During a Wednesday press conference, Eagles head coach Doug Pederson gave a couple of different answers regarding the status of offensive coordinator Mike Groh and wide receivers coach Carson Walch.
Pederson said both coaches would be back next season, but gave a different answer when asked to confirm that. Pederson said both coaches “are still currently here and I’m going to continue to evaluate and assemble the best staff moving forward.”
That evaluation went poorly for Groh and Walch. Shortly after ESPN reported that both coaches were expected to be fired on Thursday, the Eagles announced that they had been let go.
In a statement, Pederson apologized “for any confusion” his answers created about Groh and Walch’s status as well as the status of defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz. Schwartz interviewed for the Browns head coaching job Wednesday, but otherwise appears set to return to Philly.
“It was not an easy decision for me to make and I appreciate everything that Mike Groh and Carson Walch contributed to the organization and to my staff,” Pederson said. “As I said yesterday, they were a big part of our success down the stretch this past season. This is one of the most difficult parts of the job and something that weighs on me, but ultimately I have to make decisions that I believe are in the best interest of the football team moving forward.”
Groh took over as offensive coordinator in 2018 after Frank Reich became the head coach in Indianapolis. He had been the wide receivers coach in 2017 and Walch took over that job this year. He was dealt a tough hand due to injuries to the team’s top three wideouts, but it doesn’t appear that swayed the opinion of the job he or Groh did this season.
