Sports
Eagles Fire Offensive Coordinator, Wide Receivers Coach
Backtracking from yesterday's seeming support for his staff, Doug Pederson said that the Eagles would be moving on from two key coaches.
PHILADELPHIA, PA — Backtracking from yesterday's seeming support for his staff, Doug Pederson said that the Eagles would be moving on from two key coaches.
Offensive coordinator Mike Groh and wide receivers coach Carson Walch have both been let go, Pederson announced on Thursday.
"It was not an easy decision for me to make and I appreciate everything that Mike Groh and Carson Walch contributed to the organization and to my staff," Pederson said. "As I said yesterday, they were a big part of our success down the stretch this past season."
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According to sources around the league, including Eagles beat reporter with the Philadelphia Inquirer, Jeff McLane, Pederson had yet to meet with Eagles owner Jeffery Lurie when he praised Groh and Walch on Wednesday.
As I noted yesterday, Doug Pederson had yet to meet with owner Jeffery Lurie when he gave Groh and Walch a vote of confidence. He did today. Lurie had pretty much decided by December that he didn’t want either back, an NFL source said. https://t.co/yldY0riZwW
— Jeff McLane (@Jeff_McLane) January 9, 2020
Lurie reportedly wanted Groh and Walch gone since December.
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Rumors have swirled about the fate of the Eagles coaching staff, outside Pederson, at least since the team fell to a season-worst 5-7 following a loss to the Dolphins.
However, the roller coaster way that the season ended, how the team managed to fight and nearly win a playoff game despite dealing with injuries to most of their stars, began to change the narrative not just on the season as a whole, but on the fates of key personnel. Is it Groh's fault that Wentz was working with half his offensive line gone? Or Walch's fault that fifth and sixth string receivers had to become the team's top weapons?
Lurie might've seen enough long before the injuries mounted. The thinking process of the organization is not clear.
"I apologize for any confusion that I created during yesterday's press conference," Pederson said Thursday. "It was not my intent to comment on any of my staff during the ongoing evaluations, because I wanted to be able to go through the process and communicate any decision directly with the individuals. I did a poor job of explaining that the first time I was asked."
Regardless, the Birds coaching staff will have a very different look heading into the 2020-21 season.
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