Duce Staley leaves Eagles to join the Lions

Eagles assistant head coach/running backs coach Duce Staley is leaving Philadelphia to take on the same title with the Detroit Lions as part of Dan Campbell’s new coaching staff. The news was first reported by Jason La Canfora.

Staley’s departure was expected since he reportedly asked out of his contract. The Eagles understandably allowed Staley to leave after interviewing him for their head coach opening for the second time since 2016 but ultimately passing on him to hire Nick Sirianni instead.

Staley leaving is significant considering he was the longest-tenured member on the Eagles’ coaching staff. He had been with Philly since interning in 2010 and then being hired as a special teams quality control coach in 2011. Staley is the only member of the Eagles’ organization to ever spend seven seasons as both a player and coach.

It’s fair to wonder how the locker room will react to Staley’s departure after a number of players both publicly and privately campaigned for him to get the head coaching job. Ultimately, I think players will be happy he’s getting an opportunity elsewhere after failing to progress beyond his title in Philly.

Here’s wishing the best to Duce. Hopefully he can find a way to climb up the ranks.

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