Eagles hire new linebackers coach not named Matt Patricia

The Philadelphia Eagles have a new linebackers coach.

And it is not Matt Patricia despite a report suggesting the New England Patriots assistant was in consideration for the job.

The job previously held by Nick Rallis is instead going to D.J. Eliot, who was the Temple Owls’ defensive coordinator in 2022.

Though he never overlapped with Eliot, new Eagles defensive coordinator Sean Desai obviously has ties to Temple. One would think he may still have connections to the football program that had good things to say about Eliot.

Here’s another connection related to Nick Sirianni:

Eliot, 46, has been coaching since he started out as a graduate assistant with Wyoming back in 1999. He bounced around the college landscape before finally working his way up to a defensive coordinator title in 2013. He held DC in his title with four different programs from then until last year:

• Kentucky (2013-2016) — Defensive coordinator and linebackers coach
• Colorado (2017-2018) — Defensive coordinator and linebackers coach
• Kansas (2019-2020) — Defensive coordinator
• Temple (2022) — Defensive coordinator and outsider linebackers coach

Notable players that Eliot overlapped with in the college ranks include three Kentucky alums: Za’Darius Smith, Bud Dupree, and Avery Williamson.

Though he’s never coached at the NFL level, one would think the Eagles might value Eliot’s experience calling a defense. Especially since Desai has only one year of being a DC under his belt.

As previously noted, the Eagles had an opening at linebackers coach after Jonathan Gannon hired Rallis to be his new defensive coordinator on the Arizona Cardinals. The Birds notably still have a vacancy at defensive backs coach after Dennard Wilson’s departure.