Report: Eagles expected to hire Auburn defensive line coach

The Philadelphia Eagles are expected to hire Auburn defensive line coach Tracy Rocker to the same position, according to a report from Yahoo Sports’ Pete Thamel.

Rocker, 54, unsurprisingly has a connection to new Eagles defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon. They overlapped on the Tennessee Titans’ staff in 2012 and 2013 when Rocker was a defensive line coach and Gannon was a defensive assistant/quality control coach.

Rocker played in 24 games as a defensive tackle after being selected by Washington with a third-round pick in the 1989 NFL Draft. It didn’t take him long to get into coaching after retiring. Here’s a snapshot of his experience:

1992-1993 — Auburn High School defensive coordinator

1994-1996 — West Alabama defensive line coach

1997-2001 — Troy State defensive line coach

2002 — Cincinnati defensive line coach

2003-2007 — Arkansas defensive line coach

2008 — Ole Miss defensive line coach

2009-2010 — Auburn defensive line coach

2011-2013 — Tennessee Titans defensive line coach

2014-2016 — Georgia defensive line coach/assistant head coach

2017-2019 — Tennessee defensive line coach

2020 — South Carolina defensive line coach

2021 — Auburn defensive line coach (hired in mid-January)

Rocker clearly has a lot of experience coaching defensive linemen. Mostly in college but he has some NFL coaching experience as well. Notable players he’s coached include Trent Cole (!), DeMarcus Ware, Peria Jerry, Nick Fairley, Dee Ford, Greg Hardy, and Osi Umenyiora.

Here’s Rocker mic’d up in a practice video from last season:

The Eagles hiring Rocker means run game coordinator/defensive line coach Matt Burke won’t be returning to that position in 2021. Perhaps the Eagles will move him to linebackers coach considering he has more experience there ... or maybe he just won’t be retained at all.