Eagles Hire Marcus Brady as a Coaching Consultant
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The Eagles have found coaches from the Indianapolis Colts before, so why not another?
On the night before Thanksgiving, the team hired former Colts offensive coordinator Marcus Brady as a consultant on the, according to a league source.
He joins Nick Sirianni, Jonathan Gannon, and Kevin Patullo as former Colts coaches who have transitioned to the Eagles.
Brady worked with Sirianni for three seasons in Indianapolis, first as the assistant quarterbacks coach and then QB coach. When Sirianni got the top spot in Philadelphia, Frank Reich promoted Brady to be the OC with the Colts.
Brady played the QB position in college at Cal-State Northridge and then in the CFL for seven seasons with Toronto, Hamilton, and Montreal, ultimately winning three Grey Cups.
What's most interesting about this hire is Brady's role in Philadelphia, which will be helping defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon and his staff by offering an offensive perspective on attacking the second-ranked Philadelphia defense.
Sirianni has often lauded Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie for giving him everything possible in an attempt to take advantage of a perceived championship window for the Eagles, who enter Week 12 with a league-best 9-1 record.
According to ESPN, Brady was in Philadelphia last week discussing a potential role but the Eagles waited to hire him until after the 17-16 win over the Colts on Sunday.
Brady was fired two weeks before Reich, Sirianni's mentor at the professional level.
The Eagles' coach was emotional after he and his team finally put away the Colts on Sunday.
"I'm emotional because I love Frank Reich. I really do," said Sirianni. "He's one of the best damn football coaches I've ever been around. I was hoping that he and I would be able to coach against each other this game. He is one of my biggest mentors."
Sirianni counts his father Fran and former Mount Union coach Larry Kehres as his other top influences.
There was immediate conjecture after Reich was fired that he might return to Philadelphia as a consultant but the former Eagles' OC has significant money left on his deal with Indianapolis and likely still has aspirations to be a head coach elsewhere, realities that complicate a formal role in-season.
Informally, Sirianni has always used Reich as a sounding board when available anyway and that certainly hasn't changed.
With Gannon and current Eagles OC Shane Steichen already hot head-coaching candidates for the 2023 cycle, something that will only pick up steam if Philadelphia keeps winning, Brady becomes an interesting name for a potential re-made coaching staff.
Long-term Brady will almost certainly remain on the offensive side of the football, mixing in with passing game coordinator Kevin Patullo and QB coach Brian Johnson as potential OCs if Steichen gets a head-coaching job.
-John McMullen contributes Eagles coverage for SI.com's Eagles Today and is the NFL Insider for JAKIB Media. You can listen to John, alongside legendary sports-talk host Jody every morning from 8-10 on ‘Birds 365,” streaming live on YouTube. John is also the host of his own show "Football 24/7 and a daily contributor to ESPN South Jersey. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen
