COURTESY OF PHILADELPHIA EAGLES MEDIA RELATIONS DEPARTMENT
Q. How would you explain what your role is on this coaching staff? What can you add on a staff when obviously there are a lot of offensive voices in the room? (Zach Berman)
RICH SCANGARELLO: Pretty much I was hired here to come help be a part of a staff that is already a veteran group that have worked together, that really kind of had its way. Just kind of incorporate myself to help the offense be the best version it can be with whatever way I can help [head coach] Doug [Pederson] and the entire group in planning.
But it’s been pretty seamless. It’s been really good. It’s a veteran group. They are easy to get along with. They’re detailed, prepared. The offense, it’s been a fun thing to be a part of so far with these guys.
Q. What can you say about what your offensive philosophy is, and how it was influenced by your time with 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan? (Tim McManus)
RICH SCANGARELLO: Personally, my offensive philosophy is to be aggressive and attack. I’d like to use different parts of marrying a package up through the run, and the play-pass and stuff like that is ultimately what you want to do to attack defenses on first and second down.
In this situation here, it’s exciting because we have some great tools and great players to be a part of to use in whatever role we can, with different types of traits.
Kyle has been a big influence on me. Obviously, that’s my background, that’s what I believe in. I think those philosophical beliefs, they can be used in any style of offense and any type of run schemes. It’s exciting to be a part of that.
Q. Speaking of philosophical points of view, you and Kyle Shanahan both teach, in relation to quarterbacks, the left foot forward. How has QB Carson Wentz taken to that, if at all? What do you see in his footwork? (Jeff McLane)
RICH SCANGARELLO: What a great question. The left foot forward, that’s some detail now, all right [smiling].
Ultimately, even with [formers Broncos quarterback and current Jets quarterback] Joe [Flacco] last year, as a starting point with some guys, it’s a left foot forward process. That’s from the shotgun, and that would be really driven by Kyle’s drop back pass game and style of play.
This is different. Carson, his mechanics have gotten better and better. He’s worked really hard in the off-season. He’s not changing in any way. We’re continuing to do what they’ve done here. [Passing game coordinator/quarterbacks coach] Press [Taylor] has done an outstanding job with those guys. He’s very detailed in his coaching. He is a really, really good football coach.
Just a matter of making sure we can be on the same page with his mechanics, make him be in the best position to throw the football based on the pass concepts we call. That’s Carson’s ability. He’s done an outstanding job. I think he’s continuing to get better at it. He’s been really exciting to work with in that way because he is very meticulous in that way.
Q. So he is pretty much even, or does he have his right foot forward? Can you explain why you and Kyle Shanahan are proponents of the left foot forward in the shotgun stance? (Jeff McLane)
RICH SCANGARELLO: Not getting into a lot of detail. Ultimately you have to do what a guy is comfortable doing. Everything is from a quarterback’s perspective. To me with their footwork is getting them in a position to throw on time with the timing route concepts and how they marry up with your footwork.
Yeah, the left foot forward part of it was something we really used, was something that fit our timing of our offense.
Every offense is different. Ultimately, it’s getting in a position to throw the football in each pass concept with his feet in the ground, in the right position, and the timing of the play. If he can do that from right foot or left foot, it really shouldn’t matter. It’s really the preference of the player. For really talented guys, especially like Carson and Joe in that case as a thrower.
Q. What kind of relationship did you have with head coach Doug Pederson before this opportunity came about? How did it come about? Through the first few months or so, how is Doug different than other head coaches you’ve worked with? (Bo Wulf)
RICH SCANGARELLO: It was just kind of a random situation. I had a couple different options that I was seriously considering taking after Denver. Doug called me one morning. We had an unbelievably good conversation. We talked for hours. It was very easy. I felt very connected to him. I had talked to some other coaches in the league that knew him well and spoke very highly of him.
I came out here. We spent a day. I spent time with him and [executive vice president/general manager] Howie [Roseman]. It just felt like the organization, from top to bottom, everything I had heard, it was very strong, and it was a good fit. I just felt what he was looking for, what the Philadelphia Eagles were looking for, I felt I could fill that role and help us win a championship again. That was my goal here.
I thought the quarterback and Doug and all that was a great combination. I have been very, very excited to be in the building every day I’ve been here.
Q. How has it been working with Carson Wentz so far? How difficult was it to forge a relationship this off-season given that you two weren’t able to be in the same physical location? (Dave Zangaro)
RICH SCANGARELLO: It is a shame that we weren’t able to be in a building and develop that rapport. The Zoom meetings in the off-season actually went pretty well. We were able to talk football. It was very casual. We got to have these conversations about the game. I think we hit it off from the get-go.
I’ve been impressed by him. I had a lot of admiration for him as a player already before I came here. As I’ve been around him, I’ve been more and more impressed. It’s easy to form a relationship with someone that has a mind like his, that processes, has a football IQ like he does. You connect if you can talk the language with him and articulate things.
Press [Taylor] has done an outstanding job with him, developing him. I feel like to be a part of it is a luxury with a guy like him. It’s been easy to get along.
Q. What are your early impressions of QB Jalen Hurts, particularly seeing him on the field the last week and change? (Paul Domowitch)
RICH SCANGARELLO: Again, the off-season part of it is really unfortunate for all the rookie quarterbacks in the NFL. It’s been this short time crunch to see what a guy can do in a couple of weeks and get him ready. I really feel for the quarterbacks in this league. It’s a lot to ask of anyone because it’s, in my opinion, the toughest thing in sports to do.
He’s done a great job. He’s got a great attitude. He works at it. He’s really diligent. It’s important to him. It’s all the things you need to be a successful quarterback in this league.
He’s approached it in the right way. I think when he steps on the field, he works at it, his craft. Again, you never know where a guy is at until the bullets are really flying. That’s the unfortunate part without having pre-season games and stuff like that.
For what he’s been able to accomplish with the reps he’s had, he’s done an excellent job.
Q. This is a kid who came out of college, had to learn two different systems. What do you think of Jalen’s football IQ based on having to go through all that at the collegiate level coming into the pros? (Chris Murray)
RICH SCANGARELLO: He’s a sponge. It’s important to him. I think that’s one of the reasons he was so important to this organization in the draft and why he’s here. Again, like you said, he’s been coached by some really good football coaches.
The NFL is a whole different world. Snap count, motions, breaking the huddle, getting in the huddle, visualization, how you accentuate plays in the huddle. All those things, they’re so little but so big in the process of developing as a quarterback.
Losing the timeline in connection with the players in the off-season, it makes it difficult on a guy. He’s approached it the right way and really done a nice job.
Q. You worked with QB Joe Flacco last year in Denver. Do you see any similarities between him and Carson, or do you think maybe Broncos QB Drew Lock would be someone who would be a good comparison as well? (Martin Frank)
RICH SCANGARELLO: It’s interesting in the league now that I’ve been around a little more and had to work with a number of guys the last few years. I think I would compare Carson more mentally to like a [Falcons QB] Matt Ryan. I wasn’t in the room with Matt, but I was there and around it. I talked a lot about people. I have a great deal of respect for Matt as a player and his mental ability.
Carson, he’s an elite processor in my opinion, both pre-snap and post-snap. He’s able to do a lot of things because of it. That’s what separates him to me from a lot of people in this league.
It’s hard to make a direct comparison to those guys. I would say he’s like neither one of them, they were all kind of a little different. It’s hard to make a direct comparison. I can’t think of anyone I worked with.
He, in my opinion, has all the qualities it takes to be one of the top guys in this league for a long time.
Q. Speaking of things that might be a little bit different, you’ve worked with both the Rams head coach Sean McVay system and the Doug Pederson system now. What are the key differences or similarities you see in their approaches to the offense? (Les Bowen)
RICH SCANGARELLO: It was one of the great parts about coming to Philadelphia and being part of this organization. A little bit different approach, but ultimately both offenses have their roots originally in West Coast terminology, whether it was [Chiefs head coach] Andy Reid or [Raiders head coach Jon] Gruden or any of them. They’re all really from the same family.
I have worked in my early days, going back to [Raiders offensive line coach] Tom Cable, who came from [former NFL head coach] Steve Mariucci, used the same type of terminology. The principles all hold true today in the NFL as they did back then: a tight, detailed offense that requires timing in the pass game. In that way they’re all very similar.
What they believe in and how they attack defenses and approach things, probably everyone has their own way. They’re all slightly different. Sean is a little different than Kyle, and Doug is different than those guys, as well as other guys in this league. We all have our beliefs.
In the end, they’re both detailed systems. They both demand the same out of the quarterback. That’s the fun part about being a part of this. It’s easy to come here without an off-season and be a part of this process with some really good coaches that has a system that’s already in place that’s really a good system.
Q. This is an unusual staff and structure without a de facto offensive coordinator. What’s the process been like organizing how it’s all going to work together, all the different voices, how the philosophies all mesh together with Doug? (Reuben Frank)
RICH SCANGARELLO: Honestly one of the reasons I felt very comfortable coming here was in San Francisco, it’s a very similar thing. Kyle calls the offense. It’s his vision for the offense. Ultimately there was a group of us that helped shape that vision. We all had our input in our different ways, our area of expertise. We did our part to make it come to life for him. We were always on the same page.
The group of coaches here, they may have different titles, but they’ve been together for quite a bit. They get along. They know how Doug thinks. They know how each other thinks. They play off each other well. It’s been really positive energy as far as getting along and getting on the same page.
I think it’s fun when someone comes from the outside and gives you fresh perspective on things. Whether you agree or disagree, it’s always good to hear it. It has been very seamless and effortless in those ways communicating with each other.
Whatever I bring to the table, I’m hoping it helps us on Sunday and it gets us closer to being a champion. Every day I’m in the building, I just enjoy working with these guys. Doug has been phenomenal as a leader, very positive in the building. That makes it easy to work.
Q. I know you have worked with virtual reality training with quarterbacks in the past. With the virtual meetings you had to have with the offseason program, have you suggested using virtual reality training to keep backup quarterbacks fresh during this time period and work on mechanics away from the facility? (Mike Kaye)
RICH SCANGARELLO: We discussed it in-house. It’s something I truly believe in. The problem with it this year, why it wasn’t functional, is you’re limited to the amount of people that can be in the building, limited the amount of video people. There are so many limitations with access and people coming in. To do those types of training programs require extra personnel, they require extra time from video people. We just don’t have the time.
It’s not functional for teams right now. For us, for sure to start it, would have been very difficult. We didn’t have off-season tape to practice with [QB] Jalen [Hurts] and all that stuff and [QB] Nate [Sudfeld]. Without those opportunities, it didn’t work this season. Moving forward in the future, I hope that’s something we get to. I think it is very, very beneficial for quarterbacks.
Q. I wanted to rewind a little bit back to your history with coaching, especially with Kyle Shanahan. Doug has mentioned your expertise in the play-action game. A lot of people have mentioned that as Kyle’s expertise. Everybody uses it. What sets him apart in that type of thing? (John McMullen)
RICH SCANGARELLO: I think Kyle has a great deal of respect in the league for how he’s married the run system to the pass system. The details of that are very important. It goes back to his days learning from his dad when he was a teenager in Denver, then his experience with the Houston Texans with Gary Kubiak, then him shaping his vision for how all that comes together.
To be part of that process, you just learn details and intricacies that very few people
know, that come from him ultimately. People see it on film, and they think they know, but they really don’t.
That’s the cool part of being part of it and having that knowledge. It’s an exciting part of taking that somewhere into a new building and sharing that with coaches who maybe you can help with that. So it’s been exciting to be a part of so far.
I think it fits our quarterback. It fits our personnel. But again, this is our offense here in Philadelphia. I don’t think it will look much different than it has in the past.