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Duce Staley has been mentioned as a head coaching candidate over the past few offseasons but a hire never materialized after several interviews. Rather than becoming bitter, Staley has continued to grind, being named the Eagles’ assistant head coach to Doug Pederson and also gathering more responsibility.
Staley got his opportunity for even more responsibility when Pederson tested positive for COVID-19. During a Tuesday Zoom meeting, Staley gave some insight into what he learned during his 10 days in charge.
“First of all, it was awesome just being able to be in that role, [for] the organization [to] look at me and trust me to be in that role to lead the team,” he said. “So that was the awesome part of it. And I just took it one day at a time. Continuing to deliver Doug’s message. Continue to meet with the team. Continue to talk with Doug virtually to deliver his message. I took a lot from it. I tell you, it was exciting for me because of course, playing here in this great city and coming back coaching and being able to be the head coach for those ten days was just awesome. I can’t say enough about it.”
“I learned the three ‘L’s, and the three ‘L’s, are listen, learn and lead, so that’s what I got from that awesome experience,” Staley said. “One of the things we talk about as coaches and you guys have seen it (with) players over the last couple years when one of our star players goes down, it’s the next-man-up mentality. Well, Doug will tell you, it’s the next-man-up mentality this year dealing with the pandemic as coaches, also. So when Doug was out of the building, he trusted me to step right in and take over and continue to deliver our message as a team and continue to deliver his message. It was awesome, man. I’ve learned a lot.”
Staley handled the onfield activities and meetings at the NovaCare Complex while Pederson ran the team via Zoom meetings as he was quarantined at home from August 3-12.
The extra responsibility only enhances Staley’s resume as he looks to land a head coaching job in the NFL rather than take a step down to run a college football program.
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