Philadelphia Eagles: John DeFilippo is headed to Minnesota
After being interviewed for a number of different positions, Philadelphia Eagles QB coach John DeFilippo has been named the Vikings offensive coordinator.
The 2017 Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles have already lost a key member of their coaching staff.
John DeFilippo, the Eagles quarterbacks coach for the last two seasons has officially been named the Minnesota Vikings‘ offensive coordinator, ironically replacing former Eagles offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur, who was recently named the head coach of the New York Giants.
DeFilippo, a Radnor graduate who played quarterback at James Madison, spent ten years coaching in college and the pros before rising to national prominence as the quarterbacks coach of the Oakland Raiders from 2012-2014.
Known as a quarterback whisperer for his work with Dereck Carr, DeFilippo got his first professional offensive coordinator position with the Cleveland Browns in 2015, but only lasted a season before being fired along with then-head coach Mike Petton. Without another offensive coordinator position available, DeFilippo returned to his old position coaching quarterbacks, this time as a member of Doug Pederson‘s rookie coaching staff.
And much like with Carr, DeFilippo did wonders for the second overall pick in the 2016 NFL Draft, Carson Wentz.
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DeFilippo’s one-on-one relationship with Wentz was considered so vital to the former Bison‘s development that when the New York Jets asked to interview the rising star for their vacant offensive coordinator position in 2017 Jeffrey Lurie and company outright denied their request, and Wentz blossomed into a legitimate MVP candidate as a result.
But unfortunately for the Eagles, the team can’t block DeFilippo this time.
While we always knew that the 2018 Eagles would look a bit different than their Super Bowl-winning predecessors, it now looks like the team will have yet another position to fill, this time before the 2018 league year begins on March 14th.
Only time will tell who the team selects to replace DeFilippo, but he may not be the only coach leaving the City of Brotherly Love. After Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels removed himself from consideration for the Indianapolis Colts‘ vacant head coaching position, the organization interviewed current Eagles offensive coordinator Frank Reich for the position. While the Eagles can likely weather loosing one vital assistant, losing two could cause the team to seriously regress in Pederson’s third season with the team.
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While Reich to Indie is far from a guarantee, the loss of DeFilippo cannot be overstated, as he was vital to Wentz’s development in 2017.