouting players and building an offensive line room. Roseman spoke about how that will change without the legendary OL coach and how they’ll approach things moving forward.
Howie: “Yeah, I don’t think it’s a secret how close I am to Stout. Not was, I am to Stout. How much I appreciate our relationship, the process that we go through. You know, I probably could have 50 stories on our draft process and how we went through them. And, you know, I miss him. I care about him. But obviously there’s a change there, and so we’ll continue to move on. I feel like we have a really good group of people here. I feel confident in our ability to evaluate, but at the same time understanding how important he was to the process of adding good players and then developing those good players. So, he’s a Hall of Fame assistant coach in my opinion. And, you know, I think that’s a relationship that’s — he’ll be my friend for the rest of my life, and I’m very appreciative.”
The GM went on to talk about how Stoutland influenced the way he evaluated offensive lineman, and cited working with Howard Mudd too, and how they often felt similarly about prospects. He noted that all the changes this offseason to the OL room won’t affect how they prioritize the position, noting that building up front has always been a priority, and they don’t feel any extra urgency this offseason.
As for how injuries affected the group last season, Howie emphasized the importance of depth and versatility of the depth up front. They also need to consider the depth now and the future of those positions, too.
Howie: “So, we’re always looking for an offensive line room that has 10 guys who can come in and play and play and, you know, certainly not going to play as the higher level that maybe our all-pro, Hall of Fame starters are playing in, but playing it at a level, that’s good enough for us to win if guys are going to miss a couple games, which happens.”
The Eagles will now turn to new offensive line coach Chris Kuper and new run game coordinator/tight ends coach Ryan Mahaffey to build a strong group that can run new OC Sean Mannion’s system.
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