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The Eagles officially announced some changes to the coaching staff on Monday afternoon. The most notable one is the hiring of former Minnesota Vikings offensive coordinator to be the Eagles new quarterbacks coach. The Musgrave hiring was originally reported last week but hadn't been confirmed by the team until now. Musgrave replaces former Eagles QB coach Bill Lazor, who was hired away by the Miami Dolphins as their new offensive coordinator. Here's what I wrote about Musgrave when the hire was first reported.
Musgrave, 46, brings a lot of experience to the table. He's been coaching in the NFL since 1997 (save for a brief stint at University of Virginia in 2001-2002), including a year with the Eagles in 1998 as an offensive assistant under Ray Rhodes. Musgrave effectively ended up as offensive coordinator at end of that year having replaced Dana Bible as the play caller. Musgrave briefly played in the NFL as a QB from 1991 to 1996. Funny enough, Musgrave played his college ball at Oregon.
Musgrave seems like an ideal candidate to replace Lazor. His up-tempo offensive philosophy jives with what Chip Kelly expects out of his team. Musgrave will have a hand in further developing the young career of (recent Pro Bowl MVP) Nick Foles and the other Eagles quarterbacks. Foles reportedly didn't have the smoothest relationship with Lazor, so perhaps Musgrave and Foles will be a better match.
Another move the Eagles made regarding their coach staff was the promotion of Mike Dawson to assistant defensive line coach. Dawson, previously the defensive quality control coach, fills the vacancy left by Erik Chinander who returned to Oregon to coach OLBs.
Speaking of Ducks, taking the place of Dawson's spot as defensive quality control coach is Michael Clay. Clay played college football at Oregon and is only 22 years of age. Clay went undrafted in the 2013 NFL Draft but was signed by the Dolphins. Clay spent the 2013 offseason in Miami before being cut late in August. Here's a video of Kelly praising Clay when they were both still at Oregon. Kelly lauded Clay for his knowledge of the game and called him a "coach on the field".
With these moves taken care of, the Eagles coaching staff for 2014 is likely set. A list of the entire staff is available on the Eagles official website.
