Eagles' Veteran Opens Up On Wrong Coaches In Wrong Positions

Brandon Graham thinks the Eagles coaching staff took a big step forward by adding coaches like Vic Fangio and Clint Hurtt.

Eagles DE Brandon Graham / John McMullen/Eagles SI

PHILADELPHIA - My question on the core four of the Philadelphia Eagles opened a Pandora's box when Brandon Graham took the baton in a different direction.

The 15-year veteran, set to enter his final NFL season, was asked by SI.com's Eagles Today what daily life around the NovaCare Complex has been like without two of his long-time compatriots, the recently retired Jason Kelce and Fletcher Cox.

Graham mentioned he was on the phone with Cox Wednesday morning and how it was now his responsibility to help bring up the Eagles' two fledgling stars on the interior, Jordan Davis and Jalen Carter.

"I just got off the phone with Fletch, so it ain't to different right now," Graham said. "You just gotta bring up the younger guys like JC and JD. They do a good job. I can't wait for JD to get that name off him, because I see him. I see his dedication, I see what he's doing. And JC is coming along even more. Man, I'm just excited for the future for them. Them boys feeding off each other. Them boys just pushing each other. They got a good coach in Clint [Hurtt]."

Hurtt, the ex-defensive coordinator in Seattle, was brought in as Vic Fangio's senior defensive assistant and defensive line coach. Ruminating on the impact Hurtt has had on the young players got Graham thinking about last season's collapse.

"I really think that last year, that's what we didn't have," said Graham. "We didn't have all the right coaches in the right position, I would say."

The follow-ups flowed from there and Graham didnt shy away from explaining the problems.

"You just notice little stuff last year. Certain stuff you weren't on the same page about," he said. "Just here and there. Certain things would pop up, but it popped up in a big way that last game. Everything I learned, you just wanna make sure we had a proper communication, so there's real big communication going on right now within the locker room, on the field, and in the classroom.

"I don't see none of that at all. I'm more excited because he do got [defensive coordinator Vic] Fangio. Somebody experienced, real, real good. Not saying anything about the past, but you can just tell everyone is on the same page about stuff."

The knocks on former DC Sean Desai, a Fangio disciple who is now a senior defensive assistant with the Los Angeles Rams, were around his presence and how he carried himself with a veteran team. Desai had one year of coordinator experience when he got the Eagles' job after Jonathan Gannon left for Arizona.

Fangio, an Eagles' consultant leading up to Super Bowl LVII, would have been the preferred choice to succeed Gannon but the timing didn't work out and Fangio took a one-year sojourn to Miami that had its ups and downs.

Desai, meanwhile, was demoted in-season and replaced by veteran Matt Patricia, who was essentially tasked with running a system that wasn't his own and arguably made things worse.

After the 2023 season the Eagles replaced Desai, Patricia, defensive line coach Tracy Rocker, linebackers coach D.J. Eliot, and secondary coach D.J. McDonald. on the defensive side.

Fangio's reputation enters any room before the veteran DC arrives so there will be one voice moving forward and little second-guessing.

“You can just see the guys truly believing in what we’ve got going on, and I'm excited for the young guys that just came in and new rookies coming in because they’re really going to get a good shot and good taste of what it what it really is to be in the NFL," Graham said.

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