Mumme-Leach Connection on Display in Eagles QB Room
Mike Leach and Hal Mumme coached several quarterbacks while on the same staff together before ultimately going their separate ways in 1999 when Leach accepted a job as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Oklahoma.
While the two haven't coached alongside each other in decades, the influence of Leach, Hal Mumme and a coach down his family tree is well on display in several areas of football, one of which is in a Philadelphia Eagles quarterback room that includes Gardner Minshew and Carson Strong.
The Eagles brought on former Washington State signal-caller Gardner Minshew in August of 2021, giving the Jacksonville Jaguars a conditional 2022 sixth-round draft selection.
Minshew was coached by Leach at Washington State, where he spent a single season after transferring over from East Carolina. Minshew completed 70.7% of his passes for 4,779 yards with 38 touchdowns and nine interceptions for the Cougars in 2018, named Pac-12 Conference Offensive Player of the Year, a finalist for Walter Camp Player of the Year and making the final cut Davey O’Brien Award, presented to the top college quarterback in the nation annually.
Before coming to the Eagles, Minshew was originally selected by the Jaguars at pick No. 178 overall in the sixth round of the 2019 NFL Draft, spending two seasons with the team. Minshew saw a good amount of success in Jacksonville, where he became the first rookie in NFL history with at least 230 yards passing per game, 20 or more touchdowns and fewer than 10 interceptions.
He started 20 of 23 career games there, completing 62.9% of his passing attempts for 5,530 yards with 37 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. Minshew saw action in three games for the Eagles in 2021, completing 41-of-60 passes for 439 yards with four touchdowns and one interception.
He isn't the only Air Raid quarterback currently in Philadelphia, though.
The Eagles signed former Nevada quarterback Carson Strong to $320,000 guaranteed deal shortly after the 2022 NFL Draft. Strong had a standout career with the Wolf Pack under offensive coordinator Matt Mumme, the only coach to extend an offer to him coming out of Will C. Wood High School. Mumme himself was a former Kentucky quarterback who was coached under his father and Leach.
Strong, arguably the most refined passer available for the taking in April, fell much further than anyone anticipated he would. Strong was expected to go as high as the second round and no later than the fifth round by most analysts by the time draft day rolled around. He finished out the 2021 season as one of the nation's leaders in passing yards, completing 70.1% of his passes for 4,175 yards with 36 touchdowns and eight interceptions.
He's put on impressive showing to this point, showing he could drive the ball well -- something that was a knock on him ahead of the draft -- in Eagles rookie minicamp. That's something that bodes well in regard to concern that surrounded his knee as well. In addition to this, Strong had the best deep ball in the country last year, an aspect of his game that certainly caught the attention of the Eagles.
It will be interesting to see just how much of a push Strong can ultimately make in Philadelphia, with Jalen Hurts expected to be the starter and Minshew expected to be the backup for the 2022 season.
