Report: Kelly Adds Press Taylor To Eagles’ Staff


Chip Kelly has added another coach to his staff, according to a report.

And no, it’s not a defensive coordinator (although we’ll get to that in a moment).

Tulsa grad assistant (in charge of quarterbacks) Press Taylor will be the Eagles’ new quality control coach on offense, according to FootballScoop.com. Taylor has two years of coaching experience.

His playing days ended relatively recently. Taylor started his college career at Butler junior college in El Dorado, Kan., where his squads won back-to-back national titles. He then transferred to Marshall, serving as a backup.

“I think once I got to college I knew I wanted to coach football,” Taylor told the The Herald Dispatch (Huntington, W. Va.). “Being around it more and more, you learn a lot more through college football. You learn more about the position. It was just something that intrigued me.

“I kind of knew right away that’s what I wanted to do. I always kept an eye out and tried to learn more from the coaches. Picked their brains a little bit more.”

Taylor comes from a football family. His brother, Zac, played quarterback at Nebraska and was named Big 12 Player of the Year in 2006. Zac Taylor currently serves as assistant quarterbacks coach with the Miami Dolphins. And according to the above report, Press Taylor’s Dad coached defensive backs at Kansas State in the 1980s.

As for Kelly, his staff appears to be nearly in place. The two openings are offensive line coach and defensive coordinator.

The Saints will interview Georgia defensive coordinator Todd Grantham on Thursday and Rob Ryan on Friday, according to Larry Holder of the New Orleans Times-Picayune. Per ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the Saints plan on hiring Ryan.

Grantham was thought to be in the mix for the Eagles’ job early in the process, although there’s been no indication that he ever actually interviewed. If Kelly plans on hiring a defensive coordinator from the college ranks, we could see some movement in the next 24 hours. Today is National Signing Day, and there had been some speculation that college coaches might wait to bolt as a courtesy to their programs (although that obviously would not be a courtesy to the recruits they’re leaving behind).

There’s always the possibility that the Eagles are looking at one of the assistants from the Ravens or 49ers also. If that’s the case, there shouldn’t be any kind of hold-up, other than scheduling interviews.

As always, we’ll keep you posted on any updates throughout the day.

Follow Sheil Kapadia on Twitter and e-mail him at skapadia@phillymag.com.
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