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)

Sources have confirmed a CoachingSearch.com report that former Boston College assistant Mike Siravo will become Temple's next linebackers coach. The Rhode Island native will return to North Broad Street, where he served as the Owls linebackers coach and recruiting coordinator in 2006. At that time, new Temple head coach Matt Rhule was the Owls quarterbacks coach. Siravo, who played at Boston College, served as B.C.'s defensive backs coach and recruiting coordinator for six years.

The Eagles interviewed Cleveland Browns linebackers coach Billy Davis for their defensive coordinator opening on Sunday, an NFL source said. The team had requested permission to meet with Davis last week but waited until Sunday to sit down with the 47-year old coach, according to the source. Davis has experience as an NFL defensive coordinator. Before he took the linebackers job in Cleveland in 2011, he was the Arizona Cardinals' coordinator from 2009-10. He also ran San Francisco's defense from 2005-06.

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.

Here is the lowdown on the staff of new Eagles head coach Chip Kelly. Notice how many of them have ties to Oregon, where Kelly coached last season: Pat Shurmur, offensive coordinator: In his second tour with the Eagles, he returns after originally spending 10 seasons as the tight ends coach (1999-2001) and quarterbacks coach (2002-08). He most recently served as the head coach for the Cleveland Browns from 2011 to '12. Bill Davis, defensive coordinator: He has 21 years of NFL coaching experience and most recently worked as the Cleveland Browns linebackers coach from 2011 to '12. Dave Fipp, special teams coordinator: Fipp was the assistant special teams coach for the Miami Dolphins from 2011 to '12. Jerry Azzinaro, defensive line/assistant head coach: He served in the same roles on Kelly's staff at Oregon from 2009 to '12. Jeff Stoutland, offensive line: He was Alabama's offensive line coach the last two seasons after spending 14 years as an assistant coach at Miami (2007-10)

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.

EAGLES FANS were surprised when new coach Chip Kelly hired Bill Davis as his defensive coordinator last week, and not just because Davis had been interviewed nearly 2 weeks earlier. In 4 years as a coordinator - 2 years at San Francisco followed by 2 in Arizona - Davis' teams finished 32nd, 26th, 20th and 29th in NFL defense. Green Bay Packers defensive coordinator Dom Capers was not surprised. Capers was d-coordinator of the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1992, when Davis got his first NFL job there, as a quality control assistant.

If you are underwhelmed by the coaching staff Chip Kelly has assembled in the NovaCare Complex, you are not alone. Utilizing stealth and patience, Kelly lured coordinators Pat Shurmur and Billy Davis in an apparent attempt to re-create the magic that was the 2012 Cleveland Browns. But take heart. As long as no one says the words "wide nine" out loud, there is hope. The non-announcement of Davis as defensive coordinator Thursday gave, at long last, some public sign of what Kelly's defense will look like.

Here is the lowdown on the staff of new Eagles head coach Chip Kelly. Notice how many of them have ties to Oregon, where Kelly coached last season: Pat Shurmur, offensive coordinator: In his second tour with the Eagles, he returns after originally spending 10 seasons as the tight ends coach (1999-2001) and quarterbacks coach (2002-08). He most recently served as the head coach for the Cleveland Browns from 2011 to '12. Bill Davis, defensive coordinator: He has 21 years of NFL coaching experience and most recently worked as the Cleveland Browns linebackers coach from 2011 to '12. Dave Fipp, special teams coordinator: Fipp was the assistant special teams coach for the Miami Dolphins from 2011 to '12. Jerry Azzinaro, defensive line/assistant head coach: He served in the same roles on Kelly's staff at Oregon from 2009 to '12. Jeff Stoutland, offensive line: He was Alabama's offensive line coach the last two seasons after spending 14 years as an assistant coach at Miami (2007-10)

GREGG WILLIAMS thanked NFL commissioner Roger Goodell for reinstating him and he also apologized while taking "full responsibility" for his role in the New Orleans' bounty scandal. The NFL reinstated Williams on Thursday and the Tennessee Titans hired him as a senior defensive assistant. "I take full responsibility and apologize for my previous actions, and I've used this year to reorganize my life and put focus on positive energy and positive ways to inspire and coach and motivate in this profession," Williams said, reading from a statement.

In the end, the Eagles did not lure an assistant away from a Super Bowl team or poach a coach from the college ranks in selecting their next defensive coordinator. Instead, according to sources, new coach Chip Kelly hired former Browns linebackers coach Billy Davis on Thursday, the timing of which will be questioned. The Eagles did not confirm Davis' hiring, as they have not for any of the additions Kelly has made to his staff over the last three weeks. But when they finally hold a news conference to introduce the new faces, Kelly and general manager Howie Roseman will surely be asked: If Davis was their top choice, why wasn't he hired immediately?

UNTIL CHIP KELLY holds that long-promised news conference with his entire staff, and presumably fields a few questions, the mystery will linger: Why did it take 3 weeks to hire a defensive coordinator, from a nonplayoff team, who was available even before Kelly was hired? An NFL source Thursday confirmed the report by Geoff Mosher, of CSNPhilly.com - Bill Davis, the Cleveland Browns' linebackers coach last season, is Kelly's defensive coordinator. Later in the day, the same source confirmed a Footballscoops.com report that Alabama offensive-line coach Jeff Stoutland is coming to the Eagles, so the staff would seem pretty much complete.

The Eagles still don't have a defensive coordinator - or any assistant coaches, if you're waiting for confirmation from the team - but they kicked off the annual deluge of offseason roster moves Wednesday by releasing tackle Demetress Bell. Bell's release did not come as a surprise. Signed to replace the injured Jason Peters, Bell was a terrible fit and started in only five games. The Eagles trimmed $9.6 million from their 2013 salary cap by cutting Bell. The search for a defensive coordinator, meanwhile, trudged on with only a little more clarity by the end of Wednesday.

NEW ORLEANS - Super Bowl week has come and gone and the Eagles still haven't hired a defensive coordinator. At least, there haven't been any reports that new coach Chip Kelly has found a leader for his defense. The delay had some observers speculating that the Eagles were waiting for Super Bowl XLVII to end before they could tab one of the Baltimore Ravens or San Francisco 49ers assistants as defensive coordinator. The Eagles are interested in the Ravens' Ted Monachino, according to NFL sources, but Baltimore could always block the up-and-coming linebackers coach from leaving.

PHIL MICKELSON missed out on a 59 by a fraction of an inch Thursday in the first round of the Phoenix Open. Mickelson had a chance to become the sixth player in PGA Tour history to break 60 with a 25-foot birdie attempt on his last hole, the par-4 ninth at TPC Scottsdale. The putt looked good all the way. Right at the end, though, the ball caught the right edge of the cup, curled 180 degrees to the other side of the hole and stayed out. "Six feet to go, it was in the center," Mickelson said.

NEW ORLEANS - Nick Foles and Garrett Celek are good friends. How good? When the two were roommates at Michigan State, they decided to get Chinese symbols tattooed on the inside of their left arms, just under their armpits. Tattoos often come with stories of regret, however. "I love the guy, but I kind of regret getting them," Celek said. "I need to probably get it removed one day. " Celek is a rookie tight end for San Francisco. The younger brother of Eagles tight end Brent Celek had just gotten done showing his Chinese symbols to someone during Super Bowl media day on Tuesday.