John

DeFilippo

It’s the same role Dave Ragone left behind after it was announced he was joining Arthur Smith in Atlanta. 2021 will only be DeFilippo’s second season under coach Matt Nagy but 17th overall in the league, holding recent offensive coordinator stints with the Jaguars (2019), Vikings (2018), and Browns (2015). The former’s connection with Carson Wentz is of note as Chicago is reportedly in the mix for the 28-year-old.

DeFilippo, 36, is from Youngstown, Ohio. He’s never called plays at any level. The Raiders’ QBs coach the past three seasons, DeFilippo was praised for his work with Derek Carr this past year, though Carr averaged a league-worst 5.5 YPA to go with an underwhelming 76.6 QB rating. DeFilippo was the Jets’ QBs coach in 2009 when Browns coach Mike Pettine was New York’s defensive coordinator.

The Bears are shuffling the deck on the offensive side of the ball, bringing aboard DeFilippo, promoting QBs coach Dave Ragone to pass-game coordinator, and hiring OC Bill Lazor to join coach Matt Nagy. Mitchell Trubisky showed some late-season flashes at times but also looked completely lost many other times as heads into his fourth year. He’s by no means secured as the starter for 2020 and beyond.

The Jaguars tried to soften it by calling DeFilippo’s sudden departure a “mutual” parting of ways, though we know what it really was. DeFilippo’s ouster comes as a relative surprise after he coaxed a surprisingly productive season out of unheralded sixth-round rookie Gardner Minshew. This continues DeFilippo’s ongoing fall from grace as the 41-year-old has quickly gone from an up-and-comer with head-coaching aspirations to a maligned journeyman headed for his sixth team in seven seasons. DeFilippo’s firing can be at least partially attributed to job preservation on the part of Doug Marrone, who is well aware that another failure in 2020 would assuredly spell the end of his Jaguars tenure.

40-year-old DeFilippo got his NFL coaching start under Tom Coughlin with the Giants and now rejoins him in Jacksonville. This will be DeFilippo’s third stint as an OC. He called the plays for the 2015 Browns, getting career years out of Travis Benjamin and Gary Barnidge. DeFilippo then became the Eagles QBs coach and got a lot of notoriety for his work with Carson Wentz and Nick Foles en route to a Super Bowl win. His 13-game run as the Vikings OC in 2018 ended disastrously, but DeFilippo was stuck with an old-timer coach in Mike Zimmer who wanted to run the ball and play defense. This, however, is another stop in Jacksonville where the Jaguars are built the same way. The dots are already connecting on Foles potentially landing with the Jaguars as their new quarterback.

The ex-Vikings OC would likely be just a sounding board for new coach Kliff Kingsbury in Arizona. DeFilippo has also interviewed with the Jaguars, where he would almost certainly be given play-calling duties.

Once a fast riser in the coaching ranks, DeFilippo was fired in December after just 13 games running the Vikings’ offense. Despite that disappointment, DeFilippo could be a good buy-low hire for a team which needs a major turnaround on the offensive side of the ball. That said, DeFilippo did not appear to be a good fit with Mike Zimmer’s run-first attitude in Minnesota, making it questionable how comfortable he would be in Jacksonville.

The Vikings had big expectations on offense after signing Kirk Cousins this offseason, and they simply have not met them, especially as of late. The final straw was a disheartening loss to the Seahawks on Monday night in which Minnesota did not score until deep into garbage time. Considered an up-and-comer when the Vikings hired him, it will be interesting to see where DeFilippo lands once the coaching carousel starts spinning in January.

A sprightly 38 by coaching standards, DeFilippo had a well-regarded year as Derek Carr’s QBs coach in 2014 before overseeing a number of career years for the otherwise dispiriting 2015 Cleveland Browns. He would be an excellent hire for Gang Green, but the Eagles don’t have to grant permission to interview.

DeFilippo spent one year coordinating the Browns’ offense in 2015, a year which saw Josh McCown put up a 93.3 quarterback rating while throwing 12 touchdowns to just four interceptions in eight starts. DeFilippo also earned praise for his handling of Derek Carr his rookie season. This would be a good hire for the Jets, but the Eagles are not required to grant permission.