NFL Rumors: Eagles coaching search features a new sleeper candidate

A lot of the same names have come up in the Eagles' coaching search so far: Adam Gase, Pat Shurmur, Doug Pederson, etc. But now ESPN insider Adam Caplan is offering a new sleeper candidate to watch: Cincinnati Bengals defensive coordinator Paul Guenther.

"Paul is from Philadelphia, he knows the organization, he knows people there, and the thing I like about him, he was a head coach at 25 years old at Ursinus College in Collegeville."

Caplan isn't the only reporter to throw Guenther's name out there.

No formal request yet, but I think Eagles give Bengals DC Paul Guenther a look before search is over.

— Tim McManus (@Tim_McManus) January 6, 2016

And if that isn't enough for you (which it should be), only four coaching candidates have better odds to be hired by Philadelphia.

As McManus notes, there's no indication (yet) that Guenther will interview with the Eagles. But the local connections certainly lend credence to the possibility. The 44-year-old Guenther is a native of Richboro, Pennsylvania.

After coaching Division III Ursinus from 1997 through 2000, Guenther was hired by the Washington Redskins in 2002. He's been with the Bengals as an assistant since 2005. Cincinnati promoted him to defensive coordinator when Mike Zimmer was hired away by the Vikings in 2014. The Bengals have allowed the fifth least points and the 12th least yards in 2015.

The Eagles have mostly focused on offensive coaches in there search, but Guenther could be a candidate to watch.