Retaining Aaron Moorehead a Wise Move
PHILADELPHIA – The revolving door at the Eagles wide receiver coaching position has stopped revolving for the first time in a long time, and that figures to be a benefit for a team that will have a group of new coaches this season, including Nick Sirianni in the head coach’s chair.
Aaron Moorehead will return for a second season as the WR coach and that is noteworthy for a couple of reasons.
First, he is the first one to hold the position for back-to-back seasons since Bob Bicknell (2013-2015). That drought is over.
Second, his return should provide consistency in molding a youthful group of pass-catchers.
As Moorehead returns, veteran receivers Alshon Jeffery and DeSean Jackson are expected to depart, so bringing back a coach who has worked with some of the youth on the roster was wise in order to continue the developmental process.
Former Eagles defensive tackle Montae Reagor, and father of wide receiver Jalen Reagor, offered his perspective to SI.com’s Eagle Maven regarding Moorehead, his former Indianapolis Colts teammate who will get to continue developing Montae’s son, Jalen, last year’s No. 1 draft pick.
“Coach Moorehead had wanted to coach Jalen since 2017 when he was recruiting to come to Texas A&M,” said Reagor. “I’m truly grateful because I know the type of coach (Jalen) has. I know coach Moorehead is going to make him work. He is not going to let him cut corners. It’s truly a blessing to know who he’s going to be coached by personally and the expectations put on him by his coach.”
On Dec. 4, when Moorehead had his last videoconference with Eagles reporters, he spoke of Reagor’s development.
“There are a couple of finer details, just as far as his day-to-day approach to practice, and make sure everything he’s doing in practice is going to carry over into the game,” said Moorehead.
“Working back to the football and not waiting on it has been something that we’ve really truly been focused on. And some of his deeper routes, just kind of putting himself in a better position where the DB can’t be right there and body him, where he can use his strength and his speed to his advantage. It’s a process sometimes with young guys, but I’m excited where he’s at.”
Philadelphia routinely asks a lot from their first-year wide receivers, but it was more challenging in a season ravaged by a pandemic.
Given his experience, coaching younger players from the college level to now the pro’s, Moorehead’s return made sense for the Eagles and is really a no-brainer.
Moorehead’s connection with the Eagles 2020 first-round pick may be the ultimate key in getting the franchise’s value returned when the team picked him 21st overall last spring.
One of Sirianni’s major tasks this season is unlocking the potential the franchise saw in Reagor coming out of TCU, and Moorehead should help make that happen.
“The thing about Jalen, he wants to be so good, not for Jalen, but he wants to be so good for Philadelphia, he wants to be so good for our organization here and he puts a lot of pressure on himself; I love that about him,” said Moorehead.
Of course, getting the most out of Travis Fulgham, John Hightower, and Quez Watkins, to name a few, are also on the rookie head coach’s plate, but one of the top priorities for Sirianni is making Reagor work.
Retaining the position coach that every one of the returning receivers are connected to and comfortable with should play a significant part in achieving that goal.
Moorehead’s return to Philadelphia not only provides consistency to the receiver room but bodes well in getting the most out of their first-round pick and enhancing the careers of the other young receivers.
Conor Myles is a contributor for EagleMaven. Check out the latest Eagles news on www.SI.com/NFL/Eagles. Listen to Conor and Ed on Eagles Brawl available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartRadio, and RADIO.com. Reach Conor at ConorMylesSI@gmail.com or Twitter: @ConorMylesNFL
Ed Kracz is the publisher of SI.com’s EagleMaven. Check out the latest Eagles news at www.SI.com/NFL/Eagles and please follow him on Twitter: @kracze.
