After the Eagles’ preseason finale last week, Nick Sirianni was talking during his press conference about the game day operation, detailing the responsibilities of each member of his offensive staff when he broke a bit of news.
And he did it so nonchalantly.
“I thought the operation was really good,” Sirianni said after the tie against the Jets. “I was calling the play to (offensive coordinator) Shane (Steichen), Shane did a good job of getting the call in there when we’re in 2-minute situations. (Passing game coordinator) Kevin Patullo is really doing a lot of, ‘Hey, here’s our scenario of what we’re in.’ And Jim Bob Cooter is getting all the scenarios from the 2-minute around the league so we can prepare for it.”
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Jim Bob Cooter? The former Lions offensive coordinator?
Yup.
While Cooter, 37, isn’t officially listed on the Eagles’ coaching roster, Sirianni on Monday said the former NFL OC is serving as a consultant for the Eagles this season.
“Obviously, he's got a lot of experience and he's a great football mind. I think very highly of him,” Sirianni said.
NFL
“So, he's doing special projects for me and consulting here, which has been great. If I see a play or if we talk about a play that -- I just think this is really important. When you put a new play into your system that you maybe saw on tape, I think it's very easy for a coach to do that and be like, ‘Oh, I saw that on tape. This looks great. I'm just going to through it my offense.’
“Well, do you know everything there is to know about that play? I'm not saying Jim Bob knows everything there is to know about every play, but what he is able to do is while we're doing something else, he's able to go research that play. I've already seen the benefit of that with a couple new wrinkles we have in this offense.
“So really excited to have him. I haven't really ever had that on a staff, and sometimes it deters you from putting in a play that you might like. So we have really gotten a lot out of him and really excited he's here.”
Sirianni and Cooter worked together back in 2012 in Kansas City. That season, Sirianni was the Chiefs’ wide receivers coach and Cooter was a quality control coach tasked with helping Sirianni coach wideouts.
From there, Sirianni went to San Diego while Cooter went to Denver. After one year as an assistant with the Broncos, Cooter became the Lions’ quarterbacks coach for a couple seasons and then became their full-time OC from 2016-18. He spent the last two years as the Jets’ running backs coach.
During Cooter’s three full seasons as an offensive coordinator, the Lions ranked 16th in points scored and 20th in total yards. Under Cooter, former Lions quarterback Matt Stafford had four straight 4,000-yard seasons and made his only career Pro Bowl.
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