Jeff Stoutland On His Departure From The Eagles: 'You Kind Of Just Know'

Legendary Eagles offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland left the organization after 13 years earlier this offseason.

Stoutland finally addressed his decision publicly on Nick Foles’ “The SZN Podcast” that was released Friday.

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Stoutland spent about an hour on the show, most of it discussing his passion for the players he coached and offensive line play in general.

However, the elephant in the room was also addressed, and Stoutland kept the details of his departure from the Eagles vague but did explain the overriding theme for his exit.

“I’ve done this for a very long time. … Thirty years in college, 13 years in the NFL, so a lot of players will ask me along the way, ‘Hey Coach, can we talk?’ or whatever,” Stoutland began. “And they have the thought of maybe not playing football in college any longer of if a guy is thinking about retiring in the National Football League. So I’ve had these conversations with players.

“I always say, ‘Look, I can’t tell you what you should do or are going to do. I have no idea. That’s not right for me to say that.’ But I always say this: ‘I think there’s some point in your life where you kind of know.

“You kind of just know.’”

Taking Your Own Advice

Eagles offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland goes over a coaching point with right guard Tyler Steen. | Ed Kracz/Eagles on SI

Stoutland has expressed that same sentiment in the past when asked questions in recent years about players like Brandon Brooks, Jason Kelce or Lane Johnson potentially calling it a career.

Now, he was at that same fork in the road after the decision to shift things in the running game by Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni.

“I think I reached that point,” Stoutland said. “I was in a position where a lot of things changed, things were happening, things had taken place. And I’m like, ‘Wait a second, this is what I talked to the other players about all the time.’ I just felt like it was that time.

“I haven’t looked back since. I know there are things that I’ll miss but I know there’s going to be some exciting things going forward and opportunities and challenges and that’s kind of what I’m all about.”

Stoutland, 64, is regarded as one of the best assistant coaches in franchise history as a two-time Super Bowl champion and the architect of an offensive line that was considered the foundation of the team.

He and Johnson, a likely future Hall of Fame right tackle, came to the Eagles at the same time, in 2013 when Stoutland was hired by Chip Kelly for his inaugural staff and Johnson was selected at No. 4 overall in the draft that year.

On a recent appearance on the Fitz & Whit podcast, Johnson called Stoutland’s departure “unexpected” but gave Eagles fans hope when saying he thought Stoutland would be around “in some capacity” this season.

Stoutland tempered that.

“I have no idea,” Stoutland said of where Johnson got that. “I haven’t had a conversation with anybody about anything like that. I don’t know.

“But Lane and I, we came in together in ’13. That was the Chip Kelly first year. I always think we felt like we’d end up leaving together as well. I don’t know. There was almost a silent agreement kind of but that didn’t happen unfortunately.”

The Eagles made drastic changes on the offensive coaching staff, hiring the 33-year-old Sean Mannion to be the offensive coordinator.

Sirianni wanted Stoutland to return as the offensive line coach but cede run game coordinator duties to Mannion lieutenant Ryan Mahaffey.

Mahaffey was ultimately hired as tight ends coach/run game coordinator and Chris Kuper as the new OL coach once Stoutland decided to leave.

“Forty-four years is a long time to be in this business,” Stoutland said. “It’s a grinding business, requires a lot of time away from your family. So I’m excited about doing ordinary things like going for a walk in the neighborhood with my wife Allison, or going to play golf in September. I have no idea what that’s like. I’m really excited about this whole new thing. And the other thing I’m very excited about is I really want to help people.”