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Eagles head-coaching candidate Arthur Smith lands job with Falcons after interview with Jeffrey Lurie

Arthur Smith signs with Atlanta, following the example set by new Jets coach Robert Saleh.

Will Duce Staley (right) get his chance to coach the Eagles, succeeding Doug Pederson (left)?
Will Duce Staley (right) get his chance to coach the Eagles, succeeding Doug Pederson (left)?Read moreDAVID MAIALETTI / Staff Photographer
    by Les Bowen
    Published 

For the second day in a row, the Eagles became the last team to interview someone, just before the candidate was hired to coach another team.

Friday it was Arthur Smith, hired to run the Atlanta Falcons right after interviewing with the Eagles’ brain trust at team owner Jeffrey Lurie’s residence in Palm Beach, Fla. Thursday it was Robert Saleh, hired by former Eagles exec Joe Douglas to coach the Jets, after a perfunctory trip to the Lurie manse.

Smith had been the Titans’ offensive coordinator, Saleh the 49ers’ defensive coordinator. They were two of the hottest candidates in this year’s head coaching field, but the teams they ultimately signed with started their process before the Eagles, who waited until Monday to part ways with Doug Pederson, after five seasons and the only Super Bowl championship in franchise history.

The good news is, the Eagles were scheduled to interview New England inside linebackers coach Jerod Mayo and their own running backs coach and assistant head coach, Duce Staley, on Friday, and there is little chance either of them will be hired to lead another team over the weekend.

Neither Mayo nor Staley has ever been a coordinator or been responsible for a scheme. Mayo, who turns 35 next month, has only been a coach for two years. Staley, who turns 46 next month, has spent 10 years as an Eagles assistant after a 10-year NFL playing career, the first seven of those years with the Eagles. Staley enjoys strong support among Eagles players.

The Eagles also have reportedly asked for permission to interview Dallas offensive coordinator Kellen Moore, 32, who does not seem to be a head-coaching candidate anywhere else, and Tampa Bay defensive coordinator Todd Bowles, who cannot make the trek to Palm Beach until the Bucs are out of the playoffs. Bowles is a former Temple star who was an Eagles assistant in 2012, under Andy Reid. The Eagles have been mentioned in connection with Ryan Day, the Ohio State head coach who has been a Temple assistant and was the Eagles’ quarterbacks coach in 2015.