Eagles lose key member of coaching staff

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Winning a Super Bowl doesn't come without a cost. 

With confetti still being cleaned off Broad Street from Thursday's parade, the Vikings are hiring away a key member of the Eagles' coaching staff.

Eagles quarterbacks coach John DeFilippo is going to be Minnesota's new offensive coordinator, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter. DeFilippo will take over for Pat Shurmur, who left the position to become the Giants' head coach. 

While preparing to face the Patriots, DeFilippo already knew the Super Bowl could be his last game with the Eagles. 

"You know what, my focus right now is I'm just concerned about this game on Sunday," DeFilippo said last week. "That's my 100 percent focus."

Losing the 39-year-old DeFilippo is going to be tough for the Eagles. Not only did he help Carson Wentz become a possible league MVP in Year 2, but then also helped prepare Nick Foles to take over and become Super Bowl MVP. 

"He grinds," Foles said about DeFilippo toward the end of the season. "He puts us through some stuff, which is awesome.

"He's a great coach. I know he's focused on us right now, but I also know he's going to be a great head coach someday, and I'm excited for his opportunity."

The Eagles thought enough of DeFilippo last offseason that they blocked him from interviewing for the Jets' offensive coordinator position. But this offseason, his contract was up, so the Eagles couldn't stop him from leaving. 

For a while, it actually seemed like DeFilippo might have a chance to become a head coach. The Cardinals and Bears both interviewed him for their head coach vacancies. Really, it seems like just a matter of time before a team hires him to take over. 

The Colts still seem interested in Frank Reich as a possible head coach, so this could  all work out terribly for the Eagles, timing-wise. Had Reich been hired earlier, the Eagles could have promoted DeFilippo to keep him. But now, they've already lost DeFilippo and still appear in danger of losing Reich. 

The top in-house assistant candidates to replace DeFilippo are Press Taylor and Mike Groh. Taylor has been the team's assistant quarterbacks coach since 2016. This past season was Taylor's fifth overall season in Philly. He began as an offensive quality control coach in 2013 under Chip Kelly. Groh is the team's wide receivers coach but has a quarterback background and is the more experienced of the two. 

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