Inside The Eagles: What The New Eagles Coaches Actually Do

PHILADELPHIA — In the NFL, job descriptions matter far more than job titles.

An influx of new titles has swept the league over the past decade, to the point that Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio chuckled when asked about his new defensive passing game coordinator, Joe Kasper, this spring.

“Defensive pass game coordinator?” Fangio said with a smile. “All these titles you guys see around the league — pass game coordinators, run game coordinators, and so many more. Assistant head coach, associate head coach, this, that, and the other. You know what those titles mean? About as much as this bottle of water’s going to mean after I finish drinking it.”

Fangio wasn’t insulting Kasper, a young coach he first met in Philadelphia during the 2022 season. Fangio brought him to Miami in 2023, then back to the Eagles when he took the defensive coordinator job. In Fangio’s old-school world, Kasper is simply the secondary coach.

But by titling him defensive passing game coordinator and hiring Mike Pelligrino as the secondary coach, the Eagles are giving multiple assistants a chance to build stronger resumes.

The more important aspect of any job is the actual responsibility.

Definitions Matter

With new passing game coordinator Josh Grizzard, who arrived in Philadelphia after one season as Tampa Bay’s offensive coordinator, we now have a clearer picture of what the role entails.

Grizzard was asked to define his responsibilities last week:

“Really, my role is to help [offensive coordinator] Sean [Mannion] in a multitude of ways with getting ahead on each portion of the game plan,” Grizzard said. “So we break it down: first and second down — how do we want to attack a defense in the pass game? Once we’ve put that to bed, we move to third down. How do we want to design plays for third down? Then how do we want to attack them in the red zone? And how do we want to attack them in the red zone on third down?

“So for Sean, for the coordinator, for [head coach] Nick [Sirianni], it’s about being able to help these guys by saying, ‘This is what I’m seeing on these downs and distances, and these are the plays we want to implement.’

“It’s very collaborative.”

The goal is to foster an open environment where ideas flow up the chain of command to Mannion, who has final say.

It also helps the staff stay ahead of the heavy workload that comes with coaching a high-profile team like the Eagles, who are tasked with many non-traditional preparation windows — especially on short weeks.

“It’s not just all of my ideas, but it could be from any of the position coaches,” Grizzard said. “You’re able to work ahead a day or two, so when they start getting into it, they already have a framework of what we’re trying to attack.”

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