Roob's Top 10: Ranking the best assistant coaches in Eagles history

Roob's Top 10: Ranking the best assistant coaches in Eagles history originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

One of the most important tasks for any new head coach is finding the right coordinators and position coaches, and every great Eagles team hasn’t had just an outstanding head coach and talented players but great assistant coaches as well.

Our list of the top 10 assistant coaches in Eagles history includes offensive and defensive coordinators, position coaches, a special teams coach, a Hall of Famer who came out of retirement, an offensive coach who became a defensive coach, three future head coaches, a former head coach and one who was both a former and future head coach.

They were all tremendous teachers, motivators and communicators, and every one was part of some outstanding teams.

10. Juan Castillo: For the last 25 years, the Eagles have had three offensive line coaches, and all three were legends. Jeff Stoutland has been here since 2013, Howard Mudd held down the job in 2011 and 2012 and from 1998 through 2010 it was Juan Castillo, whose tenure coincided with Andy Reid’s emphasis on building around the lines. During Castillo’s 13 years as o-line coach, Tra Thomas, Shawn Andrews, Jason Peters, Jermane Mayberry and Jon Runyan went to a combined nine Pro Bowls, and the Eagles – who hadn’t had good offensive lines in a decade and a half – reached the playoffs eight times and had seven top-10 offenses. Including his three years on Ray Rhodes’ staff before he took over the o-line and his two years as defensive coordinator, Castillo spent 18 years as an assistant coach with the Eagles, 2nd-longest tenure in franchise history by a coach behind his contemporary Ted Williams, who was here from 1995 through 2014. Castillo is currently the Commanders’ tight ends coach under Ron Rivera, who he first coached with 24 years ago with the Eagles.

9. Dale Haupt: Haupt spent eight years as a defensive assistant with the Bears in the 1970s and 1980s, first under Neill Armstrong and then Mike Ditka, who brought in Buddy Ryan in 1978 as defensive coordinator. When Buddy got the Eagles job, he brought Haupt with him as defensive line coach, and Haupt quietly led one of the best defensive lines ever assembled. During Haupt’s five years under Ryan, the Eagles led the NFL in sacks (259) and takeaways (214) and ranked fifth in rush defense. Haupt helped Reggie White, Jerome Brown and Clyde Simmons take their game to all-pro levels but he also did terrific work with guys like Mike Pitts, Mike Golic and Kenny Clarke. After Ryan was fired, Haupt stayed on for four more years under Rich Kotite and even with all the top players leaving during that period as free agents, the Eagles were still first in the NFL in takeaways, second in sacks and fourth in run defense during those four seasons.

8. Duce Staley: Staley is fifth on our list of the top 10 running backs in Eagles history, and he deserves a spot on this list as well. Staley spent 10 years as an assistant coach under Andy Reid, Chip Kelly and Doug Pederson. He started out as a special teams quality control coach in 2011 but coached running backs from 2013 through 2020, and during that span the Eagles were seventh in the NFL in rushing yards and yards per carry despite an ever-changing roster of running backs – LeSean McCoy in 2013 and 2014, Darren Sproles in 2014 and 2015, Ryan Mathews in 2015 and 2016, Corey Clement, Jay Ajayi and LeGarrette Blount in 2017, Josh Adams in 2018, Miles Sanders, Boston Scott and Jordan Howard in 2019 and Sanders and Scott in 2020. Staley’s best work came in the 2017 Super Bowl season, when Clement, Ajayi, Blount, Sproles, Wendell Smallwood and Kenjon Barner combined for 2,283 scrimmage yards and then 556 more in the postseason, including 255 in the Super Bowl. Staley spent the last two years with the Lions and is now on Frank Reich’s Panthers staff.

7. Frank Reich: Frank Reich’s impact on the Eagles’ only Super Bowl championship season was immeasurable. Even though he didn’t call the plays, he was Doug Pederson’s most trusted assistant, and the offense had nearly as much of Reich’s imprint as Pederson’s. Pederson and Reich came up with the weekly game plan together, and Reich’s even-keel demeanor was the ideal balance to Pederson’s ultra-aggressive mindset. But what was most impressive about Reich’s short stint with the work he did with the quarterbacks. Reich played QB in the NFL for 14 years, and in 2016, he guided Carson Wentz to one of the better rookie years a quarterback has ever had – his 3,782 passing yards is 4th-most in NFL history by a rookie – and in 2017 he oversaw Wentz’s (brief) ascent to one of the NFL’s best as well as the transition to Nick Foles, who brilliantly carried the Eagles through the postseason and earned Super Bowl MVP honors.

6. Sid Gillman: Gillman was one of the most innovative offensive minds in NFL history long before Dick Vermeil brought him to the Eagles in 1979 at the age of 68. Gillman started coaching in 1934 at Michigan State, but he was still a terrific coach when Vermeil – who worked with Gillman on George Allen’s Rams staff in 1969 - added him to his Eagles staff to work with the offense and in particular the quarterbacks. During his three years with Gillman, Ron Jaworski had three of his best seasons, ranking fifth in the NFL in touchdown passes, making his only Pro Bowl in 1980 and leading the Eagles to their first Super Bowl. The Eagles went 33-15 during that span and reached the playoffs all three seasons. Gillman was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1983 and came out of retirement in 1985 to coach one more year on Marion Campbell’s staff.

5. Bud Carson: Carson was already a legend when he arrived in Philly in 1991. The former Marine was architect of the Steelers’ Steel Curtain defense, and he won Super Bowl rings in 1974 and 1975 with Pittsburgh. By the time Rich Kotite hired him as his defensive coordinator in 1991 – maybe the smartest thing Kotite ever did – Carson was 61 and close to retirement. But he could still coach. That 1991 Eagles defense set all kinds of records, most impressively allowing just 221 yards per game – the fewest ever allowed in a 16-game season and interestingly the fewest since Carson’s 1974 Steelers defense allowed 220. The Eagles were No. 1 both against the run and the pass in ’91, and in his four years with the Eagles, Carson’s units allowed the fewest yards in the NFL (279), led the NFL in takeaways, 3rd-down defense and opponent’s passer rating and were second in sacks.

4. Marion Campbell: OK, forget everything you know about Marion Campbell the head coach. Swampy’s .300 career winning percentage (34-80-1) including his years with the Falcons is worst in NFL history among coaches who coached at least 100 games. In his three years with the Eagles between Dick Vermeil and Buddy Ryan, the Eagles were just 17-29-1. Now let’s talk about Swamp Fox the defensive coordinator. Swampy was Vermeil’s defensive coordinator from 1977 through 1982 and during that five-year span the Eagles ranked No. 1 in points allowed (15.8 per game), first in yards allowed (287), third in run defense (120 per game), fourth in pass defense (60.9 opposing passer rating), second in yards allowed per play (4.5) and seventh in takeaways (2.6 per game). During that period, the Eagles went from a team that hadn’t reached the postseason since 1960 into one that reached the playoffs four straight years and got to its first Super Bowl. Campbell was a huge part of that transformation.

3. John Harbaugh: Harbs was always much more than a special teams coach, and you didn’t have to spend much time around the team to see it. Andy Reid – who retained Harbs from Ray Rhodes’ 1998 staff - always liked to point out how Harbs was the only other coach who worked with everybody on the team – offense, defense, young guys, veterans – and how much command he had over the entire roster. The Eagles always had one of the best special teams units in the NFL under Harbaugh, but you knew he was destined for much more. When Andy Reid moved Harbaugh to secondary coach in 2007 to show the league he knew defense, it was only a matter of time before he got a head coaching job somewhere. And with the Ravens, he’s won a Super Bowl, had just two losing seasons in 15 years and won the 10th-most postseason games in NFL history. Since 2000, Harbaugh’s teams have reached the playoffs 16 out of 23 seasons. Just a great coach, no matter who he’s coaching.

2. Jim Johnson: One of the first things Andy Reid did as Eagles head coach – and also one of the smartest – was to hire Jim Johnson and give him complete autonomy over the defense. From 1999 through 2008, the Eagles won five NFC East titles, reached five NFC Championship Games and allowed the 6th-fewest points in the NFL. They had the 2nd-most sacks in the NFL during that span (five fewer than the Steelers) and led the NFC in wins. Johnson’s defenses were at their best in the postseason. In 17 playoff games during that decade, the Eagles’ defense allowed just 15.8 points per game, a truly crazy number. And think about this: Troy Vincent, Brian Dawkins, Bobby Taylor and Jeremiah Trotter played 19 combined seasons before Johnson was their coach and never made a Pro Bowl. Playing under Johnson, they made a combined 16. A class act and one of the greatest defensive minds the league has ever seen. He’s missed every day.

1. Jeff Stoutland: During the 50 years before Jeff Stoutland joined the Eagles coaching staff, Eagles offensive linemen made a total of 20 Pro Bowls. That’s 20 in half a century. In the 10 years since he got here, they’ve also made 20. That tells you just how much of an impact Stout has made not just on the Eagles’ o-line but on the entire offense and really the entire franchise during his coaching stint under Chip Kelly, Doug Pederson and Nick Sirianni. The offensive line has been the best in the NFL since Stoutland got here, the Eagles have been to the playoffs six of those 10 years and reached two Super Bowls. They’ve had three different Pro Bowl quarterbacks since 2013 and the 4th-best offense. Stoutland’s imprint is all over this team. When Hall of Fame-caliber guys like Jason Kelce, Jason Peters and Lane Johnson swear by you, you know you’re doing something right. Stout has also held the title of running game coordinator since 2018, and it’s no coincidence the Eagles have the 5th-most rushing yards and most rushing TDs in the NFL since then. Stoutland is as old school as they get, and he drives guys hard to get the most out of them. The dude’s a legend.