Jon Embree Might be Ideal Fit as Eagles OC

Maybe the guy the team wants to be its next offensive coordinator isn't one of the popular names being reported, but a longshot candidate like the 49ers' TE coach

The Eagles didn’t wait all this time to hire Duce Staley as their offensive coordinator, did they?

It certainly would be a tough sell to fans at this point, and would feel like the Eagles were settling, even though Staley, currently the team’s running backs coach and assistant head coach, may be the perfect fit and would likely excel in the OC role.

Still, the perception would be that the Eagles failed to correctly read the offensive coordinator landscape. That they waited until the Super Bowl was over in hopes of landing Kansas City quarterbacks coach Mike Kafka or San Francisco 49ers pass game coordinator Mike LaFleur or 49ers run game coordinator Mike McDaniel.

There are reports that each of those three coaches will be blocked by their teams for interviewing for a job that isn’t considered a promotion, because the offensive coordinator’s under head coach Doug Pederson do not call plays.

Then what?

Well, here’s a longshot candidate: 49ers tight ends/assistant head coach Jon Embree.

Embree, 54, played tight end in college at the University of Colorado and was a sixth round pick of the Los Angeles Rams in 1987 and helped develop some of the best in the game as a coach at both the college level and particularly at the pro level.

We should know this week who the much-debated next OC will be. We should also know this week who will fill the other three coaching vacancies.

There are reliable reports that the defensive backs coach will be Marquand Manuel, replacing Cory Undlin, who left to become the defensive coordinator for the Detroit Lions.

Manuel, 40, was the Atlanta Falcons defensive coordinator in 2017 and 2018. He helped build the Legion of Boom in Seattle and won a Super Bowl with the Seahawks as a defensive assistant.

Matt Burke is expected to be elevated from defensive special assistant to defensive line coach to replace Phillip Daniels.

The receivers coach is still unknown.

As for Embree, look what he has done with 49ers tight end George Kittle, turning him from a rookie who had 43 catches to a player who has recorded back-to-back seasons of more than 1,000 yards receiving.

Embree, who spent two seasons as the head coach at the University of Colorado, helped Tony Gonzalez have three straight All-Pro seasons from 2006-2009 in Kansas City. He was there when Chris Cooley had his best year with the Washington Redskins and developed Cleveland’s Jordan Cameron into a tight end that had 917 yards in 2013.

In three years as tight ends coach in Tampa Bay, Embree helped Cameron Brate establish career highs in catches (57) and yards (660) with eight touchdowns, and developed Austin Sefarian-Jenkins, Brandon Myers and Alan Cross.

Well, the strength of the Eagles is their tight ends. It’s not just Zach Ertz and Dallas Goedert, but Josh Perkins and Alex Ellis, too. Plus, the Eagles play a lot of 12-personnel on offense, which means two tight ends and one back.

Who better to scheme that sort of offense than a tight ends guru?

Now, the Eagles have a tight ends coach in Justin Peelle that they like, but Peelle doesn’t have the coaching experience of Embree.

They Eagles could also do something completely unexpected and promote offensive line coach/run game coordinator Jeff Stoutland to OC or even quarterbacks coach Press Taylor.

That would seem unlikely, though hiring Embree may also be unlikely.

Embree, though, has coaching experience at a position that suits the Eagles’ strengths and would bring a fresh set of eyes to evaluate the offense and try to bring fresh thoughts and ideas, which is something the Eagles are believed to be seeking.

So maybe not as unlikely as it first may seem.