Joe Brady Interviews with Eagles as More College Names Emerge
The Eagles’ roster will look a whole lot younger in 2021, and the sidelines might, too.
A source confirmed that the team interviewed Joe Brady on Wednesday, which was Day two of their search to replace Doug Pederson as their head coach.
Just 31, Brady spent last season as the offensive coordinator for the Carolina Panthers. Being as young as he is, there isn’t an extensive resume for Brady, but he was wildly successful at LSU just two years ago when the Tigers went undefeated and won the national championship while serving as the team’s passing game coordinator and receiver coach.
And wouldn’t you know it, one of the receivers he coached, Ja’Marr Chase, should be available for the Eagles to take at No 6 in this year’s draft. Chase opted out of last season to concentrate on his blossoming NFL career, and not due to the pandemic.
He won the Fred Biletnikoff Award for being the nation’s top receiver in 2019 and was a unanimous All-American selection.
Brady also spent two years as a graduate assistant at Penn State, so he would be somewhat familiar with the state.
His one season as Carolina’s OC wasn’t overwhelming, with an offense that ranked 20th overall with Teddy Bridgewater at quarterback.
Brady could be viewed by the Eagles as someone who could help Carson Wentz regain the form he showed prior to this season’s disastrous performances and/or continuing the development of Jalen Hurts. It was Brady who helped mold unheralded Joe Burrow into the first player taken overall last spring.
Also, on Wednesday, a couple more college names emerged as coaches to keep an eye on - Ohio State’s Ryan Day and Cincinnati’s Luke Fickell – with New England Patriots assistant Jerod Mayo also surfacing as a surprise candidate.
READ MORE: Jerod Mayo Stock Could be About to Explode - Sports Illustrated
Day, 41, was the quarterback coach for the Eagles under then-head coach Chip Kelly in 2015 with Sam Bradford as the QB. In 2012, he was the offensive coordinator at Temple.
He was the acting head coach in 2018 for Urban Meyer then became the full-time head coach in 2019 and has kept the Buckeyes’ program strong, going 23-2 with one of those losses coming in the national championship game earlier in the week to Alabama.
Fickell, 47, is an interesting name in that he has gone 41-21 in four years with the Bearcats. His team gave highly-ranked Georgia all it could handle in this years’ Peach Bowl before losing 24-21 on a 53-yard field goal with seven seconds left.
One college coach who the Eagles reached out to, Oklahoma's Lincoln Riley, will likely pass on the Eagles' job, content to stay in Norman. As reported on Tuesday, Riley would want more autonomy that the Eagles can give with Howie Roseman firmly entrenched as the general manager.
READ MORE: Lincoln Riley Tops Eagles Wish List to be Their Next Head ...
As for Pederson, he has not yet lined up any interviews and, because he was fired a week into the offseason when the hiring process for teams with vacancies began to hit full steam, may have to wait until next year before becoming a viable candidate with another team.
Ed Kracz is the publisher of EagleMaven. Check out anything you may have missed pertaining to the Eagles by going to www.SI.com/NFL/Eagles and please follow him on Twitter: @kracze.
