The Eagles hired Michael Clay as special teams coordinator on Friday, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer. This comes after the Lions hired former special teams coordinator Dave Fipp as their special teams coordinator.
This makes Clay the youngest coordinator in the NFL at the age of 29. Clay is no stranger to the Eagles as he has been in the organization before. The article will take a look at the Eagles newest hire and the NFL’s youngest coordinator, Micheal Clay.
About Michael Clay
Clay played football as a linebacker and was on special teams for the Oregon Ducks under former Eagles head coach Chip Kelly from 2009 to 2012. After playing with the Ducks, Clay signed with the Dolphins in 2013 and went through training camp before eventually getting cut at the end of the 2013 preseason.
Clay got his first coaching position with the Eagles in 2014 as defensive quality control coach. He switched to assistant special teams coach in 2015. After his first stint in Philadelphia, he signed with the 49ers in 2016 as an assistant special teams coach. Clay switched to being a strength and conditioning coach in 2017 and then went back to working with special teams from 2018 to 2020 with the San Fransisco 49ers.
Michael Clay’s success in coaching special teams
First off, Clay brings more youth to the Eagles’ coaching staff. Having a younger coach on the staff can help both younger and older players. Clay can coach the younger players better since he is still young and is familiar with what it takes to be successful in the NFL based on his prior coaching experience. Clay also brings special team experience in college, which makes him even more familiar with the position.
During his time in the 49ers, Clay helped Richard Hightower, who is the 49ers special teams coordinator, to a decently successful year in the special teams department. Clay helped the 49ers to become the second best team when it comes to starting field position. Their field position averaged at the 31.2 yard line. He also helped Hightower and the 49ers special teams unit flip the field. Opposing teams’ starting field position averaged at the 24.7 yard line. The 49ers also boasted 110 points from special teams in 2019. This made it the third consecutive year that Clay and Hightower helped the team attain 100 points or more on special teams.
So what can Clay do for the Eagles Special teams
Clay brings experience in coaching special teams, since he has years of great experience with the Eagles and 49ers. He knows how to get good field position on offense, which will help the Eagles’ offense chances with point production. He can pin defenses back on special teams, which will make the Eagles’ defense’s job easier and gives them more of a chance to stop the opposing offense. The biggest quality Clay could bring to the Eagles’ organization is point production, which is where the Eagles struggled in 2020. Points off special teams could mean the difference between winning and losing in the NFL. Hopefully, Clay can have the same success in Philadelphia in this category. This could be one of the Eagles better hires in 2021 and Clay has the opportunity to give the Philadelphia Eagles a spark under new head coach, Nick Sirianni.
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