Eagles New OL Coach Chris Kuper Receives Hearty Endorsements

PHILADELPHIA — Eagles fans are rightfully concerned about the loss of long-time offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland in the offseason.

The man with the unenviable task of replacing the franchise legend is Chris Kuper, who spent the past four seasons as the OL coach in Minnesota, the city where he got to know new Philadelphia offensive coordinator Sean Mannion.

By that time Mannion was in his second stint as a backup quarterback for the Vikings in 2023.

Before Kuper went to Minnesota, he was the assistant OL coach in Denver under Hall of Famer Mike Munchak from 2019 to 2021. The head coach for the Broncos at the time was Vic Fangio, now the well-regarded defensive coordinator for the Eagles.

Back in April, Eagles On SI reported that Fangio endorsed Kuper for the position.

Fangio confirmed that on Thursday at the Jefferson Health Training Complex, but also took a back seat to Mannion, who earmarked Kuper as the guy to teach the famed stretch running game in the Shanahan/McVay offensive systems.

“I didn't have a whole lot to do with that in that he was the guy that Sean brought up that he would want to hire,” Fangio said. “At that time, most of the coaches weren't even in the office. Obviously, Nick was, he was interviewing 20 guys. And then when they got down to where it would look like they could want to hire him or get close, they realized that I had him for three years in Denver and they gave me a call about him.”

The result was a hearty endorsement from arguably the top assistant coach in football.

Important Endorsements

Jul 24, 2025; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio addresses media during training camp at NovaCare Complex. | Kyle Ross-Imagn Images

“I think Coop’s (Kuper is pronounced Cooper) an excellent coach,” Fangio said. “He did a great job for us in Denver. Worked under Mike Munchak there for a good three years. Went on to Minnesota as the head [offensive] line coach. I thought he did a good job there. I have the utmost confidence in Kup that he'll do a great job here, and I think the players will like and respect him. I don't see any issue there.”

Mannion later gave his reasoning for wanting Kuper, a top-tier offensive guard for the Broncos from 2006 to 2013.

“I first was with Chris as a player when he was in Minnesota and you could just tell he's a great teacher, detailed, obviously has a very unique background, having played a long time in the NFL,” Mannion said. “I think the way he's going to be able to connect with all of our players, especially a veteran group of guys with our group specifically, it's going to be a great fit for us.”

The conversation on Kuper then turned into a window into what Mannion likes in his coaches from a general perspective.

“He's a great teacher, great communicator, really good at coaching the fundamentals, understands a wide variety of schemes and some of the things that we want to do,” said Mannion. “He's been a great fit and really, really excited to have Coop on board. I could tell when I first met him, I was like, ‘This guy really knows football. He really knows how to teach and he really knows fundamentals.’

“I'm a big believer, coaching is teaching in its truest sense and I pride myself on being a good teacher.”

Teaching is the key for Mannion.

“You asked about [run game coordinator/tight end Ryan [Mahaffey], you asked about Coop, really all the people that we have on staff, I really feel great about our group collectively because it's people who know how to teach, are detailed, they work hard and they're great high character people,” Mannion said. “That's exactly who you want to work with on a daily basis. Coop certainly [is] the embodiment of that.”

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