Former Eagles TE James Casey Found His Future in Philly
Bengals tight ends coach James Casey never lived up to expectations in Philadelphia when he signed a three-year, nearly $15 million contract with the Eagles at the start of the Chip Kelly era back in 2013.
Part of the problem was circumstance.
The Eagles had a solid TE in Brent Celek and expected Casey to fit it nicely as the backup, who could move seamlessly from fullback to H-back to Y-back but a little over a month after Casey signed, Philadelphia drafted the uber-talented Zach Ertz with the No. 35 overall pick.
All of a sudden Casey was an expensive luxury the Eagles really didn’t need.
Casey caught just six passes over two seasons and never saw the final year of his original deal with the Eagles, but he did find something better: his future.
“[Philadelphia was] a big influence for me,” Casey said on Tuesday after the Bengals arrived for Super Bowl LVI in Los Angeles Sunday against the Rams. “I was going into Year 5 when I went to Philadelphia so I was kind of trying to figure out what I wanted to do after my playing career.”
Casey, now 37, enjoyed the relationships he developed with the coaches and started to think that could be his role after his playing career wound down.
Cincinnati Bengals TE coach, and former Eagles TE, James Casey talked from the Super Bowl.
John McMullen/SI.com EaglesToday
“Around when I got to Philadelphia is when I settled on I wanted to coach,” Casey explained. “So I got there I was really just trying to network with people even as a player. And we just had a great group of guys, a great group of players that were just good people.”
Some of those good people like Celek, Ertz, Lane Johnson, and Nick Foles were there with Casey and went on to win a Super Bowl with the Eagles after the 2017 season. By then, Casey has already started the ascent in the coaching ranks as the tight ends coach at the University of Houston.
By 2019, Casey was brought back to the NFL by Zac Taylor, the older brother of Press Taylor, another connection Casey made in Philadelphia.
Things didn’t exactly start out great in Cincy with the Bengals winning two games pre-Joe Burrow and then four when the giant leap came this season in the form of a Super Bowl berth.
“I mean there's a whole bunch of those guys that were there on the (Eagles) Super Bowl-winning team that I played with and because they're such good guys and they do things the right way you're always rooting for those guys,” Casey said."... now finally get to be a part of it myself in a coaching aspect but to be a part of a team that's in the Super Bowl (is gratifying)."
RELATED: Super Bowl LVI: 10 Things to Know About Rams vs. Bengals
The Bengals are staying near the UCLA campus and Casey plans to stop in to see Kelly, who is now the coach of the Bruins.
“It's great that we're at UCLA right now because where we're staying is right next to the practice fields at UCLA so I'll get a chance to go to say hello to Chip. Tell him thanks again for everything,” Casey said.
While Kelly was the headliner in Casey’s transition to coaching, the guts of the transformation were the coaches who worked closely with Casey on a day-to-day basis, then-assistant TE coach Justin Peelle and special teams coach Dave Fipp.
“Justin Peelle, that was his first year coaching and he was a big impact in kind of seeing him transition from player to coach,” Casey said. “Kind of showed me how it was possible to kind of jump in there and get going.”
These days, Peelle is in Atlanta, tutoring the dynamic Kyle Pitts.
Fipp, the long-time STC who is now in Detroit, had the biggest impact of all on Casey, who helped Bengals tight end C.J. Uzomah reach career-highs in receptions (49), receiving yards (493), and touchdowns (5) in 2021.
“Probably the biggest (influence) was Dave Fipp, the special teams coach in Philadelphia when I was there,” said Casey. “Coach Fipp was just a great person, great coach, and I really loved how he kind of interacted with the players, and I would just talk to him just outside of meetings about coaching.
“… you have coaches throughout your career as a player that you really look up to and, you know, they kind of do it the way you would want to do it that kind of inspire you to want to do it. Dave Fipp was definitely one of those guys for me.”
MORE: Five Offensive Senior Bowl Standouts Who Could Intrigue Eagles
-John McMullen contributes Eagles coverage for SI.com's EagleMaven and is the NFL Insider for JAKIB Media. You can listen to John, alongside legendary sports-talk host Jody McDonald every morning from 8-10 on ‘Birds 365,” streaming live on both PhillyVoice.com and YouTube. John is also the host of his own show "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 SI.com’s Eagle Maven and co-host of the Eagles Unfiltered Podcast. Check out the latest Eagles news at www.SI.com/NFL/Eagles or www.eaglemaven.com and please follow him on Twitter: @kracze.
