Duce Staley was an assistant to the Eagles for 10 seasons, but the franchise’s longtime running back coach landed on the Bears’ radar.
The Bears are interested in the former NFL holder who became a candidate for HC, Adam Jahns of The Athletic tweets. While Staley arrived in Philadelphia before Doug Pederson, he worked with Matt Nagyformer Chiefs co-worker for five seasons.
The Eagles will likely bring in a number of new assistants after hiring Colts OC Nick Sirianni as his replacement for Pederson. Staley was on the radar of the job Sirianni got, but it didn’t seem to gain much traction during the search in Philadelphia. He was also passed over to Philly’s OC position when the team promoted Mike Groh in 2018.
Nagy saw two of his offensive assistants – QB coach Dave Ragone and running backs coach Charles London – defect for Falcons this week. London will be Atlanta’s new QB trainer, working under the new Falcons OC Ragone. Nagy will need to replace these employees, and Staley has extensive experience as an offensive employee.
Philadelphia RB coach since 2013, Staley started his career at the level of quality control two years earlier. He worked with Pederson, Chip Kelly and Andy Reid. The Eagles chose him as head coach during Pederson’s fight against COVID-19 last summer. But with Sirianni’s arrival, it is unclear whether Staley remains on the Eagles’ plans or whether he would like to continue working as a coach for another new Eagles HC.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.