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The news broke this week that Howard Mudd has decided to retire at the end of the year and will not return in 2013. This was hardly a revelation to anyone who follows the team as this was widely expected to be Mudd's final year.
His retirement got me thinking, if we assume that Andy Reid is out at the end of the year should any of his current assistants return in 2013?
When Reid took over the Eagles, the only coaches he retained were offensive line coach Juan Castillo, special teams coach John Harbaugh & running backs coach Ted Williams. All proved to be excellent choices. Castillo headed an offensive line that was one of the strengths of the team during Reid's peak years with guys like John Runyan, Tra Thomas, Shawn Andrews, Jamaal Jackson & Todd Herremans.
John Harbaugh was not only a very good special teams coach, but has went on to prove that he's a pretty good head coach as well.
Ted Williams has been involved in the scouting and development of Duce Staley, Correll Buckhalter, Brian Westbrook & LeSean McCoy. He also was sent to scout Bryce Brown prior to this draft this year.
So my question is, of the guys currently on this staff, is there anyone that mystery coach X would or should consider retaining?
For reference, here's the list of the current staff.
| Andy Reid | Head Coach Executive VP/Football Operations |
| Marty Mornhinweg | Asst. Head Coach/Offensive Coordinator |
| Todd Bowles | Defensive Coordinator |
| Bobby April | Special Teams Coordinator |
| Bob April Jr |
Defensive Quality Control |
| Mike Caldwell | Linebackers Coach |
| David Culley | Senior Offensive Assistant/Wide Receivers Coach |
| Tom Melvin | Tight Ends Coach |
| Howard Mudd | Offensive Line Coach |
| Matt Nagy | Offensive Quality Control |
| Doug Pederson | Quarterbacks Coach |
| Duce Staley | Special Teams Quality Control |
| Jim Washburn | Defensive Line Coach |
| Ted Williams | Running Backs Coach |
| Michael Zordich | Secondary/Safeties Coach |
| Barry Rubin | Head Strength & Conditioning Coach |
| Keith Gray | Assistant Strength & Conditioning Coach |
Of that group, there aren't many candidates. Marty Mornhinweg obviously isn't going to be here running Reid's offense if Reid isn't here. After the disaster of the defense this season you'd have to bet that Todd Bowles basically has not shot of returning. Bobby April certainly came in here with a good reputation, but given the performance of his special teams unit in recent years it would make sense that a new coach would go in another direction.
Some of the ex-Eagles could have a chance. The reason Reid had them here is because they're ex members of the team, so its possible one of those guys could stick around in a low level job.
Really, the only one I can recommend is running backs coach Ted Williams for all the reasons I stated above. The guy seems to have done a great job and has been a key figure in finding and developing a pair of young backs in McCoy & Brown that the next coach could really build the offense around.