Former Eagles defensive end Kevin Johnson was found dead Wednesday at a homeless encampment in the Willowbrook area of Los Angeles, and a homicide investigation is underway, according to reports.
Los Angeles’ KABC reported that Johnson, 55, was pronounced dead at the scene after police responded to the 1300 block of East 120th Street for a report of an unconscious man. Johnson’s cause of death, according to KABC, citing L.A. County Medical Examiner records, includes “blunt head trauma” and “stab wounds.”
A fourth-round pick of the New England Patriots in 1994, Johnson was claimed by the Eagles after being waived by the Oakland Raiders in August 1995. Johnson, a Los Angeles native, played 23 games (six starts) across two seasons with the Eagles.
He recorded six sacks and appeared in both of the team’s postseason games in 1995. Johnson was released by the team in December of 1996 and later played in 15 games with the Raiders in 1997 before a stint in the Arena Football League.
Chris Coyne had a chance to win $1 million earlier this month, but that wasn’t enough to get him out of reading his son a bedtime story.
His friends were coming over the next afternoon to watch the final slate of NFL games as Coyne neared the prize. So his wife said it was his night to make sure one of their two children was sleeping.
And there was Coyne — a cell phone on his lap so he could follow the Buccaneers-Panthers game on Jan. 3 — reading The Pout-Pout Fish to 2-year-old Charlie.
“I know it by heart now, so I’m just reading it from memory and watching the phone on mute while I’m telling the story,” said Coyne, who also has an infant son named Harrison. “But I have a million dollars on the line. The Bucs missed a field goal, and I’m like, ‘Ahh.’ I had to grit it.”
It was the start of an emotional roller coaster of a weekend that ended with Coyne, a 34-year-old former walk-on for Phil Martelli at St. Joseph’s, winning the $1 million grand prize in a season-long NFL pick ’em contest run by a Las Vegas casino with 6,000 participants.
He lost a game in September when the Eagles returned a blocked field goal against the Rams, picked up a win in December when the Raiders kicked a meaningless field goal to lose by 7 points instead of 10, and then pouted through that bedtime story as the Buccaneers faded.
It was a season-long marathon. But it ended with Coyne, who lives in Brooklyn, flying to Las Vegas during the NFL’s wild-card weekend to claim his oversized check and custom blue jacket at the Circa Resort & Casino as the winner of the Circa Million VII.
“I wasn’t as dedicated to it as many others are,” said Coyne, who was at the playground with his kids when he checked his phone to see how Jordan Davis’ sprint spoiled that game against the Rams on Sept. 21.
“I joke that there were no models, no Excel spreadsheets. It’s just me changing diapers and making picks.”
A team photo of the 2012-13 St. Joe’s team with Chris Coyne (first row, third from the left).
Walk-on Hawk
Coyne was cut from the St. Joe’s basketball team as a freshman and sophomore but was certain that his junior year in 2011-12 would be different.
He could have played Division II hoops but came to Philly because his Manhattan high school followed the Jesuit educational model just like St. Joe’s. Coyne played JV ball as a freshman and sophomore for the Hawks and practiced with Martelli’s crew in the offseason.
He rode his bike home from the gym the night before tryouts and thought it was finally his chance to make the team. Then Coyne hit a curb and flew over his handlebars. His palms were gushing blood and his wrists were banged up.
“I had no skin on my hands,” Coyne said. “There it goes. There goes the dream.”
Coyne arrived early to the tryout, hoping that the Hawks athletic trainer could do something. The trainer wrapped Coyne’s hands and sent him on the court.
“I pretty much looked like a boxer,” he said.
It worked as Coyne — shooting like coaches always stressed with his fingers and not his palms — seemed to knock down everything. Maybe he should always play like a prizefighter, he thought.
Martelli called to tell him that his third try was a success: Coyne was a walk-on.
Chris Coyne played for coach Phil Martelli alongside star Langston Galloway (10) during his time with St. Joe’s.
“It was my dad’s birthday and I called him to tell him,” Coyne said. “He was the one who pushed me to see this through and not just play at the D-III level. He said, ‘This is your dream. Whether you get one minute in a game or 30 minutes, go see this through.’ I couldn’t thank him enough.”
He played two years for Martelli, who told the bench players on the “Pinnie Squad” to give it their all in practice against the starters. The reserves were a bunch of guys like Coyne, who could have played elsewhere but stayed on Hawk Hill with Martelli.
So the future $1 million NFL picker battled every day against Langston Galloway, the future NBA player. Martelli assigned his players to read articles about leadership and teamwork and preached the value of family. It was always more than basketball.
“I never felt like I was just sitting on the sidelines getting guys water,” Coyne said. “You were in the mix every day, which was really cool.”
Coyne played just 12 minutes over eight games during those two seasons. But he did knock down a three-pointer at the Palestra, entering the game late against Penn on ESPN for his first NCAA basket.
“It’s funny looking back and thinking, ‘Why would you ever be nervous?’” Coyne said. “But you’re just sitting there, you’re cold, there’s 15,000 people in the stands, and he’s going to call your name but you don’t know when it’s coming or if it’s coming. You’re just thrown out there.
“My parents were there and it was a dream come true. It was years of seeing your dream not play out the way you wanted to and then have that opportunity.”
Chris Coyne making the first and only three-pointer of his St. Joe’s career in 2013 against Penn at the Palestra.
Winning it all
Coyne entered his first football contest in 2019 after his friend Brian Hopkins signed him up during a trip to Vegas. He split that entry with Hopkins, and they met each week at a Manhattan bar after work, scribbling down the five games they liked on napkins.
The pool has a $1,000 buy-in and requires each entrant to pick five games every week against the point spread. A proxy then places the bets for them in Vegas, as more than half the players live outside Nevada.
Coyne and Hopkins decided to each enter the next season, and they developed their own strategies. Coyne stays away from Thursday nightgames as he would have to pick all five games by then instead of waiting until Saturday afternoon. The lines for every game lock on Thursday morning, which sometimes means a line could move before Coyne sends in his picks.
He didn’t watch a full NFL game until the middle of October because he was usually busy on Sundays with his kids. He read articles during the week and listened to podcasts. Picking games, Coyne learned, is less about breaking down game tape and more similar to the sales job he has on Wall Street.
“You’re aware of trends,” Coyne said. “When the public A.K.A. retail is buying a lot of stock, that’s never a good sign. Maybe in the short term it works out, but over the long term, you try to find those overreactions in the market where the public really likes a team. Especially if the public loves a team and the line is going against the public.
“That’s the biggest telltale sign right there. You have to have a process and you have to know what you’re doing, but so much of it is you have to get the breaks sometimes. The breaks went my ways sometimes.”
That bedtime story would have been a bit less stressful had the Bills converted their two-point try a week earlier against the Eagles, as Coyne would have entered the final weekend with a three-game lead.
Josh Allen and the Bills’ inability to execute a two-point conversion against the Eagles on Dec. 28 made Coyne’s road to the $1 million a little more stressful.
Coyne was in Berwyn for that game visiting the family of his wife, Maddy, which was rooting for the Birds despite knowing Coyne was in the hunt for big money.
“I’m devastated and I’m like, ‘Can’t you for one week just be on my side?” he said “But Eagles trump all in that household.”
He instead had to sweat it out. He won Saturday night with the 49ers after the Buccaneers lost and then won Sunday with the Giants but lost with the Titans and Dolphins. Coyne said he tends to pick bad teams since he’s often going against the popular choices.
The Steelers won on Sunday night, pushing the second-place entry even with Coyne. He thought they would then split the first and second prizes ($750,000 each) and went to bed disappointed.
“It was a long couple of weeks and I was football fatigued,” Coyne said. “I’m all [ticked] off. But I couldn’t complain. It was still $750,000 and it was a great season, but I didn’t know if I was getting the blue jacket. That’s what I really wanted. It’s like the Masters green.”
Coyne woke up at 5 a.m., checked his phone, and saw he finished in first place on a tiebreaker, because he had more winning weeks than the other entry. The $1 million prize was his. The blue jacket was, too.
Chris Coyne (second from the left) with his friends in Vegas on Jan. 9 after he won the $1 million prize.
Coyne flew to Vegas that weekend with his friends, received his prize, spent 30 hours at the resort, and didn’t take his blue jacket off until he got home.
It was perfect, like a walk-on hitting a three-pointer at the Palestra with his parents in the crowd.
“I spent all of November and December saying, ‘How am I going to screw this up?’” said Coyne, who finished 60-29-1 over 18 weeks. “But somehow I came out on top. It was the weekend of a lifetime.”
While the Eagles’ playoff run has long concluded, Philadelphians may notice a number of familiar faces on each team competing in the conference championships on Sunday.
From former Eagles players, coaches, and front office members to Philadelphia-area natives, all four remaining teams in the playoffs — the Seattle Seahawks, Los Angeles Rams, Denver Broncos, and New England Patriots — feature local connections.
Here are the names and faces that may ring a bell when they pop up on your television screen. In the cases of the former Eagles players on the list, we’ve also examined why they’re no longer on the team.
Seattle Seahawks
CB Josh Jobe spent two seasons with the Eagles from 2022 to 2023 and appeared in 28 games, primarily on special teams. The 2022 undrafted free agent out of Alabama served as a depth cornerback behind Darius Slay and James Bradberry, but he got buried on the depth chart and was released at the end of training camp in 2024. Jobe, now 27, signed with the Seahawks two days later and earned a starting job this season in Mike Macdonald’s defense.
Josh Jobe evolved from his special teams role with the Eagles to a starting job in Seattle.
The Seahawks often use dime packages to get Jobe, Riq Woolen, and Devon Witherspoon on the field at the same time. According to Next Gen Stats, each member of the trio has allowed less than a yard per coverage snap in dime coverage, ranking among the top five cornerbacks in the league in that metric.
Long snapper Chris Stoll spent six years at Penn State from 2017 to 2022 and played in 48 games. In 2022, he won the Patrick Mannelly Award, given to the nation’s top long snapper. Stoll signed with the Seahawks as an undrafted free agent in 2023.
Leslie Frazier has been the Seahawks’ assistant head coach since 2024, serving as a mentor to Macdonald, a first-time head coach. Frazier, 66, was the head coach of the Minnesota Vikings from 2010 to 2013 and has had multiple defensive coordinator jobs, but he got his NFL coaching start with the Eagles as the defensive backs coach from 1999 to 2002 under defensive coordinator Jim Johnson. Among the players Frazier coached with the Eagles were Brian Dawkins and Troy Vincent.
Justin Outten, 42,is a 10-year NFL coaching veteran who is in his first year as the Seahawks’ running game specialist and assistant offensive line coach. He hails from Doylestown and graduated from Central Bucks West in 2002. Outten was a center on the football team and won the state championship as a sophomore in 1999.
Los Angeles Rams
OL Dylan McMahon was the Eagles’ 2024 sixth-round pick out of N.C. State. Somewhat surprisingly, he was the only member of the 2024 draft class who did not make the team out of training camp, instead signing to the practice squad. The Rams signed McMahon to their active roster off the Eagles’ practice squad in Week 2 that year to add depth to their banged-up offensive line. He started in the 2024 season finale at center and has spent the entire 2025 season on the Rams’ practice squad.
Omar Speights emerged as a football star as a Philadelphia high schooler.
ILB Omar Speights hails from Philadelphia and played his first three years of high school football at Imhotep Charter and briefly at Northeast High School. He moved to Oregon for his senior year. Speights, 24, signed with the Rams in 2024 as an undrafted free agent out of LSU and started 16 games this season.
ILB Troy Reeder, 31, is from Hockessin, Del., approximately 10 miles west of Wilmington. He spent his college career at Penn State (2014 and 2015) and Delaware (2016 to 2018). Reeder signed with the Rams as an undrafted free agent in 2019 and won a Super Bowl with the team in 2021.
OLB Jared Verse, the 2024 defensive rookie of the year, grew up in Berwick, Columbia County. Despite playing three years of football at Central Columbia High School in Bloomsburg in northeastern Pennsylvania, Verse was not an Eagles fan (and has declared his distaste for their supporters). The Rams selected Verse 19th overall out of Florida State in 2024. He ranked second on the team in sacks this season with 7½.
Ray Farmer is in his sixth season with the Rams, his first as the senior adviser to general manager Les Snead. He was drafted by the Eagles in 1996 in the fourth round out of Duke and served in a depth role at linebacker for three seasons before suffering a career-ending knee injury. Farmer was the Cleveland Browns general manager from 2014 to 2015.
Drew Wilkins is in his first season as the Rams pass-rush coordinator. He is a Doylestown native and graduated from La Salle College High School in 2006.
Mike McGlinchey (74), pictured with Penn Charter teammates and fellow Matt Ryan cousins Jake McCain, Pat McCain, and Frank McGlinchey, is now considered one of the NFL’s best tackles.
Denver Broncos
RT Mike McGlinchey, 31, is in his third season as a starter with the Broncos and spent the first five years of his career with the San Francisco 49ers. He was born in Warrington and played football and basketball at Penn Charter. He is a cousin of Matt Ryan, the 15-year NFL quarterback who hails from Exton and also attended Penn Charter. McGlinchey was drafted by the 49ers out of Notre Dame with the No. 9 overall pick in 2018.
ILB Alex Singleton signed with the Eagles in 2019 and started 19 games (42 total appearances) in three seasons. He led the Eagles in tackles in back-to-back seasons in 2020 and 2021 (120 and 137, respectively). Singleton, now 32, signed a one-year deal with the Broncos in free agency in 2022 and has been with the team ever since. He started 16 games this season and led the team with 135 tackles, one year after suffering a season-ending ACL injury.
Sean Payton is in his third season as Broncos coach. He got his NFL coaching start with the Eagles as the quarterbacks coach from 1997 to 1998 under head coach Ray Rhodes, working with quarterbacks Ty Detmer, Bobby Hoying, Rodney Peete, and Koy Detmer. Perhaps more notably, Payton spent 15 seasons as the head coach of the New Orleans Saints from 2006 to 2021 and won the Super Bowl in the 2009 season.
Joe Vitt was hired by Payton in 2023 as a senior defensive assistant. Vitt first crossed paths with Payton on the Eagles, as the assistant was the linebackers coach in Philadelphia for four seasons from 1995 to 1998. Vitt, 71, grew up in Blackwood, N.J.
Jordon Dizon is in his first season as the Broncos director of pro personnel and his eighth with the team. Between two stints in the Broncos front office, he was a national scout for the Eagles from 2022 to 2024.
Milton Williams (93) parlayed a career season that included a Super Bowl ring into a free-agent deal with the Patriots.
New England Patriots
DT Milton Williams spent the first four years of his career with the Eagles, the team that drafted him in the third round out of Louisiana Tech in 2021. He had a breakout year in 2024, amassing a career-best five sacks in 17 games (seven starts). After winning a Super Bowl with the Eagles, he signed a four-year, $104 million contract with the Patriots in free agency, making him the second-highest-paid interior defensive lineman on an average annual basis ($26 million per year).
Williams, 26, missed five games late this season with an ankle injury, but he returned in time for the playoffs. He notched two sacks in the wild-card win over the Los Angeles Chargers.
Mack Hollins has had a nice year for a rejuvenated Patriots team but appears unlikely to play this week because of injury.
WR Mack Hollins also began his career with the Eagles, selected in the fourth round of the 2017 draft out of North Carolina. He was a member of the Eagles team that beat the Patriots in the Super Bowl that season. Since that year, the 32-year-old Hollins has been a member of four teams and joined the Patriots on a two-year deal this season. He is on injured reserve with an abdominal injury, but the Patriots opened up his practice window this week — he was listed as questionable for this weekend’s game on Friday’s injury report. Hollins had 550 yards and two touchdowns on 46 receptions in 2025, the second-best receiving total of his career.
ILB Christian Elliss spent nearly three seasons with the Eagles from 2021 to 2023. He served in a depth role, even in 2023 on a struggling defense under former defensive coordinator Sean Desai, and he appeared in 19 total games, primarily on special teams. The Eagles waived Elliss in December 2023 after signing Shaquille Leonard, and the Patriots claimed him. Elliss, 27, started 13 games this season (and played 15 games total) and ranked second on the Patriots with 94 tackles.
Christian Barmore is another former Philly high schooler who has reached the NFL pinnacle.
DT Christian Barmore grew up in Philly, starting in high school at Lincoln before transferring to Neumann Goretti. He orally committed to Temple, but he reopened his recruitment in 2017 and attended Alabama instead. Barmore was the Patriots’ second-round pick in 2021. The 26-year-old became a full-time starter this season, and had two sacks in 17 games (16 starts).
OT Caedan Wallace hails from Robbinsville, N.J., spending his high school football career at Robbinsville High School and then the Hun School. He helped the latter to three straight prep state championships (2016, 2017, 2018). Wallace, 25, played for Penn State from 2019 to 2023. He was drafted by the Patriots in the third round in 2024 and has served in a depth role over the last two seasons.
It has been nine days since the Eagles removed first-year offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo. Since then, some of the team’s prime candidates have fallen off the board.
The Athletic’s Dianna Russini first reported that former Giants head coach Brian Daboll, who the Eagles interviewed on Tuesday, is focused on the Bills’ head coaching job. If Daboll does not land in Buffalo, where he served as Josh Allen’s offensive coordinator from 2018 to 2022, he is “expected” to take over as the offensive coordinator for the Tennessee Titans, per Russini.
Former Miami Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel, another one of the Eagles’ prospective candidates, is now expected to be hired as the Los Angeles Chargers offensive coordinator, per ESPN. Meanwhile, former Cleveland Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski, a Philadelphia-area native and Penn graduate, has been hired to take over head coaching responsibilities for the Atlanta Falcons.
The Eagles have recently requested to interview 29-year-old Chicago Bears offensive coordinator Declan Doyle, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter. Doyle joins former Chiefs offensive coordinator and Bears head coach Matt Nagy, who the Eagles interviewed on Wednesday, as a prospective candidate. Additionally, former Commanders offensive coordinator and Cardinals head coach Kliff Kingsbury is still available.
With some fans growing impatient over the Eagles search and candidates falling off the board every day, local and national media members have been looking to answer: Is the job as valuable as Eagles fans believe? Why have the Eagles not hired a candidate yet? What type of coordinator should they bring in?
Local talk radio blames bad fan behavior
In late November, following the Eagles’ 24-15 loss to the Chicago Bears, Patullo’s South Jersey home was vandalized.
A video of vandals throwing eggs at Patullo’s home went viral on social media, sparking an investigation by the Moorestown Police Department. At the time, Patullo explained that he knew that “part of [his] job is to handle criticism,” but the egging of his home “obviously cross[ed] a line.”
Now, 94 WIP host Joe DeCamara is wondering if the that has turned likely candidates away from the Eagles job.
“Every coordinator in football knows it. Every one. And you know who also knows it? The wives of the candidates,” DeCamara said. “Because when the wives talk to the candidates, the men who are their husbands, it’s ‘OK we’ve got seven openings, maybe there’s four we’re interested in, honey let’s put together pros and cons, let’s put the ledger on a piece of paper.’
“There’s pros here. Three guys in the last three years have gotten a head coaching job here. Two on offense, one on defense. There’s a lot of success here. A lot on the pro side of the ledger. But don’t kid yourself. Those kids that egged the house, that is a [expletive] setback in hiring a coordinator. The wives know the last guy’s house got egged. That’s tough, man. That’s tough for the dude who’s going to be OC, tough for the wife.”
Joe DeCamara on the impact of Kevin Patullo hate in the Eagles OC search:
"Those kids that egged the house, that is a frickin setback in hiring a coordinator, because the wives know that the last guy's house got egged." pic.twitter.com/zIfEB1IkBm
Russini argued on WIP earlier this week that the Eagles’ job may come with too many “hard decisions,” leading to candidates not ranking it first among their available options.
“I don’t [think the Eagles offensive coordinator job is an attractive job]. I think coordinators that are on this list are aware that navigating Philly is difficult because of the way it’s set up right now — who’s on the team and really what it’s going to look like in the next few months,” Russini said.
“I think this offseason, of any team right now in the NFL, I think this Eagles group has to probably do the biggest revamp of figuring out what they are. … What is going to come with it are some hard decisions and figuring out who wants to be there and maybe perhaps who they need to bring in.”
Dianna Russini does not view the Eagles’ vacant offensive coordinator position as an attractive opening. 😳
“I think coordinators on this list are aware that navigating Philly is difficult, and it’s not the easiest place to step into—especially if you’re looking for a successful… pic.twitter.com/qISVCVmqeG
The Eagles have 10 free agents on offense, including tight end Dallas Goedert, wide receiver Jahan Dotson, and tackle Fred Johnson. Additionally, there has been a lot of dialogue around whether the Eagles will bring back star wideout A.J. Brown, who has made his frustration well known throughout the season.
Chris Long, Brandon Graham want a ‘Vic Fangio’ on offense
Eagles past and present are also weighing in on the team’s coordinator vacancy.
On The Rich Eisen Show, former Eagles defensive end and Super Bowl LII champion Chris Long urged his former squad to hire a “cheat code” at offensive coordinator.
“You need to hire a cheat code offensive coordinator. We talk about this thing a lot — bring somebody out of retirement, or find somebody who’s aged out,” said Long. “Find yourself a [former Saints and Raiders coach] Dennis Allen, because you have one on defense and his name’s Vic Fangio. He’s not getting a head coaching job. He doesn’t want one.”
Long went on to explain that the Eagles should hire a coordinator who will not leave for a head coaching vacancy to assist Hurts’ further development. Famously, Hurts has had nine offensive coordinators in 10 years, a trend dating to his time at Alabama.
Meanwhile Eagles legend Brandon Graham, who came out of retirement to play for the team this past season, seems to agree.
“I feel like you got to have someone that’s experienced,” Graham said on his podcast. “I like what someone said about a Vic Fangio [on offense] … You really do have to have that command. Because if A.J. [Brown], and all the guys that [were], you know, disgruntled last year, we got to get everybody believing it. …
“I think a veteran person, or someone that got respect in the league will just have everybody kind of [have a] change in belief and get a re-energized feeling.”
Laila Edwards, the first Black player to make the U.S. women’s Olympic hockey team, could become one of the breakout stars of the upcoming Winter Olympics in Milan and Cortina, Italy.
She’s also from Cleveland Heights, Ohio, the hometown of Jason and Travis Kelce. The brothers experimented with hockey growing up before committing to football, and they remain fans of the game.
In November 2023, when Edwards first made the women’s national team, they gave her a shout-out on New Heights.
“I thought, ‘I’ll just message them thanking them, they’ll never see it,’” Edwards told People. “And then Travis and I had a full conversation over DM, and that was super cool. He was a really down-to-earth, humble guy who was super supportive and had really good things to say. They shouted me out again recently for making the Olympic team.”
Their support didn’t end there. Edwards told People that Travis made a large donation to her family’s GoFundMe page, which has raised over $50,000 to help her family fly to Milan to support her and the U.S. women’s national team.
Kylie Kelce will be on-site in Milan, after NBC named her as part of its Creator Collective. Jason and Kylie attended the Paris Olympics, and supported field hockey, volleyball, and women’s rugby. This time, Edwards hopes to see them at some of her games.
“Travis was saying that Jason and Kylie are big fans of mine, and I’m hoping to meet them all in Italy,” Edwards said.
Jason and Travis Kelce did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Eagles reportedly are going to be on the market for a new defensive backs coach.
Christian Parker, who has served in that role with the Eagles under Vic Fangio for the last two seasons, is expected to become the next Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator, according to multiple reports.
Parker, 34, had become a hot commodity this offseason, as he was also reportedly slated to interview for the Green Bay Packers’ defensive coordinator vacancy. He has risen quickly through the ranks, as he began his NFL coaching career with the Packers seven years ago as a defensive quality control coach.
In 2021, Parker joined Fangio’s staff with the Denver Broncos as defensive backs coach and followed him to the Eagles in 2024. Parker also held the title of passing game coordinator with the Eagles.
The Cowboys are working to hire Christian Parker as their defensive coordinator, sources tell me and @RapSheet.
Just 34 years old, Parker spent the past two seasons as passing game coordinator/DBs coach under Vic Fangio with the Eagles. Now gets his first DC job in the NFC East. pic.twitter.com/boxhtCnEvk
In a short stint in Philadelphia, Parker helped develop a pair of young, standout cornerbacks in Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean. The second-year players earned their first All-Pro and Pro Bowl nods under Parker this season.
The Eagles have boasted a strong secondary with Parker at the helm for the last two years. Last season, the Eagles defense conceded the fewest passing yards in the league (174.2 per game) and the sixth-fewest passing touchdowns (22). In 2025, the Eagles allowed the eighth-fewest passing yards (189.8) and the fewest passing touchdowns (14).
“I could say a lot of things about him, what he’s meant to me and Q, too,” DeJean said at locker clean out on Jan. 12. “We’ve had a routine of me and Q go meet with him two or three times a week just to go over the team we’re playing. Talk about different looks.
“I don’t think I’d be the player I am or I’d have the success that I’ve had without him. He’s poured a lot into me and Q, too, ever since we got here. I appreciate him for that. Not everybody notices him, and he doesn’t get the recognition that I think he should. But him and [safeties] coach [Joe] Kasper, what those guys mean to us in the DB room, how they coach, the intensity they bring, the passion they have for the game, means a lot to us. Doesn’t go unnoticed.”
Parker reportedly will replace Matt Eberflus, whom the Cowboys fired in January after one season leading one of the worst defenses in the organization’s history.
The Eagles could promote internally to replace Parker. Kasper is in his second stint with the Eagles, rejoining the staff in 2024 to serve as safeties coach. He had previously worked with Fangio in 2023 in the same role with the Miami Dolphins.
Kasper began his NFL coaching career with the Eagles in 2021 as a defensive quality control coach, a position he held for two seasons.
One by one, offensive coordinator candidates that have been tied to the Eagles have been taken off the big board.
The latest is Zac Robinson, who is finalizing a deal, according to multiple reports, to be the next coordinator in Tampa. Robinson, who interviewed with the Eagles, joins Mike McDaniel, who talked to the Eagles, as candidates who are no longer in the pool. McDaniel will head west to the Los Angeles Chargers.
Another name to potentially cross off is Brian Daboll, who, according to The Athletic, wants to be the next head coach of the Buffalo Bills and otherwise plans to head to Tennessee to be the offensive coordinator under new defensive-minded head coach Robert Saleh.
The Eagles are the only team that didn’t make a head coaching change to still have an offensive coordinator opening. Eight teams that fired their head coach still have an opening at offensive coordinator.
Who’s left among the candidates the Eagles either interviewed or planned to? Another name popped up on the list Thursday morning. Let’s start there …
Declan Doyle
The Eagles, according to ESPN, requested to interview the 29-year-old Chicago Bears’ offensive coordinator. Doyle was hired by Ben Johnson last offseason after serving as the tight ends coach in Denver for the previous two seasons. The Iowa native and 2018 Iowa graduate worked as a student assistant with the Hawkeyes from 2016 to 2018 and then was an offensive assistant with the New Orleans Saints from 2019 to 2022. Talk about a fast riser.
Johnson, of course, has a big hand in the offense and calls plays for the Bears. But Doyle had a hand in the Bears’ sixth-ranked offense by yards per game. Chicago was 32nd a year ago. Johnson gets a lot of credit for that, but Doyle’s role can’t be discounted.
Doyle has never been a play-caller, which makes him an outlier among the other candidates the Eagles have been in contact with. The Eagles seem to be targeting coaches with more experience than Doyle, but there is value in meeting and talking to a young coach like him. Even if it’s not for this job at this juncture.
Jim Bob Cooter
Cooter was a consultant when Nick Sirianni first got the Eagles job in 2021 and has been Shane Steichen’s offensive coordinator in Indianapolis since 2023. The Eagles, according to Sports Illustrated, interviewed Cooter on Friday. Like Doyle in Chicago, Cooter does not call plays for the Colts, which is why the Eagles job would be a promotion.
Brian Daboll was one of Jalen Hurts many offensive coordinators over the years. The pair was together during the 2017 Alabama season.
Brian Daboll
It’s still worth putting Daboll here, despite the report from The Athletic. Until a deal is done, he’s still a candidate. The Eagles, sources said, interviewed Daboll on Tuesday. Daboll was most recently the head coach of the New York Giants, a position he was fired from in November. Daboll wants to be in Buffalo probably for a few reasons: He’s from the area, and his best stretch of coaching came as the OC in Buffalo, where he helped develop Josh Allen.
The Eagles, NFL insider Jordan Schultz reported a few days ago, plan to interview Grizzard, who was let go by Tampa Bay. Grizzard, 35, was the offensive coordinator for one season after joining the Bucs in 2024 as a passing game coordinator. Before Tampa Bay, Grizzard worked with McDaniel in Miami and was with the Dolphins during stints with Adam Gase and Brian Flores, too.
Mike Kafka
The Eagles have already interviewed Kafka, who was Daboll’s coordinator in New York before taking over as interim head coach. Kafka is a familiar name around here, having spent two seasons as a backup quarterback after the Eagles selected him in the fourth round of the 2010 draft. During his 10-year coaching career, Kafka has spent time with Patrick Mahomes in Kansas City. He was Mahomes’ quarterbacks coach from 2018 to 2021.
Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Matt Nagy (left) has been with Andy Reid for most of his career, starting as an intern in Philadelphia.
Matt Nagy
The Eagles interviewed Nagy on Wednesday, according to sources. Kansas City just hired his replacement in Eric Bieniemy. Nagy, unlike in Kansas City, would call plays with the Eagles. Nagy, who went to high school in Lancaster County and attended the University of Delaware, got his start in the NFL as an intern under Andy Reid with the Eagles in 2008. Nagy followed Reid to Kansas City, then returned to the Chiefs after his four-year stint as the head coach of the Bears. He had been the Chiefs’ offensive coordinator for the last three seasons.
Bobby Slowik
The Eagles, according to ESPN, requested to interview Slowik, Miami’s senior passing game coordinator. Slowik is another branch on the Shanahan tree. He worked with the Shanahans in Washington from 2011 to 2013 and then was a Pro Football Focus analyst. Kyle Shanahan hired Slowik in 2017 as a defensive quality control coach in San Francisco. Slowik jumped to the offensive side of the ball with the 49ers in 2019. He was the passing game coordinator for the 2022 season before Houston hired him to be its offensive coordinator in 2023. He held that position and called plays for two seasons.
Charlie Weis Jr.
It’s unclear if the Eagles have interviewed Weis, who helped Lane Kiffin run an explosive Ole Miss offense that has been at or near the top of the NCAA rankings in offense the last few seasons. They at least reportedly had interest in Weis, who will join Kiffin in his same role at LSU.
Staff writer Jeff McLane contributing reporting to this story.
Vic Fangio could be going home with some hardware in February, just not the Lombardi Trophy.
The Eagles defensive coordinator is a finalist for the Associated Press assistant coach of the year award for a second consecutive season. Fangio, 67, is one of five finalists, along with Minnesota’s Brian Flores, Denver’s Vance Joseph, Seattle’s Klint Kubiak, and New England’s Josh McDaniels.
The winner will be announced at the NFL Honors ceremony on Feb. 5 in San Francisco, three days before the Super Bowl.
Fangio was the maestro behind another dominant Eagles defense in his second season with the team. The group finished tied for fifth in points against (19.3 points per game allowed). No team in the league conceded fewer passing touchdowns (14).
He helped his players garner leaguewide recognition, too. Cornerbacks Cooper DeJean and Quinyon Mitchell earned their first All-Pro and Pro Bowl honors in their second seasons. Linebacker Zack Baun and defensive tackle Jalen Carter also earned Pro Bowl distinctions for a second straight year.
Fangio, who hails from Dunmore, Pa., won the assistant coach of the year award in 2018, his fourth and final season as Chicago Bears defensive coordinator, a position he left at the end of that season to become the head coach of the Denver Broncos.
🏈Ravens: Jesse Minter 🏈Giants: John Harbaugh 🏈Falcons: Kevin Stefanski 🏈Dolphins: Jeff Hafley 🏈Titans: Robert Saleh 🏈Bills: 🏈Steelers 🏈Browns 🏈Cardinals 🏈Raiders
In his second season with the Eagles, DeJean earned an Associated Press first-team All-Pro nod alongside his teammate, rookie Quinyon Mitchell.
Eagles reporter Jeff McLane wrote it was “only a matter of time” before the Eagles lost Parker, noting players “hold him in high regard.”
In landing the job, Parker beat out another former Eagles coach who interviewed for the Cowboys’ defensive coordinator position – Jonathan Gannon, who is on the job market after being fired as the head coach of the Arizona Cardinals.
Cowboys hire Eagles defensive coach Christian Parker: reports
Christian Parker has served as the Eagles’ defensive backs coach under defensive coordinator Vic Fangio the past two years.
The Eagles are reportedly set to be on the market for a new defensive backs coach.
Christian Parker, who has served in the role under Vic Fangio for the last two seasons, is expected to become the next Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator, according to multiple reports.
Parker, 34, had become a hot commodity this offseason, as he was also reportedly set to interview for the Green Bay Packers’ defensive coordinator vacancy.
In a short span, Parker has helped develop a pair of young, standout cornerbacks in Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean. Both players earned their first All-Pro and Pro Bowl nods under Parker this season in just their second years.
Parker will reportedly replace Matt Eberflus, whom the Cowboys fired in January after one season at the helm of one of the worst defenses in the organization’s history.
Brandon Graham thinks Birds need an ‘experienced’ offensive coordinator
Eagles defensive end Brandon Graham.
Eagles players past and present are among those weighing in on the team’s coaching vacancy.
On The Rich Eisen Show, former Eagles defensive end and Super Bowl 52 champion Chris Long urged his former squad to hire a “cheat code” at offensive coordinator.
“You need to hire a cheat code offensive coordinator. We talk about this thing a lot – bring somebody out of retirement, or find somebody who’s aged out,” said Long. “Find yourself a [former Saints and Raiders coach] Dennis Allen, because you have one on defense, and his name’s Vic Fangio. He’s not getting a head coaching job. He doesn’t want one.”
Long later explained that the Eagles should hire a coordinator who will not leave for a head coaching vacancy to assist Hurts’ further development. Famously, Hurts has had nine offensive coordinators in ten years, a trend spanning back to his time at Alabama.
Meanwhile Eagles legend Brandon Graham, who came out of retirement to play for the team last season, seems to agree.
“I feel like you got to have someone that’s experienced,” Graham said on his podcast. “I like what someone said about a Vic Fangio [on offense] … You really do have to have that command. Because if A.J. [Brown] and all the guys that [were], you know, disgruntled last year, we got to get everybody believing it. …
“I think a veteran person, or someone that got respect in the league will just have everybody kind of [have a] change in belief and get a re-energized feeling.”
— Conor Smith
// Timestamp 01/22/26 12:49pm
Resetting the Eagles’ options at offensive coordinator
Colts offensive coordinator Jim Bob Cooter was a consultant when Nick Sirianni first got the Eagles job in 2021.
One by one, offensive coordinator candidates that have been tied to the Eagles have been taken off the big board.
The latest is Zac Robinson, who is finalizing a deal, according to multiple reports, to be the next coordinator in Tampa. Robinson, who interviewed with the Eagles, joins Mike McDaniel, who talked to the Eagles, as candidates who are no longer in the pool. McDaniel will head west to the Los Angeles Chargers.
Another name to potentially cross off is Brian Daboll, who, according to The Athletic, wants to be the next head coach of the Buffalo Bills and otherwise plans to head to Tennessee to be the offensive coordinator under new defensive-minded head coach Robert Saleh.
The Eagles are the only team that didn’t make a head coaching change to still have an offensive coordinator opening. Eight teams that fired their head coach still have an opening at offensive coordinator.
Who’s left among the candidates the Eagles either interviewed or planned to? Another name popped up on the list Thursday morning. Let’s start there …
Eagles will reportedly interview Bears offensive coordinator Declan Doyle
Bears offensive coordinator Declan Doyle.
Add the NFL’s youngest offensive coordinator to the list of coaching candidates the Eagles are considering.
The Birds, according to ESPN, requested to interview the 29-year-old Chicago Bears’ offensive coordinator. Doyle was hired by Ben Johnson last offseason after serving as the tight ends coach in Denver for the previous two seasons. The Iowa native and 2018 Iowa grad worked as a student assistant with the Hawkeyes from 2016 to 2018 and then was an offensive assistant with the New Orleans Saints from 2019 to 2022. Talk about a fast riser.
Johnson, of course, has a big hand in the offense and calls plays for the Bears. But Doyle had a hand in the Bears’ sixth-ranked offense by yards per game. Chicago was 32nd a year ago. Johnson gets a lot of credit for that, but Doyle’s role can’t be
Doyle has never been a play-caller, which makes him an outlier among the other candidates the Eagles have been in contact with. The Eagles seem to be targeting coaches with more experience than Doyle, but there is value in meeting and talking to a young coach like him. Even if it’s not for this job at this juncture.
Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie (left) and general manager Howie Roseman, seen here during the 2024 season.
The Eagles are the only team with an existing head coach that is still searching for an offensive after the Buccaneers reportedly hired Zac Robinson (whom the Eagles also interviewed).
The other four teams that made an offensive coordinator change this offseason: Lions (Drew Petzing), Chargers (Mike McDaniel), Chiefs (Eric Bienemy), Commanders (David Blough).
There remain eight teams that have fired their head coach that still have offensive coordinator openings. Five – the Cardinals, Bills, Browns, Steelers, Ravens, and Raiders – have yet to hire head coaches, while the Dolphins and Titans have hired head coaches Jeff Hafley and Robert Saleh, who have yet to fill their offensive coordinator spots.
The Giants, with new head coach John Harbaugh, will reportedly have Todd Monken as offensive coordinator. The Falcons, with Kevin Stefanski, will have Tommy Rees.
Another candidate passes on the Eagles as Zac Robinson lands with the Bucs
Staying in the NFC South: Buccaneers are finalizing a deal to hire Falcons offensive coordinator Zac Robinson as their offensive coordinator, per sources. pic.twitter.com/Hljnyl9vGE
Latest on Eagles’ search for a new offensive coordinator
The Eagles interviewed former Chiefs offensive coordinator Matt Nagy Wednesday.
It’s been about a week since the Eagles moved on from offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo, and the Birds have been busy interviewing potential replacements.
They just don’t seem to be having much luck landing their top candidates.
Here are the offensive coordinator candidates the Eagles have already reportedly interviewed or are scheduled to meet with:
Brian Daboll: The former Giants head coach, reportedly at the top of the Eagles’ wish list, interviewed with team Tuesday, according to Jeff McLane. But Daboll is expected to land in either Buffalo or Tennessee.
Zac Robinson: The former Falcons offensive coordinator was the first candidate interviewed by the Eagles, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter. But he reportedly will fill the vacant offensive coordinator job with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Josh Grizzard: The former Buccaneers offensive coordinator interviewed with the Birds Monday, according to Jordan Schultz.
Mike Kafka: The former interim head coach and offensive coordinator of the Giants interviewed with the Birds Saturday, according to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler.
Jim Bob Cooter: The Colts offensive coordinator and one-time Birds assistant also interviewed with the Eagles Saturday, according to multiple reports. Colts head coach and former Birds offensive coordinator Shane Steichen is open to letting Cooter pursue an opportunity to call plays, according to Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer.
Bobby Slowik: The Eagles planned to interview the former Dolphins pass game coordinator, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter. It’s unclear if he’s met yet with the Birds.
The defense was a strength for the Eagles for most of the 2025 season, though not so much in their playoff loss to the San Francisco 49ers.
The Eagles got to 11-6 and won the NFC East in part because of their ability to win low-scoring games. Their defense bailed out the offense in a few marquee victories, like their 10-7 win over Green Bay, their 16-9 victory over Detroit, and when they squeaked by Buffalo, 13-12.
Vic Fangio’s unit lost a few key players from 2024 and dealt with an injured Jalen Carter, but still managed to finish fifth in points allowed per game despite a pretty tough schedule.
What does that mean for 2026, with a handful of key players set to be back? Here’s one compelling advanced stat for each starter, the second in a two-part series that previously analyzed the offense:
Quinyon Mitchell developed into one of the premier corners in the league in his second season.
Quinyon Mitchell
Let’s start with Mitchell, a first-team All-Pro selection in his second NFL season.
Mitchell emerged as one of the best cover corners in the NFL in 2025, as evidenced by his 42.4% catch percentage allowed, according to Next Gen Stats, a mark that led all corners who played a full season. Mitchell is so good it’s worth including another number: He led all NFL corners with an average target separation of 1.8 yards.
If you were ranking the list of spots on the depth chart you were least worried about, CB1 would probably be at the top.
Cooper DeJean dominated the slot during an All-Pro season.
Cooper DeJean
From one All-Pro to another. DeJean was named first-team All-Pro at nickel, and it’s worth noting that because that distinction is a key one. The Eagles like DeJean in the slot, and DeJean said it’s a spot he’d probably like to remain in.
Why? There’s enough data out there now to suggest that it’s his best spot.
After logging just nine snaps at outside corner during his rookie season (1.5% of his total snaps), DeJean, whom the Eagles kept on the field in their base package, aligned outside on 30.1% of his snaps in 2025.
He fared much better in the slot, where he allowed a .574 completion percentage and 5.9 yards per target, according to Next Gen. Both of those numbers ranked well below the league-average marks of .695 and 6.8, respectively. DeJean allowed a similar .588 completion percentage when he lined up outside, but his 10.9 yards per target ranked seventh among defenders to have faced at least 15 such targets. He was susceptible to the deep ball when facing top receivers outside.
We’ll count Jackson as a starter since the Eagles played more nickel than base and needed another outside corner not named DeJean on the field quite often.
It wasn’t always Jackson’s job. The second cornerback spot was a position with a lot of intrigue in training camp and even early in the season. It was Jackson’s job, then it wasn’t, then it was again.
Jackson was targeted at a higher clip (26.5% of his coverage snaps) through the first eight weeks of the season than any other cornerback in the NFL. After that, though, Jackson was targeted on just 16.5% of his coverage snaps while allowing a completion percentage of .585, slightly below the league average. He did not give up a touchdown during his last five games of the regular season or the playoff game.
Jackson, 30, is a free agent, and the Eagles may need a new cornerback opposite Mitchell next season. But Jackson’s play showed that even an aging and average player can be put in that spot, and the defense won’t fall apart, regardless of the preseason narrative about a certain spot on the depth chart.
Zack Baun generally lived up to his rich new contract in 2025.
Zack Baun
Baun proved he wasn’t a one-year wonder in his second season with the Eagles, who plucked him out of free agency last offseason and turned a player who had mostly been an edge rusher and special teamer into one of the best off-ball linebackers in the NFL.
Baun didn’t earn All-Pro honors like he did in 2024, but he was still really good in 2025. While his tackle total dropped from 151 to 123, his pass deflection number rose from four to seven, and he intercepted two passes in 2025, up from one in 2024. Pro Football Focus ranked Baun as the fifth-best linebacker in the NFL, and the second-best coverage linebacker.
His ability to cover ground may be his best trait. Baun was seventh in the NFL with 17 hustle stops, which Next Gen Stats defines as a tackle during a successful defensive play when a player covers 20-plus yards of distance from snap to tackle.
A quality 2025 season will serve Nakobe Dean well in his next contract.
Nakobe Dean
Has Dean played his last game with the Eagles? And, to that end, can Jihaad Campbell replace Dean’s production?
Because Dean was pretty productive in 2025 after he worked his way back onto the field after surgery to repair a patellar tendon injury, which he suffered in the wild-card round a year ago.
This is what the Eagles could be asking Campbell to replace should Dean not return: Dean’s catch percentage allowed of just 58.3% on targets ranked third among all NFL linebackers who played at least 200 snaps in coverage, according to Next Gen. And Dean was even better as a blitzer: He led all linebackers with a 40.7% pressure rate on his 27 pass rushes and got home for four sacks.
Injuries prevented Jalen Carter from demonstrating his full effectiveness for the NFC East champs.
Jalen Carter
The Eagles will be hoping Carter’s step back is easily explained by the shoulder injuries that limited his production and caused him to miss three games after undergoing procedures on both shoulders in late November.
Carter, according to Next Gen, had a career-low 7.7% pressure rate on the year despite facing fewer double teams (41.7%) than he ever has. Carter generated five pressures against 158 double teams after tallying 12 in 2023 and 15 in 2024. His average time to sack also dropped to 5.32 seconds from 4.85 year over year.
Notably, after Carter returned following his three-game break, he had five pressures and a sack vs. Buffalo and the same output in the playoff loss vs. San Francisco.
Will the shoulder injuries be revisited in the offseason? Will Carter’s slide allow the Eagles to secure him on a long-term deal at a lower price? Lots of intrigue there.
The emergence of Jordan Davis was one of the Eagles’ best stories of the year.
Jordan Davis
Davis was a revelation for the Eagles in 2025, and a big reason that the defense was so successful even as Carter’s play declined a bit.
Davis showed up to camp in much better shape and improved his play in every area. Mainly relied on as a run stopper in the past, Davis showed his pass rushing chops in 2025. Entering the year, Davis had just 3½ sacks on 559 pass rushes through his first three NFL seasons. This season, Davis racked up 4½ sacks on 355 pass rushes.
The run-stopping ability didn’t go away even though he showed up in July a little more svelte. Davis, according to Next Gen, had a career-high 50 run stops (run defenses that result in a negative play for the offense), which was second among all defensive linemen this season.
Davis is in line for an extension, and his play in 2025 earned him a big new deal that will probably come from the Eagles.
Jaelan Phillips played well but was not a sack machine for the Eagles.
Jaelan Phillips
Phillips helped steady the Eagles’ pass rush after he joined the team at the trade deadline, but while he and Jalyx Hunt formed an elite pass-rushing duo — their 61 combined pressures from Week 10 through Week 17 ranked fourth during that span — he had trouble converting his pressures into sacks.
Phillips led the Eagles with 34 pressures after joining the team, but he turned just two of those into a sack. His 5.9% pressure-to-sack conversion rate, according to Next Gen, ranked 10th-lowest among 97 defenders to have generated at least 15 pressures after the trade deadline. Some of that is bad luck. Fangio talks often about the importance of pressures and not getting too hyper-focused on sack numbers.
But the Eagles need a top-end talent at the top of the depth chart to pair with Hunt since Phillips is a free agent. Phillips wants to be back. Is the feeling mutual? We’ll see when free agency arrives.
Jalyx Hunt made an impact as a member of the linebacker rotation in 2025.
Jalyx Hunt
Hunt became the first player in Eagles history to lead the team in sacks (6½) and interceptions (3).
That’s an impressive stat, but this is a compilation of advanced numbers, so let’s point to this one instead: Hunt ranked seventh among all edge rushers who had at least 100 pass rushing snaps with a quarterback pressure rate of 17.3%.
The 2024 third-round pick broke out in a big way in his second NFL season, and the Eagles used his safety background to drop him into coverage with success.
Reed Blankenship was a team leader but the record shows that he struggled at times in coverage.
Reed Blankenship
Blankenship has been a leader on the defense for the last few seasons, but he’s now a free agent and it’s fair to wonder if he’ll be back next season.
Blankenship has been solid against the run, but he’s not great in pass coverage when he’s targeted. After a 2024 season in which he ranked fifth-worst among safeties with at least 500 coverage snaps with an 81.3% completion percentage allowed, Blankenship had the eighth-worst passer rating allowed (116.8) in 2025, according to Pro Football Focus.
It’s unclear what Blankenship’s market will look like in free agency, but it’s a position the Eagles could probably stand to upgrade.
Drew Mukuba’s return from a broken fibula figures to be a training camp storyline.
Drew Mukuba
Mukuba’s first season in the NFL was incomplete. The second-round pick was lost for the season after suffering a fractured fibula in the waning moments of a Week 12 loss to Dallas.
Mukuba wasn’t targeted often in coverage. Before his injury, he was targeted on just 4.2% of his snaps, according to Next Gen. That ranked fifth-lowest among all defenders in the NFL with a minimum of 150 coverage snaps. But when he was targeted, it was on deep balls. He had the fifth-highest total in yards per target allowed (13.5).
