A Title Wasn't What Cost the Eagles Jeff Stoutland

In fact, he didn't even want the title last season after head coach Nick Sirianni and then-offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo took a bigger interest in the running game when the offense was struggling. The idea was that getting quarterback Jalen Hurts under center more would give Saquon Barkley more angles to work with while not tipping things off from the shotgun or pistol.

To be fair that idea worked, at least compared to what was going on previously, although nowhere near as well as Stoutland's old methods worked in 2024 when Barkley became "2KSA" and the Eagles put together the sixth best rushing offense in NFL history.

The biggest culprits to the Eagles' often ineffective running game in 2025 were too run of the mill to brand: injuries, execution and down years.

When you underachieve in Philadelphia, however, change generally follows.

The rise of the run game coordinator title itself gained some traction in an unofficial fashion in the mid-to-late 2010s with Greg Roman in Baltimore.

Stoutland arrived in Philadelphia during the 2013 season as the offensive line coach only for good reason, the RGC title didn't yet exist. He got it officially in 2018 after the Eagles' Super Bowl LII.

By about 2021, the run game coordinator was part of the coaching industry and most teams designated the OL coach with the title, although there are exceptions. Occasionally a running backs coach like Curtis Modkins in Minnesota or a tight ends coach like Mahaffey in Philadelphia receive the title.

Any title is secondary to the job description, however, which has always existed around the NFL.

Today's run game coordinators are tasked with analyzing defensive tendencies, fronts, and blitzes to help develop the weekly strategy for running the football. Generally, both designing and installing running plays tailored to the team's personnel and perhaps even managing he ground game on game day for specific situations like short-yardage, and goal-line.

What has never existed is the run game coordinator having the power to overrule the offensive coordinator, never mind the head coach.

Stoutland has been around long enough to understand the flow chart with the running game read Sirianni and Patullo before his own name last season.

The point here is that taking away a title away didn't chase Stoutland from the Eagles, it was taking his voice away.

Stoutland had earned the right to have a seat at the table even if Sirianni had already programmed his internal GPS.

As a CEO coach who preaches connection, Sirianni could have handled the situation in a more politcal fashion and accomplished the goals he wanted to while still keeping Stoutland in the fold.