Philadelphia Eagles: 7 head coaching candidates to watch
Is it time for a trip away from the Andy Reid tree for the Philadelphia Eagles?
Brian Daboll – Bills offensive coordinator
One of the hottest offensive coordinators on the head coach hiring carousel is Brian Daboll of the Buffalo Bills.
Daboll has coached across both the NFL and college football, spending time with the Chiefs (pre-Reid), Patriots, Jets, Dolphins, Browns, Bills, and Alabama Crimson Tide. He won a Super Bowl with the Patriots in Super Bowl 51 when they came back against Atlanta and later won a National Championship with Jalen Hurts and Tua Tagovailoa at Alabama as their offensive coordinator.
Daboll’s latest and now biggest claim to fame is the maturation of quarterback Josh Allen. NFL talent evaluators were split on the Wyoming quarterback during the 2018 NFL Draft, highlighting an unimpressive career 56.2 completion percentage and a lack of opposing competition. Those worries have vanished with Daboll and Allen (now an MVP candidate) helping win Buffalo their first playoff game in 25 years last weekend.
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Under Daboll and Allen, Buffalo finished the regular season second in yards and points scored and in the top five in nearly every other offensive category. Their running game with 23-year-olds Devin Singletary and Zack Moss was not fantastic, but Allen ended up leading the team with eight rushing touchdowns and was third on the team with over 400 rushing yards.
The connection with Hurts at Alabama is a big one for Daboll. The Wentz/Hurts question will dominate the headlines in Philadelphia through the offseason unless one is traded. Daboll would have the opportunity to either reconnect with his former Alabama quarterback or help resurrect Wentz, who some compared Allen to coming out of the draft.
Daboll is very likely to get an NFL job this offseason, but he’s still coaching Buffalo in the playoffs. The longer the Bills stay in, the more likely the Eagles, who are behind in the hiring process, will have to evaluate him and his offense. He’d be a fresh face for the organization who has developed a young quarterback and helped the Bills flip their misfortunes fairly quickly, all of which check boxes for the Eagles.