With Robert Saleh and Arthur Smith now off the list of available coaches, there are still some good candidates remaining. The one at the top of my list is Panthers offensive coordinator Joe Brady. The Eagles have already conducted one interview with Brady this past Wednesday, but we have not heard much more regarding his chances at the job.

Before his first year with the Carolina Panthers this season, the 31-year old Brady spent time with LSU in 2019, and the New Orleans Saints from 2017-2018. Many believe that Brady is one of the brightest up-and-coming offensive minds in the NFL.

The Ja’Marr Chase Connection

The one big name relevant to the current state of the Philadelphia Eagles is LSU wide receiver, Ja’Marr Chase. Joe Brady played a big part of the 2019 LSU Tigers as their wide receiver coach and passing game coordinator. In his final year with the Tigers, Chase had the best season of his career catching 84 passes for 1,780 yards and 20 TDs. This was all while playing alongside Justin Jefferson and the rest of the LSU offense, which could be the best college team of all time. I would have to imagine that if Brady is hired as the Eagles head coach, he would be pounding the table for Ja’Marr Chase.

Vikings rookie Pro Bowl wide receiver Justin Jefferson recently talked about how much Brady has helped his game translate to the NFL at LSU. In his rookie year with the Vikings, Jefferson caught 84 passes for 1,800 yards and had 7 TD’s.

Production from the wide receiver position has been a problem for the Eagles as they have not had a receiver go over 1,000 yards since Jeremy Maclin in 2014, yes 2014. Brady has a great track record with wide receivers and setting them up to succeed. As the Carolina Panthers’ Offensive Coordinator Brady showed signs of success even with their star running back Christian McCaffrey only playing three games. Let’s take a look at the the Panthers’ offensive stats from last season.

21st in Total Offense: 349.5 yards per game

18th in Passing Offense: 243.0 yards per game

21st in Rushing Offense: 106.5 yards per game

24th in Scoring Offense: 21.9 points per game

24th in 3rd Down Offense: 38.9%

28th in Red Zone Scoring: 50.8%

Losing McCaffrey played a huge part in why Brady and the Panther’s offense didn’t pan out as expected, but they did have four players over 1,000 yards from scrimmage. Those players were running back Mike Davis, and receivers DJ Moore, Curtis Samuel, and Robby Anderson. Brady was able to spread the ball around to try and make up for the loss of McCaffrey. Brady also had to make the most out of Teddy Bridgewater, who threw only 15 touchdowns and had 11 interceptions.

“All-Star” Coaching Staff?

On Friday, Adam Caplan of the Inside the Birds podcast revealed that Joe Brady has plans of an “all-star” coaching staff if hired by any team.

“I’ve heard Joe Brady through the coaching grapevine around the league, just talking to guys this week he’s put together an all-star cast of guys he wants on his list. I don’t know if he’s going to get it. But talked to two or three coaches who know him who say this list is phenomenal. Again, you better have a detailed list, because you can’t get everybody you want.”

As Caplan explains, obviously it would be hard for Brady to get every single coach that he wants, but this definitely should’ve caught the eye of Eagles owner Jeffery Lurie. Lurie has always wanted a top 5 offense and it was clear that he didn’t like Doug Pederson’s plans going forward. If he wants to take a page out of the Rams book and sign a young rising coach like Sean McVay, Joe Brady is their guy.

Mandatory Credit: Hilary Scheinuk