Report: Eagles hire Aaron Moorehead as their sixth wide receivers coach since 2015

The Philadelphia Eagles are hiring Vanderbilt wide receivers coach Aaron Moorehead as their new wide receivers coach, according to a report from PhillyVoice’s (and BGN Radio’s own) Jimmy Kempski.

The Eagles’ interest in Moorehead was first reported by ESPN’s Tim McManus last week. Here’s what we wrote at the time.

“Moorehead played college football at Illinois before signing with the Indianapolis Colts as an undrafted rookie free agent in 2003. He remained with Indy through 2007, so he was part of the Colts’ Super Bowl team in 2006. Moorehead finished his five-year NFL playing career with 31 receptions for 330 yards and one touchdown in 36 games played.

Moorehead transitioned to coaching in 2009. A snapshot of his experience:

New Mexico (2009) — Graduate assistant

Stanford (2010–2012) — Graduate assistant

Virginia Tech (2013–2014) — Wide receivers coach

Texas A&M (2015–2017) — Wide receivers coach

Vanderbilt (2018-present) — Wide receivers coach

Moorehead has a track record of helping to develop players, as noted in his Vanderbilt bio:

In 2019, two of Moorehead’s receivers — senior Kalija Lipscomb and redshirt freshman Cam Johnson — posted more than 30 receptions.

In Moorehead’s first year at Vanderbilt, he mentored Lipscomb to one of the finest seasons ever by a Commodore. Lipscomb posted 87 receptions and 916 receiving yards, both among the top totals in team history. Lipscomb finished his career ranking among Vanderbilt’s all-time top-10 with 198 catches, 2,356 receiving yards and 22 touchdowns.

A young receiver, freshman CJ Bolar posted 34 receptions for 440 yards and two scores in 2018.

Moorehead came to West End after serving as wide receivers coach at Texas A&M for three seasons.

At Texas A&M, Moorehead helped develop one of the SEC’s most exciting players of recent years in Christian Kirk. In his three years on the College Station campus, Kirk amassed 234 receptions, good for 2,856 yards and 26 touchdowns.

In addition to Kirk, Moorehead developed Josh Reynolds into a standout receiver at Texas A&M. As a junior and senior in 2015-16, Reynolds posted 112 catches, 1,946 receiving yards and 17 touchdowns. Both Kirk and Reynolds are now playing in the NFL: Kirk as a second-round pick of the Arizona Cardinals; and Reynolds as a fourth-round selection of the Los Angeles Rams.

The Eagles previously hired a college wide receivers coach — North Carolina’s Gunter Brewer — in 2018 and that didn’t work out so well. He was gone after just one year with the team as receivers regularly struggled to line up correctly. A key difference between Brewer and Moorehead, though, is that the latter actually played in the NFL.

At the very least, Moorehead seems like a candidate worth interviewing. In addition to his player development experience, he could potentially bring some fresh ideas to Philly’s offense. The Eagles have previously had their wide receivers coach assist in game planning (ex: Mike Groh spent time on third downs in 2017). The Eagles signaled interest in incorporating college concepts by interviewing USC offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Graham Harrell for their OC job before he turned them down. So, maybe Moorehead can be the Eagles’ consolation prize in that regard?”

Moorehead is the latest reported addition to the Eagles’ coaching staff. Wednesday brought news that Philadelphia is hiring former Denver Broncos offensive coordinator Rich Scangarello and former Mississippi State passing game coordinator/quarterbacks coach Andrew Breiner to Doug Pederson’s ranks. This was in addition to Eagles quarterbacks coach Press Taylor getting a bump with “passing game coordinator” added to his title.

With these hires, the Eagles have clearly at least made an effort to add new perspective and ideas to their offense. That’s encouraging to see.

One can only hope the Moorehead hire works out when it comes to the Eagles getting good production out of their receivers. Adding more talent to the position is obviously a necessity. Ideally he’ll be able to do a good job and break the streak of Eagles wide receiver coaches not lasting more than one season since 2015. Previous one-and-dones include: Bob Bicknell (fired), Greg Lewis (fired), Mike Groh (promoted to offensive coordinator before being fired this offseason), Gunter Brewer (fired), and Carson Walch (fired).

Given all these news leaks, it shouldn’t be long until the Eagles officially announce their 2020 coaching staff.