January 21, 2017
The Philadelphia Eagles are expected to hire Mike Groh as their new wide receivers coach, according to ESPN's Adam Caplan. Groh would replace former Eagles WR Greg Lewis, who was fired earlier this month after one year on the job under Doug Pederson.
#Eagles are expected to hire Mike Groh (last season #Rams passing game coordinator/WRs coach) for WRs coaching job, sources said.
— Adam Caplan (@caplannfl) January 21, 2017
Last season was Lewis' first as an NFL position coach, and after the Eagles wideouts struggled mightily – they were one of just two NFL teams without a pair of 400-yard receivers – Pederson opted to go with someone more experienced for his second year as the team's head coach.
#Eagles were looking for an experienced WRs coach; Groh coached WRs for 11 seasons (NFL-4 and college level-7).
— Adam Caplan (@caplannfl) January 21, 2017
Groh is one of the two candidates that our own Jimmy Kempski recently profiled. Here's what he had to say:
Groh was previously the wide receivers coach for the Chicago Bears (2013-2015) and the Los Angeles Rams (2016-present). He also had several jobs in college, with Alabama, Louisville, and Virginia. He is the son of former coach Al Groh, who had a long coaching career both in the NFL and at various colleges, most notably Virginia.
Unlike [Sanjay] Lal, Groh had some players to work with in Chicago. Here are the receivers with at least 500 yards in any one season under Groh's watch:
YR Player REC YDS TD '13 CHI Alshon Jeffery 89 1421 7 '13 CHI Brandon Marshall 100 1295 12 '14 CHI Alshon Jeffery 85 1133 10 '14 CHI Brandon Marshall 61 721 8 '15 CHI Alshon Jeffery 54 807 4 '16 STL Kenny Britt 68 1002 5 '16 STL Brian Quick 41 564 3 '16 STL Tavon Austin 58 509 3 As the wide receivers coach at Alabama from 2011-2012, Groh coached NFL draftees Amari Cooper and Kevin Norwood.
Yes, it's true. Groh spent three seasons as Alshon Jeffrey's position coach in Chicago. And, yes, it's also true that Alshon Jeffrey is a free agent.
I'm sure Eagles fans won't read too much into that...
[7:54 p.m.] -- The Philadelphia Inquirer's Zach Berman is confirming Caplan's original report about the Eagles hiring Groh.
Can confirm @caplannfl report that Eagles are expected to hire Mike Groh as WR coach. ...Arrives with a strong background coaching NFL WRs
— Zach Berman (@ZBerm) January 22, 2017
