Duce Staley will be calling the plays next week at the East-West Shrine Game as he was named the offensive coordinator for the East Team.
"Very excited, very excited. It's a good opportunity for me to be in that role among some guys who I know," Staley said. "I'll be able to learn a lot as far as what offensive coordinators go through on gameday, the week leading up to the game. You can talk about being in those shoes, but you don't know it until you are. It's something that you figure out along the way, but once again, it's football. You take the good and the bad, you learn from it and move on."
Staley will not be the only coach representing the Eagles at the college all-star game as assistant quarterbacks/offensive quality control coach Press Taylor will be the East Team's quarterbacks coach, and assistant secondary/defensive quality control coach Dino Vasso is one of the East Team's defensive backs coaches. This is the first time that the NFL has partnered with the East-West Shrine Game to provide opportunities for deserving assistant coaches from around the league. Current Eagles such as defensive tackle Beau Allen, guard Brandon Brooks and safety Rodney McLeod previously played in the Shrine Game (Saturday, January 21, 3 p.m., NFL Network).
Staley is one of the most prolific running backs to ever suit up for the Eagles. A former third-round pick of the team in 1997, Staley spent seven seasons with the Eagles and was third on the franchise's all-time rushing list with 4,807 yards at the end of his tenure in 2003. He was named the Eagles' Offensive MVP in three different seasons, and rushed for 201 yards in the Pickle Juice game to open the 2000 campaign. Staley owns one of only three 200-yard rushing performances in team history.
He finished his playing career with the Pittsburgh Steelers where he won a Super Bowl in the 2005 season. Staley returned to Philadelphia in 2010 as a coaching intern and was promoted the following season to the role of special team quality control coach, while also assisting with the running backs. In 2013, Staley was named running backs coach and has held that post for the past four seasons.
Following the 2015 season, Staley had the opportunity to interview for the Eagles' head coaching position. Next week's Shrine Game will provide him the first chance to be a coordinator as well as get a heads up on seeing potential draft prospects up close both on and off the field.
"You get a chance to see them on the field because you're scanning the land as a coordinator," Staley said. "You're looking at different position drills as opposed to being a position coach where you're around your guys a majority of the time and you have blinders on so you're basically focusing on them.
"When you start to elevate and move on as a coach, it's good to see the lay of the land."
