Eagles’ Jeff Stoutland on bittersweet feeling of Jason Kelce retiring: ‘These guys are your family’
While Stoutland is glad Kelce retired having given everything to the game, the coach lost a close partner on the offensive line. Who's next to step forward as O-line leaders?
The way Jeff Stoutland does his job, some players eventually feel like members of his family.
How could they not?
“You’ve got to realize the amount of time we put in together,” Stoutland said. “Actually, in a roundabout way, it’s kind of sad. We spend way more time here with these guys than we do with our families. Way more time. And you go through emotional times, you argue, it’s like they’re your family.
“These guys are your family.”
» READ MORE: 62 things about Jason Kelce
The Eagles offensive line coach spoke Monday for the first time since Jason Kelce announced his retirement three months ago. While he acknowledged the succession plan the team has in Cam Jurgens to compensate for Kelce’s departure on the field and the group of leaders on the line to help fill the void the six-time captain leaves off of it, Stoutland still conceded that Kelce’s retirement was bittersweet for him after a decade forging such a strong familial bond.
“I was very happy for him, but also very sad, because I feel like I lost a very close friend and partner in this whole process,” Stoutland said. “But, I’m very happy for him because it was perfect timing and he maximized. That guy, holy smokes, you talk about not leaving anything on the table. He gave it everything he had. Mentally, physically, I don’t know what else you could ask for in a player. That’s all anybody in Philly wants.”
Kelce gave an emotional retirement speech on March 4 in which he credited Stoutland as the driving force behind him becoming a six-time All-Pro and one of the greatest Eagles in franchise history. The 36-year-old even bookended his speech with quotes he’d picked up from Stoutland over their shared time together with another Stoutland-ism wedged in the middle of the 40-minute address.
“No one has been more influential or meaningful to my success on the field in my career than Stout,” Kelce said. “I think one of the greatest things a human being can give another is belief. This world, life, they can be hard. They can challenge yourself to points of self-doubt, and that is a dangerous place to be.”
» READ MORE: Cam Jurgens has big shoes to fill after Jason Kelce’s retirement: ‘I’m just trying to be me’
Stoutland said the coaching staff “made it very clear” to Kelce that he’s welcome to carve out a role within the organization and the offensive line room if he so chooses. Kelce has spent time around the facility since his retirement, although he’ll have plenty to keep him busy next season with media ventures including ESPN’s Monday Night Countdown and the New Heights podcast.
If Kelce does attend the occasional offensive-line meeting, Stoutland will once again have the creative mind that has helped shape the front’s call sheet during midweek meetings over the last several years.
“I want the players to be a little more engaged,” Stoutland said. “Like dive in deep and become invested. So what I try to do is ask, ‘What’s your idea for a scheme?’ … And then you draw it up and talk it over as a group and the next thing you know, we’ve built a concept. And we run that play in that game. Holy cow, now you’ve got players fighting for ideas. It’s really fun. And Kelce, something like that, for him, he could be creative. Because he’s so creative, his mind is all football and angles. It was fun, it was great.”
With the team finished with the voluntary portion of organized team activities and beginning a three-day mandatory minicamp on Tuesday, Stoutland said he has noticed players like Lane Johnson, Jordan Mailata, and Landon Dickerson stepping into bigger leadership roles post-Kelce.
Mailata and Dickerson both signed extensions this offseason that stretch through the 2028 season and talked about growing as leaders.
“When a player sees the veteran leadership like Jason Kelce, they know their place,” Stoutland said. “And when Jason decided that, ‘This is the perfect time for me,’ I think the minds of some of the other players were like, ‘OK, I knew my place then, but now I know my place. It’s time for me to step up and time for me to become a leader.’ And I see that, I see that amongst several of the players, the older guys.”