Duce Staley's 5 greatest accomplishments during decade as Eagles coach

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Duce Staley is leaving the Eagles after a decade coaching under three different coaches for the team that drafted him back in 1997.

After the Eagles passed him up for the head coaching gig that went to Nick Sirianni, Staley on Monday reportedly accepted a position as the assistant head coach and running backs coach with the Detroit Lions.

Staley became a coaching intern back in 2010 and then moved up under Andy Reid for the 2011 season. All this came after a very good playing career.

Staley, 45, is fifth on the Eagles’ all-time rushing list and he had three 1,000-yard seasons for the Eagles during his 10-year playing career that ended with the Steelers and got him a ring.

But Staley has now come a long way in the coaching world since he was an intern with the Eagles back in 2010. Over the years, Staley rose through the ranks and had been with the Eagles as a coach for a decade under three different head coaches.

So as he leaves, let’s take a look back at Staley’s greatest accomplishments in his decade as an Eagles coach:

5. Endearing himself to non-running backs

Once the Eagles fired Doug Pederson, we began to see current and former players stump for Staley. The thing that stood out to me was that it wasn’t just running backs. You’d expect the guys Staley spends the most time around to show their support but it was much more than that. We saw many guys who weren’t running backs vouching for him. That included Malcolm Jenkins, Brandon Graham and other defensive players too. That tells you the kind of impact Staley has had on the locker room, when defensive players are speaking up about his candidacy.

That’s something that can’t be overlooked. Because it might seem like a huge jump to go from running backs coach to head coach, but Staley spent a few seasons as the Eagles’ assistant head coach and clearly made positive impressions on the entire team.

After getting named assistant head coach, Staley didn’t get a ton of opportunities to address the entire team but when he did, players listened. And when Pederson missed a week of training camp in the summer, the Eagles kept on rolling with Staley in charge. We didn’t know it then, but that was a mini tryout and Staley performed well. It wasn’t enough to get him the full-time gig here, but if it ever happens for him, he’ll probably lean on that experience.

4. Getting through 2018 without a No. 1 back

After the Super Bowl season, LeGarrett Blount was gone, Jay Ajayi tore his ACL and Corey Clement got hurt too. So you know who ended up being the Eagles’ leading rusher that season? Josh Adams.

That season, the Eagles’ leading rusher was the undrafted rookie from Notre Dame. Adams had 120 carries for 511 yards (4.3) and 3 touchdowns that season and didn’t return the following season. The Eagles’ second-leading rusher that season? Wendell Smallwood, who had 87 carries for 364 yards (4.2) and 3 touchdowns. Smallwood wasn’t back the next season either.

So the Eagles went through the 2018 season, made the playoffs and won a playoff game with a team whose two best running backs didn’t return the following season. Staley got the most out of Adams and Smallwood that year. Both had the best production of their otherwise underwhelming NFL careers.

Statistically speaking, the Eagles were near the bottom of the NFL in rushing offenses in 2018 but that was to be expected given the talent level. That fact that Staley coached up these guys enough for the Eagles to make a run tells you all you need to know.

3. Guiding Miles Sanders to quick start

We’re just two seasons into the career of Miles Sanders, but it’s starting to look like he’s going to be a very good player. And you can go ahead and credit Staley for a lot of that success.

In his first two NFL seasons, Sanders has averaged 85.4 yards from scrimmage per game with 12 total touchdowns. While he missed four games in 2020, he still showed off his ability to be a major home run threat.

And there’s no secret why Staley is able to get so much out of Sanders.

“I never had that father figure in my life,” Sanders said during his rookie season. “Duce looks at me like I’m his little brother. I never had that. I never had anybody to really push me. I always had my mom. Moms can’t really do both when it comes to stuff like that. To have someone like Duce pushing me and believing in me and knowing what I can do, that’s meant a lot. Especially because he went through the same stuff I went through.”

But don’t get it twisted. Sure, Sanders and Staley get along great, but Staley coaches his pupils hard. He made sure to emphasize pass protection and helped Sanders learn how to be a productive pass-catcher out of the backfield in his rookie season. Sanders is set up to have a successful NFL career and it was Staley who laid the foundation.

2. Transforming LeSean McCoy into a star

The Eagles used a second-round pick on McCoy in the 2009 draft but it wasn’t until Staley joined the coaching staff that McCoy really began to blossom into one of the best running backs in the NFL. In his early career, Staley was technically a special teams coach but he worked with McCoy, who began to prove that he was one of the best backs in the NFL.

McCoy would have been a good player without Staley, but he was a great player with him. This excerpt from a story in TheAthletic last year explained why:

Staley thought McCoy wasn’t maximizing his abilities early in his career. He was certain McCoy could pass protect more effectively, secure the ball better, understand the offense more and be better conditioned.

Three times a week, after the other players left the practice field, Staley stayed with McCoy. Staley instructed him to carry two weighted footballs and run 5 yards, then cut, 10 yards, then cut, 5 yards, then cut … from one end zone to the other.

McCoy was so gifted that he didn’t think he needed to pay attention to the little things. Staley forced him to learn the assignments of every position on offense.

Under Staley’s tutelage, McCoy became a three-time Pro Bowler, two-time All-Pro and led the NFL in rushing in 2013. Even after he was traded to Buffalo, McCoy was named to three more Pro Bowl teams and was named to the All-Decade Team of the 2010s.

“I was blessed to play for him,” McCoy said to The Athletic last year. “I don’t know if my career would have been as dominant. That’s real talk.”

1. Controlling egos in 2017

When the Eagles traded for Jay Ajayi on Halloween in 2017, there were serious questions about how it would all work. After all, the Eagles were rolling. They had a 7-1 record and the vibe around that team was incredible. Ajayi came to Philadelphia with a reputation that was less than stellar. He was thought to be a potential problem in the locker room and he was now going to have to share carries with LeGarrett Blount. These were two proud players.

And Staley got them both to buy in for the good of the team. The Eagles don’t win a Super Bowl if that doesn’t happen.

“Duce has done a great job," Pederson said before the Super Bowl. "He definitely, kind of like myself, leans on his experiences as a player because he’s been there, done that, out there in the games.

"The running back coach position, it takes a special coach. I don’t think just anybody can do it. You’ve got to have a presence about yourself, you’ve got to have a way about yourself, you’ve got to be able to communicate with different personalities in that room, and in our case we’ve got a couple starters in that room, and he’s been able to really shape them and mold them and get them to buy into what we’re doing offensively.

"Each one has a role, he does a great job with that, and he knows when to be hard on them. They all take coaching extremely well, and he’s been a big asset to that room, to the running backs, and to me.”

The Eagles relied on all of their running backs in the second half of the 2017 season as they earned the No. 1 seed in the NFC and then their running backs came through in a major way in Super Bowl LII. In the big game, Ajayi had 57 yards on 9 carries, Blount had 90 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries and Corey Clement caught four passes for 100 yards and another score.

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