Rich Scangarello talks joining the Eagles’ coaching staff

We had a chance to hear from the Eagles’ new senior offensive assistant, Rich Scangarello, on Tuesday for the first time since he was hired by the organization. Scangarello talked about why he was excited to make his way to Philly and his thoughts on Carson Wentz and Jalen Hurts.

Here’s what the coach had to say:

On joining the Eagles’ staff

Scangarello noted that he had a couple of different options that he was seriously considering, but then head coach Doug Pederson called him one morning and they had “an unbelievably good conversation.” He said they talked for hours and he felt like they connected — plus, he knows some other coaches in the league that know Pederson and spoke highly of him.

“It just felt like the organization, from top to bottom, everything I had heard, it was very strong, and it was a good fit. I just felt what he was looking for, what the Philadelphia Eagles were looking for, I felt I could fill that role and help us win a championship again. That was my goal here.”

He went on to say that between Pederson and Carson Wentz at quarterback, it was a great combination, and he’s been “very, very excited” to be in the building every day he’s been in Philly.

Scangarello said that Pederson runs the offense similarly to Kyle Shanahan — it’s the head coach’s offense and his vision, and they use all the other coaches for input and ideas, and to bring it to fruition. It was similar to how Duce Staley described the collaboration process among all the coaches (without an official offensive coordinator) and how they all bring different things to the table.

“The group of coaches here, they may have different titles, but they’ve been together for quite a bit. They get along. They know how Doug thinks. They know how each other thinks. They play off each other well. It’s been really positive energy as far as getting along and getting on the same page.

Scangarello said that he thinks it’s fun when someone comes from the outside and gives a new perspective on things — even if it’s not something the others agree with, it’s always good to hear varying ideas. He also said it was “seamless and effortless” to communicate with his new colleagues.

Every day I’m in the building, I just enjoy working with these guys. Doug has been phenomenal as a leader, very positive in the building. That makes it easy to work.

On his offensive philosophy and experience

“Personally, my offensive philosophy is to be aggressive and attack. I’d like to use different parts of marrying a package up through the run, and the play-pass and stuff like that is ultimately what you want to do to attack defenses on first and second down.

In this situation here, it’s exciting because we have some great tools and great players to be a part of to use in whatever role we can, with different types of traits.”

On Carson Wentz

Scangarello noted that Press Taylor has done a great job with the quarterbacks and is very detailed in his coaching. He was asked about his history of teaching quarterbacks to have their left foot forward, but said that he doesn’t want to change what Wentz does.

“Just a matter of making sure we can be on the same page with his mechanics, make him be in the best position to throw the football based on the pass concepts we call. That’s Carson’s ability. He’s done an outstanding job. I think he’s continuing to get better at it. He’s been really exciting to work with in that way because he is very meticulous in that way.”

He noted that it was a shame that they didn’t have the full offseason in-person to develop that rapport in the building, but they had a lot of really good conversations over Zoom and get a long really well.

“I’ve been impressed by him. I had a lot of admiration for him as a player already before I came here. As I’ve been around him, I’ve been more and more impressed. It’s easy to form a relationship with someone that has a mind like his, that processes, has a football IQ like he does. You connect if you can talk the language with him and articulate things.

Press has done an outstanding job with him, developing him. I feel like to be a part of it is a luxury with a guy like him. It’s been easy to get along.”

Later, Scangarello was asked about similarities between Wentz and his former QBs in Denver (Joe Flacco and Drew Lock), but he said it was hard to make a direct comparison. He said if anything, Wentz reminds him more mentally to Matt Ryan.

“Carson, he’s an elite processor in my opinion, both pre-snap and post-snap. He’s able to do a lot of things because of it. That’s what separates him to me from a lot of people in this league.”

The coach said Wentz has all the qualities to be one of the top guys in the NFL for a long time.

On Jalen Hurts

Scangarello said it was really unfortunate for the all the rookie quarterbacks this offseason, and talked about how tough it is for those guys to have just a couple of weeks on the field to show what they can do. He feels for those guys, including Eagles’ rookie Jalen Hurts.

“He’s done a great job. He’s got a great attitude. He works at it. He’s really diligent. It’s important to him. It’s all the things you need to be a successful quarterback in this league.”

He went on to say that Hurts has approached it the right way and you can tell that he works on his craft. Scangarello noted, however, that you never know where a guy is at until they get into a game — another unfortunate part of not having preseason games.

“For what he’s been able to accomplish with the reps he’s had, he’s done an excellent job.”

The coach noted that Hurts is a sponge, and his football IQ is important to him. The quarterback was coached by “really good football coaches” during his college career, but the NFL is a whole different world.

“Snap count, motions, breaking the huddle, getting in the huddle, visualization, how you accentuate plays in the huddle. All those things, they’re so little but so big in the process of developing as a quarterback.

Losing the timeline in connection with the players in the off-season, it makes it difficult on a guy. He’s approached it the right way and really done a nice job.”