Linebackers Coach

Add a linebackers coach to the list of Eagles' needs for this off-season. After five seasons in that role with the Eagles, Ron Rivera left yesterday to take the job of defensive coordinator with the Chicago Bears. "It's a great opportunity for him," Eagles coach Andy Reid said. "We appreciate everything he did here. He did a fantastic job in his five years with the Eagles. " No immediate replacement was named for Rivera. One possible in-house candidate is Sean McDermott, who assisted Rivera in working with the linebackers in 2002 when he was a quality control defensive assistant.

MOBILE, Ala. - If the coordinator and the line coach were to be held accountable for the Eagles' defensive failures, surely the linebackers coach had to go, too. So must have gone the thinking when head coach Andy Reid axed Bill Shuey recently. While the Eagles did not confirm Shuey's departure until after it was reported on Tuesday, it actually occurred about the same time Sean McDermott and Rory Segrest were let go by Reid on Jan. 13. If the team's defensive backs coach was on the chopping block as well, the Browns' hiring of Dick Jauron as their defensive coordinator last week made his possible firing moot.

Rich Kotite rounded out his Eagles coaching staff yesterday by announcing the hiring of Jim Vechiarella as linebackers coach. Vechiarella, 53, worked this season as the defensive coordinator/ linebackers coach for the Cleveland Browns under Bud Carson. Carson was named the Eagles' defensive coordinator Monday, filling the vacancy created when Jeff Fisher took the same job with the Los Angeles Rams. Philadelphia marks the fifth stop that Carson and Vechiarella (pronounced vik-a-rell-ee)

A byproduct of winning in the NFL has always been losing the people who helped you win. Eagles coach Andy Reid has learned to live with that fact, and he did so again yesterday when linebackers coach Steve Spagnuolo left Philadelphia to take the job of defensive coordinator with the NFC East rival New York Giants. Spagnuolo, 47, had worked with the Eagles since Reid took over as head coach in 1999. He initially held the title of defensive assistant, then was in charge of the defensive backs from 2001 to '03 before becoming the linebackers coach in 2004 after Ron Rivera left to become the defensive coordinator with the Chicago Bears.

La Salle named Tim Miller, the school's linebackers coach last season, to replace Phil Longo as head football coach. Longo left earlier this month for a job as offensive coordinator at Division II Minnesota-Duluth. A 1988 Temple graduate who played linebacker for Bruce Arians, Miller also coached high school ball at North Penn, Wissahickon and Germantown Academy.

Temple's new football coach, Al Golden, yesterday named former Columbia assistant Mike Siravo as the Owls' recruiting coordinator and defensive assistant. The 29-year-old Siravo also will serve as secondary or linebackers coach. "I had the privilege of working with Mike Siravo while at Boston College," said Golden, who was the Eagles' linebackers coach from 1997 to '99. "I told him before I left BC that I hoped we would have the opportunity to work together in the future. " A linebacker at Boston College, Siravo joined the Eagles as a walk-on in 1994 and later earned a scholarship.

Villanova football coach Andy Talley on Friday announced three changes to the Wildcats coaching staff. Billy Crocker was promoted from linebackers coach to defensive coordinator. Roc Bellantoni was hired to coach the defensive line and special teams, and Tony Trisciani will be the secondary coach. Crocker, who just completed his seventh season at Villanova, earned his second promotion in two seasons. After serving as the defensive line coach for six years, Crocker was elevated to linebackers coach and special teams coordinator in 2011.

After playing for and coaching under Joe Paterno at Penn State, Temple coach Al Golden had an important decision to make in 2000. The first-year Owls coach, who will lead his squad into Beaver Stadium to face the Nittany Lions on Saturday, was asked yesterday about striking out on his own after coaching at Penn State for only that one season, as linebackers coach and recruiting coordinator. Golden left the security of University Park to become the defensive coordinator and inside-linebackers coach at Virginia.

With each coaching job he takes, Matt Dence moves a little closer to his roots. In what is his eighth assignment, the Holmesburg native and Father Judge graduate is the new head football coach at Germantown Academy. Dence, 35, comes to Fort Washington after guiding Valley Forge Military Academy, which has postgraduate players, for a season. "This was too good of an opportunity for me to pass up," he said. "Growing up in Northeast Philly, you hear a lot about GA and its top-notch sports programs.

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. - Head coach Bill O'Brien announced Friday that he has hired Miami of Ohio's Charlie Fisher as Penn State's quarterbacks coach. He fills the final assistant coaching spot on the staff. Fisher is leaving Miami after one season serving as the passing game coordinator, and quarterbacks and wide receivers coach. He previously spent nine seasons at Vanderbilt, coaching the passing game and the wide receivers. "I've known him for a long time. He's a bright guy, a sharp guy," O'Brien said.

RANDY MOSS once said, "I play when I want to play. " Six months after retiring, the veteran NFL wide receiver wants to play again. Moss announced on a webchat yesterday - his 35th birthday - that he's planning a comeback. His agent, Joel Segal, wouldn't go into his client's available options. "Randy and I have discussed it," Segal said of Moss coming out of retirement. "He still has his fire and he's looking forward to playing football. He's excited. " Moss posted on his Twitter page: "Now back to biz!

Without a head coach for months and without program certainty in the future, Penn State's 2012 recruiting class could have been a lost cause. But throughout the tumultuous recruiting process during the Nittany Lions' most trying year, Larry Johnson, arguably the team's best recruiter, remained. And because of his presence, the Lions were still able to bring in what the coaches called an extremely successful 2012 class. On national signing day Wednesday, with the Lions snagging 19 incoming freshmen, fellow assistants new and old couldn't say enough about the Penn State defensive line coach and his ability to retain those high school athletes with murky minds about the university's future.

Exactly four weeks after owner Jeffrey Lurie told everyone that Juan Castillo was far from Andy Reid's first choice to lead the defense in 2011, Reid finally found the podium himself and confirmed he didn't get his guy for 2012, either. He's sticking with Castillo again because Steve Spagnuolo turned down an open-ended job offer from Reid, preferring to become the defensive coordinator of the New Orleans Saints. Reid didn't come out and say Spagnuolo would have definitely demanded to be atop the defensive organizational chart, but if that had been the case, it would have happened.

Quanzell Lambert believes his word should be as firm as his handshake. Lambert, a 6-foot-2, 240-pound linebacker from Timber Creek who was South Jersey's most highly recruited football player, honored his commitment to Rutgers University on Wednesday by signing a letter of intent with the Scarlet Knights. Despite some "highs and lows," after former Rutgers coach Greg Schiano left the program Jan. 26 to become coach of the NFL's Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Lambert said he never wavered in his determination to continue his athletic and academic career at the state university.

With each coaching job he takes, Matt Dence moves a little closer to his roots. In what is his eighth assignment, the Holmesburg native and Father Judge graduate is the new head football coach at Germantown Academy. Dence, 35, comes to Fort Washington after guiding Valley Forge Military Academy, which has postgraduate players, for a season. "This was too good of an opportunity for me to pass up," he said. "Growing up in Northeast Philly, you hear a lot about GA and its top-notch sports programs.

With each coaching job he takes, Matt Dence moves a little closer to his roots. In what is his eighth assignment, the Holmesburg native and Father Judge graduate is the new head football coach at Germantown Academy. Dence, 35, comes to Fort Washington after guiding Valley Forge Military Academy, which has postgraduate players, for a season. "This was too good of an opportunity for me to pass up," he said. "Growing up in Northeast Philly, you hear a lot about GA and its top-notch sports programs.

Villanova football coach Andy Talley on Friday announced three changes to the Wildcats coaching staff. Billy Crocker was promoted from linebackers coach to defensive coordinator. Roc Bellantoni was hired to coach the defensive line and special teams, and Tony Trisciani will be the secondary coach. Crocker, who just completed his seventh season at Villanova, earned his second promotion in two seasons. After serving as the defensive line coach for six years, Crocker was elevated to linebackers coach and special teams coordinator in 2011.

Marvin Lewis, Mike Nolan and Rex Ryan all were defensive coordinators for the Baltimore Ravens before becoming head coaches in the NFL Now it's Chuck Pagano's turn. The former strong safety for the Dallas Cowboys and lifelong assistant coach was named head man by the Indianapolis Colts on Wednesday. The 51-year-old Wyoming grad will replace Jim Caldwell, who was fired after the Colts' 2-14 season in which quarterback Peyton Manning never played a down as he recovered from neck surgery.