Could Darren Perry Still Join the Eagles Coaching Staff?

Written By Bob Cunningham On Sunday, February 06, 2011
Current Green Bay Packers safeties coach Darren Perry is not going to be the Philadelphia Eagles defensive coordinator in 2011. That title now belongs to Juan Castillo.

Perry could, however, still become a member of the Eagles coaching staff if they're lucky enough and play their cards right.

They would first have to hope that the teams still without a defensive coordinator don't scoop him up right after the Super Bowl is over. If they are lucky enough for that to happen, Andy Reid would have to put on his salesman hat and really give a good pitch to Green Bay Packers head coach Mike McCarthy.

Reid would have to sell McCarthy on the notion that becoming the Eagles secondary coach -- rather than staying as the Packers safeties coach -- is enough of a promotion for McCarthy to allow Perry to leave Green Bay.

There's also the issue of convincing Perry but, as I noted back when Perry's name was connected to the Eagles defensive coordinator job, it shouldn't be too difficult to convince him that coaching the entire secondary is better than coaching half of it.

The key would be the money involved. Since Reid would be trying to sell the move from safeties coach to secondary coach as a worth-while promotion, it would probably mean giving Perry a substantial raise from what he's making right now -- probably about double what he's making right now.

A big raise and expanded responsibilities would probably be enough to convince McCarthy. So if Reid wants Perry as much as early reports were indicating, he could still have him. And while I did not believe Perry would have been the right guy to run the defense, I do think his track record with the secondaries he's coached makes him a fantastic candidate to help right the ship in Philly.

Perry would also bring some experience to the staff, which is what Castillo is going to need around him. Perry only has six years of coaching under his belt, but he's played as a defensive back in the NFL (with the Pittsburgh Steelers and New Orleans Saints) and would eliminate another area of the defense Castillo has to worry about since having Jim Washburn on board means the defensive line is also taken care of.

An experienced linebackers coach would also be ideal, but Castillo has played linebacker professionally in the past, so it's less of a need than a good secondary coach is right now.

As long as Perry isn't offered a defensive coordinator job elsewhere once Super Bowl XLV is in the books, Reid and the Eagles could have him coaching the secondary; it's all just a matter of how much is the team willing to pay a secondary coach and how much does Reid truly value Perry as a coach.

My guess is we'll probably know for sure before Valentine's day.


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