EAGLES NAME ASSISTANT COACHES
Al Thompson
Chip Kelly announced his staff last week. Here are the names of the coaching staff fans hope will bring the Eagles that elusive Super Bowl Title.
Pat Shurmur (offensive coordinator)
Bill Davis (defensive coordinator)
Dave Fipp (special teams coordinator)
Greg Austin (assistant offensive line)
Jerry Azzinaro (defensive line/assistant head coach)
Bob Bicknell (wide receivers)
Erik Chinander (assistant defensive line)
Mike Dawson (defensive quality control)
Matt Harper (assistant special teams)
Josh Hingst (strength and conditioning)
Shaun Huls (sports science coordinator)
Bill Lazor (quarterbacks)
John Lovett (defensive backs)
Todd Lyght (assistant defensive backs)
Bill McGovern (outside linebackers)
Rick Minter (inside linebackers)
Justin Peelle (assistant tight ends)
Duce Staley (running backs)
Jeff Stoutland (offensive line)
Press Taylor (offensive quality control)
Ted Williams (tight ends)
Bios supplied by Eagles media relations:
Now in his second stint in Philadelphia, Pat Shurmur returns to the Eagles after originally spending 10 seasons as the team’s tight ends coach (1999-2001) and quarterbacks coach (2002-08). He most recently served as the head coach for the Cleveland Browns from 2011-12. During Shurmur’s seven seasons as quarterbacks coach, he helped guide Donovan McNabb to three Pro Bowl berths and saw him break nearly every franchise passing record. Shurmur joined the St. Louis Rams as their offensive coordinator in 2009 and spent two seasons with the club. While there, he helped tutor 2010 top overall draft choice Sam Bradford, who set NFL rookie records in completions (354) and attempts (590) while earning NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year honors. Prior to joining the NFL, Shurmur spent nine seasons coaching in the college ranks at Stanford (1998) and at his alma mater, Michigan State (1990-97).
Bill Davis, 47, has 21 years of NFL coaching experience after most recently serving as the Cleveland Browns linebackers coach from 2011-12. Under Davis’ tutelage, D’Qwell Jackson blossomed into one of the NFL’s most productive linebackers, registering 277 tackles, seven sacks and three interceptions over the last two seasons. Davis has also held two defensive coordinator jobs, first with the San Francisco 49ers from 2005-06 and then with the Arizona Cardinals from 2009-10. He first joined the NFL coaching ranks as a defensive quality control coach for the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1992. Davis has worked under Dom Capers, Bill Cowher, Vic Fangio, Dick LeBeau, Mike Nolan, Wade Phillips and Marvin Lewis during his coaching career. He has also helped guide seven players to the Pro Bowl: Keith Brooking, Darnell Dockett, Kevin Greene, Walt Harris, Lamar Lathon, Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, and Adrian Wilson. His father, Bill Sr., spent 13 seasons in the NFL as a coach and executive, including two stints with the Eagles coaching the linebackers (1976-77) and tight ends (1978), and as the VP of Player Personnel from 1988-89. Bill served as an Eagles ball boy while his father was a coach. A native of Youngstown, OH, Davis played quarterback and wide receiver at the University of Cincinnati from 1985-88.
Dave Fipp, 38, most recently served as the assistant special teams coach for the Miami Dolphins from 2011-12. During his two years in Miami, the Dolphins ranked 2nd (2011) and 4th (2012) in the NFL in overall special teams rankings, according to the data compiled by esteemed Dallas Morning News columnist Rick Gosselin. Fipp joined the Dolphins staff after a three-year stint as the assistant special teams coach for the San Francisco 49ers from 2008-10. Fipp spent 10 years coaching in the college ranks at San Jose State (2005-07), Nevada (2004), Cal Poly (2001-03), Arizona (2000), and Holy Cross (1998-99).
Greg Austin, 28, served as an offensive graduate assistant at Oregon from 2011-12. He was also a coaching intern with the Ducks in 2010. Prior to his time with Oregon, Austin played collegiately at Nebraska (2002-06), where he appeared in 27 games as an offensive lineman.
Jerry Azzinaro will coach the defensive line after serving in the same role on Chip Kelly’s staff at Oregon from 2009-12. During that span, the Ducks defensive line compiled a total of 76 sacks. Prior to joining the coaching staff at Oregon, Azzinaro was the defensive line coach at Marshall University in 2008 and at the University of New Hampshire in 2007. The Brooklyn, NY, native also had stints with Duke (2004-06), Syracuse (1999-03), Maine (1998), UMass (1992-94, 1997), Boston College (1995-96), American International College (1987-91) and Western New England (D-III, 1986).
Bob Bicknell, 43, joins the Eagles after a three-year stint with the Buffalo Bills as their wide receivers coach (2012) and tight ends coach (2010-11). Prior to his arrival in Buffalo, Bicknell spent the previous three seasons with the Kansas City Chiefs as assistant offensive line coach (2007), offensive line coach (2008) and tight ends coach (2009). Before joining the NFL ranks, Bicknell was the offensive line coach at Temple in 2006 and coached in NFL Europe from 1998-2005, including stints as an offensive coordinator for the Cologne Centurions (2004-05) and Berlin Thunder (2000-03). He won three World Bowls as part of the coaching staff of the Thunder (2000 and 2001) and Frankfurt Galaxy (1999).
Erik Chinander, 33, spent the past three years on Chip Kelly’s staff at Oregon as a graduate assistant (2011-12) and intern (2010). Prior to that, Chinander served as the tight ends coach and recruiting coordinator at Northern Iowa (2004-09) and as an assistant coach at Ellsworth Community College (2003-04). Chinander played four years as an offensive lineman at the University of Iowa.
Mike Dawson joins the Eagles with 15 years of experience coaching in the college ranks, most recently serving as the special teams coach for Boston College from 2009-11. Dawson left BC after the 2011 season to become the Athletic Director at North Middlesex High School, where he graduated in 1993. Dawson also coached linebackers at Akron from 2006-08 and spent six years as an assistant coach on both sides of the ball at New Hampshire, including his final two seasons as defensive coordinator/linebackers.
Matthew Harper, 28, spent the last four seasons as an intern and a graduate assistant at Oregon. Before joining Kelly’s coaching staff, Harper played two seasons as a safety for the Ducks and collected 98 tackles, three interceptions and two sacks as a senior in 2007. He transferred to Oregon after garnering honorable mention All-America honors in two seasons at the City College of San Francisco. A native of Union City, CA, Harper is the son of 11-year NFL veteran Willie Harper.
Josh Hingst joins the Eagles after spending the previous season as the assistant strength and conditioning coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars. A registered dietician and a certified strength and conditioning specialist, Hingst previously spent three years (2009-11) as the director of sports nutrition at Nebraska and one season as the team nutritionist (2008) for the Atlanta Falcons. He also held a five-year stint (2003-07) in strength and conditioning and sports nutrition capacities at Florida State. A native of Hooper, NE, Hingst received his bachelor’s degrees in nutritional sciences and dietetics and exercise science from Nebraska and his Master’s in clinical nutrition from Florida State.
Shaun Huls most recently served as the head strength and conditioning coach and combatives coordinator for Navy Special Warfare. After beginning his career as a student assistant and a student strength coach with the University of Nebraska, Huls held various strength and conditioning posts with Nebraska, the University of Nevada and Hampton University. During his career, Huls has trained numerous current NFL players, professional baseball players, MMA fighters, track and field, wrestling and swimming Olympians. In addition, Huls is a championed collegiate Olympic lifter and Brazilian jiu-jitsu competitor.
Bill Lazor, 40, joins the Eagles after spending the previous three seasons as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at the University of Virginia. Lazor boasts seven years of NFL coaching experience and most recently served as the quarterbacks coach for the Seattle Seahawks (2008-09) and Washington Redskins (2006-07). Lazor made his NFL coaching debut with the Atlanta Falcons in 2003 as an offensive quality control coach before becoming an offensive assistant with the Redskins from 2004-05. In the collegiate ranks, he also held coaching stints at Cornell (1994-00) and the University of Buffalo (2001-02). The Scranton, PA, native was an All-Ivy League quarterback at Cornell.
John Lovett comes to Philadelphia with nearly four decades of coaching experience on his resume, primarily at the collegiate level. He initially was hired by the University of Cincinnati this offseason after serving as the defensive backs coach at Texas Tech in 2012, mentoring a unit that led the Big 12 conference in pass defense. Lovett’s career includes stints as defensive coordinator at Miami (Fla.), Bowling Green, Clemson, Auburn, Maine and Cincinnati. He also spent one season as the defensive quality control coach for the New York Jets in 1984. A graduate of C.W. Post in 1973, Lovett was inducted into the school’s Hall of Fame after playing there as a linebacker and safety. He began his coaching career as an assistant coach at St. Joseph Regional High School from 1976-77. The Nyack, NY, native joined the collegiate coaching ranks at Union College in 1978.
Todd Lyght, 43, is a former first-round draft pick of the Los Angeles Rams in 1991. In his 12-year career as a cornerback for the Rams (1991-00) and Lions (01-02), Lyght registered 37 interceptions and six sacks while earning a Pro Bowl selection following the 1999 season. Lyght began his coaching career in 2009 as the defensive backs assistant at Bishop Gorman HS in Las Vegas. He spent the last two seasons as a defensive intern at Oregon. Lyght played collegiately at Notre Dame, where he was a two-time All American (1989-90).
With 27 years of coaching experience at the collegiate level, 50-year-old Bill McGovern most recently served as the linebackers coach at Boston College for the past 12 seasons and as their defensive coordinator since 2009. During his time there, McGovern guided two linebackers to ACC Defensive POY honors – Mark Herzlich (2008) and Luke Kuechly (2011). He also coached at UPenn (1985), Holy Cross (1986-87, 91-92), Massachusetts (1987-90, 92-93) Boston College (1994-96, 2000-12), and Pittsburgh (1997-99).
Rick Minter has more than three decades of experience coaching in the collegiate ranks, including a 10-year stint as the head coach of Cincinnati from 1994-2003, where he won more games (52) than any head coach in school history. Several current head coaches were on Minter’s staff throughout his tenure at Cincinnati, including Baltimore’s John Harbaugh (special teams coordinator, 1989–1996), Pittsburgh’s Mike Tomlin (defensive backs, 1999-2000), New York Jets’ Rex Ryan (defensive coordinator, 1996-97) as well as Florida State’s Jimbo Fisher (offensive coordinator/quarterbacks, 1999). Minter spent the last two seasons as the defensive coordinator at Kentucky.
Justin Peelle, 33, joins the Eagles coaching staff after a 10-year NFL career as a tight end with the San Diego Chargers (2002-05), Miami Dolphins (2006-07), Atlanta Falcons (2008-10) and San Francisco 49ers (2011). Originally a fourth round draft choice of the Chargers in 2002, Peelle went on to play in 151 games (123 starts), and collected 123 receptions for 1,003 yards and 12 touchdowns. Peelle starred collegiately at Oregon from 1998-2001, and earned first-team All-Pac 10 honors as a senior. He also finished as a semi-finalist for the Mackey Award that season, given annually to the nation’s top tight end.
Duce Staley, 37, will coach running backs after spending the last two seasons as the team’s special teams quality control coach. Staley also assisted Ted Williams in coaching the team’s running backs during his time here and has played a key role in the development of LeSean McCoy. One of the most popular and toughest players to ever suit up in an Eagles uniform, Staley was originally a third-round pick of Philadelphia in 1997 and spent seven seasons with the team.
One of the nation’s most respected offensive line coaches, Jeff Stoutland, comes to Philadelphia after serving as the University of Alabama’s offensive line coach for the past two seasons. In 2012, Stoutland’s offensive line unit featured two first-team All-Americans in Barrett Jones and Chance Warmack, who helped the Crimson Tide rank 20th nationally in rushing (224.6 ypg) and 15th in scoring offense (38.5 ppg). In addition, Jones became Alabama’s first Rimington Trophy winner as the nation’s top center. Stoutland joined the Alabama staff in 2011 after spending 14 years as an assistant coach at Miami (2007-10), Michigan State (2000-06) and Syracuse (1997-99). The 51-year-old also held collegiate coaching stints at Cornell and his alma mater, Southern Connecticut State.
Press Taylor spent the previous two seasons as an offensive graduate assistant/quarterbacks coach with the Tulsa. A former college quarterback, Taylor won back-to-back Junior College National Championships at Butler Community College in 2007-08 before transferring to Marshall. A native of Norman, OK, Taylor is the brother of current Miami Dolphins quarterbacks coach Zac Taylor.
Now entering his 19th season in Philadelphia, Ted Williams is the longest-tenured coach in the history of the franchise. The 69-year-old Williams originally joined the Eagles as the tight ends coach in 1995 under head coach Ray Rhodes and has spent the past 16 years coaching the team’s running backs. Williams tutored a 1,000-yard rusher eight times during that span, and helped to develop Duce Staley, Brian Westbrook and LeSean McCoy. Prior to joining the Eagles, Williams spent 15 years coaching on the collegiate level at Arizona (1994, secondary), Washington State (1991-93, offensive coordinator/running backs) and UCLA (1980-89, linebackers/running backs).