Official: Eagles special teams coordinator Dave Fipp joins the Lions

UPDATE: The Lions officially hired Dave Fipp as their special teams coordinator. Fipp will be joining Duce Staley on Dan Campbell’s coaching staff in Detroit.

ORIGINAL STORY BELOW.

With the Eagles’ coaching staff in flux following the Nick Sirianni hire, Philadelphia has granted special teams coordinator Dave Fipp permission to “explore other options.” The Athletic’s Bo Wulf reported as much over the weekend.

The Lions are a potential landing spot to watch for the Fipp man. Detroit reportedly requested to interview him early last week but was denied since the Eagles hadn’t hired their new head coach at the time. Now that Sirianni is officially in the fold, one would figure the Lions will circle back to speaking with Fipp.

That the Eagles are so willing to let Fipp leave seems to indicate he won’t be back in 2021. And that course of action is reasonable considering how it’s been some time since Philly’s special teams unit was an actual strength. Special teams struggles certainly contributed to an Eagles team that finished 4-11-1 last year.

In fairness to Fipp, he’s had to deal with a lot of injuries and it’s not like the Eagles have invested the time and resources to special teams as they did during the Chip Kelly era. The feeling here is that he’s not totally terrible at his job.

But the Eagles should be looking to churn the special teams coordinator position and see if they can find an upgrade. Sirianni might have someone in mind to replace Fipp. Perhaps Colts special teams assistant Frank Ross is a name to watch?