Aaron Moorehead Returning, Eagles Add 2 More to Staff, Including LB Coach
PHILADELPHIA - Aaron Moorehead will return for his second season as the Eagles' receiver coach, a source confirmed to SI.com Eagle Maven, and the team added another pair of coaches on defense, including a linebacker coach.
Moorehead is the second holdover from Doug Pederson's last staff in Philadelphia, joining offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland.
A source also confirmed the hiring of Nick Rallis, 27, who spent the last four years with the Minnesota Vikings, three of which were as a defensive quality control coach and another as assistant linebacker coach.
The Eagles have also reportedly hired Jay Valai, who had recently joined the University of Houston as a cornerbacks coach.
That move was reported by Houston FOX TV reporter Mark Berman.
It's unknown what position Valai will be given with the Eagles.
Under Jim Schwartz, the Eagles had a secondary coach (Cory Undlin then Marquand Manuel) and a safeties coach (Tim Hauck).
Sirianni has already hired former New York Jets secondary coach and defensive passing game coordinator Dennard Wilson to handle the DBs so perhaps Valai, who played at the University of Wisconsin, will serve as his assistant.
Most recently, Valai was at the University of Texas but was not retained by new coach Steve Sarkisian following Tom Herman’s departure.
Before that, Valai coached at Rutgers and Georgia. He also spent 2018 on Andy Reid's staff in Kansas City as a defensive quality control and assistant defensive backs coach.
As for Moorehead, the news also figures to be a welcome addition to the team's receiving corps which is used to constant turnover.
In the five seasons Pederson coached in Philadelphia there were five differents WRs coaches - Greg Lewis, Mike Groh, Gunter Brewer, Carson Walch, and Moorehead in 2020.
Only Groh, who was promoted to offensive coordinator after the 2017 Super Bowl season, was considered a success while coaching the position, and the last two seasons have been particularly ineffective from a production standpoint with Travis Fulgham's 538 receiving yards this past season serving as the high-water mark, an unacceptable outcome in the modern pass-happy NFL.
Moorehead, though, does save some young talent to work with in 2020 draft choices Jalen Reagor, John Hightower, and Quez Watkins, as well as Fulgham and J.J. Arcega-Whiteside, a player who might be well-served by the changeover at the top of the offensive coaching staff.
Moorehead will be the first Eagles WRs coach to last more than one season since the Chip Kelly era when Bob Bicknell, the current WRs coach in Cincinnati, tutored the position from 2013-15.
John McMullen contributes Eagles coverage for SI.com's EagleMaven and is the NFL Insider for JAKIB Media. You can listen to John every Tuesday and Thursday on "The Middle" with Eytan Shander, Harry Mayes, and Barrett Brooks on SportsMap Radio and PhillyVoice.com. He’s also the host of Extending the Play on AM1490 in South Jersey. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen
Ed Kracz is the publisher of EagleMaven. Check out the latest Eagles news at www.SI.com/NFL/Eagles and please follow him on Twitter: @kracze.
