Eagles Fire WR Coach Greg Lewis
PHILADELPHIA (973espn.com) - In a move that was hardly surprising considering the struggles of his students, the Eagles have fired wide receivers coach Greg Lewis after just one season on the staff.
A former Eagles player, Lewis is shouldering the blame for the ineffectiveness of perhaps the worst receiving group in the NFL with the outside receivers, Nelson Agholor and Dorial Green-Beckham, particularly struggling.
Combined the duo of Agholor and DGB was hardly dynamic, amassing just 72 passes for 757 yards and four touchdowns, bad numbers for one typical top-tier outside WR in this league.
Even slot receiver Jordan Matthews, who finished with 73 receptions for 804 yards and three touchdowns, saw his play drop off this season, although much of that could be traced to a nagging late-season ankle injury.
From the outside, looking in, the 36-year-old Lewis seemed to straddle the fence between player and coach and may not have been advanced enough in his second career to help the young receivers who really needed to be drilled in technique work.
From a positive perspective, Lewis also flashed tremendous energy at practice and seemed to be a great communicator.
Before arriving as part of Doug Pederson’s staff, Lewis had just one prior year of NFL coaching experience having been an offensive assistant with the Saints in 2015. He started his coaching career in college as a WR coach in college with stops at San Diego (2012), San Jose State (2013) and finally Pittsburgh (2014) so his history of one-year stops continues.
-John McMullen covers the Eagles and the NFL for 973espn.com. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen