Eagles Fire Groh and Walch

Jan 10

Eagles Fire Groh and Walch

After watching the offense sputter for the better part of two seasons, the Eagles have relieved Offensive Coordinator Mike Groh and Wide Receivers Coach Carson Walch of their duties. Fans had expected them, especially Groh, to be fired after the season, but just one day before the moves were made, Head Coach Doug Pederson suggested that they’d be back for another year. That turned out to be false, and word is that CEO Jeffrey Lurie was the man who decided that a change was needed.

Groh arrived in Philadelphia as the wide receivers coach in their Super Bowl-winning season of 2017. While the Eagles did boast one of the most dangerous offenses in the league that year, that can be attributed to a top-five running game, the presence of Carson Wentz, and the presence of then-OC Frank Reich. The Eagles leading receiver that year was free-agent signee Alshon Jeffery who fell a few yards short of the 800-yard mark. Nelson Agholor led the WRs with 62 grabs. Reich’s performance was impressive enough that the Colts scooped him up as their coach, leading the Eagles to promote from within. Groh beat out Duce Staley for the OC job and the Eagles offense sputtered. After racking up 457 points in 2017, that number plummeted to 367 in 2018 and went up a little to 385 this season. Obviously, Groh had to deal with a number of unfortunate injuries, but the creativity and scheming just weren’t there.

Walch stepped into Groh’s former role this season as Wide Receivers Coach. The Eagles ended the season without their top three receivers from the beginning of the year, but the regressions of Nelson Agholor and Alshon Jeffery before their injuries were alarming. The extreme lack of development from second-round pick J.J. Arcega-Whiteside didn’t help matters either.

Early reports say that the Eagles are interested in former Colts and Lions Head Coach Jim Caldwell. Any updates on a WR coach replacement will likely come later. Philadelphia is some young talent and a credible medical staff away from returning to the NFL’s mountaintop.

-By: Micah Jimoh