The Eagles continued to overhaul their beleaguered medical and rehab staff Friday when they added a director of sports medicine and a director of sports performance.
The Eagles cut ties with Shaun Huls, their director of high performance, and Shireen Mansoori, their director of rehabilitation, last week.
As the team has been decimated the last three years by injuries, this is the third straight year they've overhauled their medical department.
On Friday, the Eagles hired Tom Hunkele as director of sports medicine and Ted Roth as director of sports performance.
The Eagles also formally announced the hirings and titles of former Pro Bowlers Darren Sproles, Brent Celek and Connor Barwin. Sproles and Celek are being called personnel consultants and Barwin is a special assistant to the general manager.
The Eagles also added Jeremiah Washburn with the title of director of player personnel and senior defensive assistant.
Let’s take a look at the new hires:
NFL
TOM HUNKELE: Spent the last 14 years with the Vikings, working most of that time under former Eagles assistant trainer Eric Sugarman. Before he joined the Vikings, Hunkele worked for NovaCare Rehabilitation as a physical therapist and also assisted the Eagles’ training staff during the season. He’s a native of Reading.
TED RATH: Rath was in Detroit for five years with Jim Schwartz and then after a year with the Dolphins spent the last three years on the Rams’ strength and conditioning staff. Early last year, Rath was acquitted after being charged near Los Angeles with three counts of sexual battery following an incident that occurred in 2018 at the home of a neighbor. The Rams placed him on a leave of absence, but this past July, after a Ventura County Superior Court jury deliberated for only an hour, he was acquitted on all counts. At some point after that, Rath returned to the Rams. His bio still appears on the Rams’ web site, and it appears he was still employed by the team when the Eagles hired him.
JEREMIAH WASHBURN: Washburn joined the Eagles staff last year as advanced projects coordinator. In his current role, he’ll work under Howie Roseman and Andy Weidl in the scouting department but also have a role on the defensive coaching staff. Washburn, like Rath, was with Schwartz in Detroit after serving as an offensive line coach with the Dolphins and Bears. Before he went over to the coaching side he spent six years in the Ravens’ scouting department under Joe Douglas.
CONNOR BARWIN: The former Eagles’ Pro Bowl linebacker was with the club a lot late in the season and last month Barwin talked about his new post-retirement role with the Eagles.
DARREN SPROLES: The three-time Pro Bowl running back and returner retired after this season, his 15th in the NFL. Sproles spent the last six years with the Eagles but played only 15 games the last three years.
BRENT CELEK: Like Barwin, Celek was around the team a lot this season, and it was just a matter of finding what the Eagles’ plans were for him. Celek retired after the 2017 season. He played 175 games in his career, all with the Eagles, catching 398 passes for 4,998 yards and 31 touchdowns.