The Philadelphia Eagles parted ways with offensive coordinator of two seasons, Mike Groh, on Thursday. Philadelphia also parted ways with wide receivers coach Carson Walch on after a disappointing season with talented wide receivers. However, the Birds were really short handed at wide receiver, but still, the Eagles are a team that expected a lot from their wide receivers, so this past season was unacceptable.
Personally, I never really agreed with promoting Groh to offensive coordinator, because most of the in-house hires from your wide receivers and offensive lines coaches do not work out. The Eagles are now in the process of hiring a new offensive coordinator who could help rejuvenate the offense in 2020. The following is a list of a few candidates that I think Doug Pederson and Howie Roseman may want to consider for the OC position.
Mike Kafka
Kafka is a former Eagles quarterback from 2010-2011, and is currently the quarterbacks coach on Andy Reid's staff in Kansas City. Doug Pederson coached Kafka for one season during his playing career in Philadelphia, so hiring Kafka would make a lot of sense, and I personally think he would be a sleeper hire even though he has never been an offensive coordinator so far in his coaching career.
Duce Staley
Staley has been an assistant in Philadelphia since 2011, and was a great player for the Eagles from 1997-2003. Duce is a great candidate, but I for one am not for in-house hires.
P̶a̶t̶ ̶S̶h̶u̶r̶m̶u̶r̶
S̶h̶u̶r̶m̶u̶r̶ ̶w̶a̶s̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶o̶f̶f̶e̶n̶s̶i̶v̶e̶ ̶c̶o̶o̶r̶d̶i̶n̶a̶t̶o̶r̶ ̶i̶n̶ ̶P̶h̶i̶l̶a̶d̶e̶l̶p̶h̶i̶a̶ ̶f̶r̶o̶m̶ ̶2̶0̶1̶3̶-̶2̶0̶1̶5̶ ̶d̶u̶r̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶C̶h̶i̶p̶ ̶K̶e̶l̶l̶y̶ ̶E̶r̶a̶,̶ ̶b̶u̶t̶ ̶r̶u̶m̶o̶r̶s̶ ̶h̶a̶v̶e̶ ̶S̶h̶u̶r̶m̶u̶r̶ ̶g̶o̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶B̶e̶a̶r̶s̶.̶ ̶T̶h̶e̶ ̶E̶a̶g̶l̶e̶s̶ ̶o̶f̶f̶e̶n̶s̶e̶ ̶b̶a̶c̶k̶ ̶i̶n̶ ̶2̶0̶1̶3̶-̶2̶0̶1̶5̶ ̶w̶a̶s̶ ̶a̶m̶o̶n̶g̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶b̶e̶s̶t̶ ̶i̶n̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶N̶F̶L̶,̶ ̶s̶o̶ ̶I̶ ̶d̶o̶ ̶t̶h̶i̶n̶k̶ ̶t̶h̶i̶s̶ ̶w̶o̶u̶l̶d̶ ̶b̶e̶ ̶a̶n̶ ̶e̶x̶c̶e̶l̶l̶e̶n̶t̶ ̶h̶i̶r̶e̶ ̶i̶f̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶y̶ ̶c̶o̶u̶l̶d̶ ̶p̶u̶l̶l̶ ̶t̶h̶i̶s̶ ̶o̶n̶e̶ ̶o̶u̶t̶.̶ ̶ ̶
Edit: Shurmur was just hired by the Broncos for their OC position, so cross him off the list.
Hue Jackson
Jackson has had a lot of OC jobs and has been around the block as a head coach. This past season Jackson took the year off after the Bengals moved on from him and Marvin Lewis, but Jackson is very capable of coming to Philadelphia and helping run Doug Pederson's offense. When Chip Kelly was fired in 2015, he was on the list of candidates for the head coaching job, so the front office still might view him as a solid candidate.
Jim Caldwell
Caldwell has had only one NFL OC job in his entire coaching career, but he did prove himself as an NFL head coach by leading the Indianapolis Colts to the Super Bowl in the 2009 season. I have to say that was all Peyton Manning, but Caldwell has had health issues lately.
Jay Gruden
Gruden was just fired by the Redskins, but he was an excellent offensive coordinator on Marvin Lewis' staff back in their days in Cincinnati. Doug Pederson has always been the play-caller, and if Gruden is the new OC personalities might clash, but this is a business and if they can put differences aside and work towards a common goal I can see the Eagles offense taking off to the next level.
Chad O'Shea
O' shea, who was on Brian Flores staff this past season in Miami, has a background in coaching wide receivers and he is Bill Belichick disciple. I think he is a long shot for the OC position in Philadelphia, but you never know. The Birds are looking for a new wide receivers coach though, so keep O'Shea's name in mind for that position if he can not find an OC job elsewhere.
Personally, I know Duce Staley is a fan favorite for the OC position, and I totally understand that. But I ultimately would be against him getting promoted. I think that the Eagles would benefit from someone like Mike Kafka, who has been learning under Andy Reid. Maybe Patrick Mahomes is currently making him look good, but as I mentioned earlier he also played for Doug Pederson, which might give him a little advantage there. I did also mention that Doug Pederson wants to keep calling the plays and Kafka would be happy to have the OC title because he is still a very young coach at the moment. Kafka is also very familiar with the Philadelphia atmosphere at The Linc, and he and Carson Wentz can learn from each other.
If I am Doug Pederson and Howie Roseman, I would offer the job to Mike Kafka due to his connections to Doug Pederson and familiarity with Philadelphia.
