Chris Kuper walked into a tricky situation this offseason: he took over an offensive line room that had spent 13 seasons under Jeff Stoutland, a coach who helped shape some of the Eagles’ best players and was the only O-line coach the five current starters had known in the NFL.
That kind of handoff can be awkward. It can also be revealing. And early on, the Eagles seem to like what they’ve seen from Kuper.
“Building trust is the most important thing,” head coach Nick Sirianni said. “You build trust by your daily habits, you build trust by consistently doing the right things. Those are the things that he's been doing.”
Kuper, 43, brings a resume that fits the job. He spent eight seasons in the NFL, appearing in 90 games with 79 starts, mostly at right guard. After his playing career, he moved through the coaching ladder as a quality control coach, an assistant O-line coach and eventually the Vikings’ offensive line coach for four seasons.
That background matters in Philadelphia, especially because Kuper is working in the same scheme new offensive coordinator Sean Mannion is installing. He’s been in this system before as both a player and a coach, which gives him a head start in a room full of veterans and young linemen trying to absorb details fast.
Pro Bowl center Cam Jurgens said the easiest way Kuper has won people over is by being real.
“Just being himself,” Jurgens said. “Trying not to come here and be somebody he’s not.
Same thing with us. You can only be who you are and you can’t try to be somebody you ain’t.
He’s a former player so he’s able to relate to us in certain ways and tell us stories about his playing days. You can kind of have that back and forth and he can connect with you in that sort of way.”
For Jurgens, the scheme familiarity has turned the room into a kind of study hall for linemen who like the details. He said it reminds him of being a rookie and listening to Jason Kelce explain the techniques he used during his career. Now, Jurgens is hearing Kuper break down how the techniques in this offense have evolved over time.
Kuper’s style has also been more hands-on than some coaches. There are times when he jumps in and shows the drill himself, which has helped the message land.
Tyler Steen, who is now the Eagles’ starting right guard, said Kuper made a point of addressing that connection from the start.
“The first day when we all met him, he kind of introduced himself, made it be known that he played in this league for a while,” Steen said. “He told me he played right guard and he was like, ‘My eyes naturally go to the right guard at first.’
I thought that was pretty cool. Me and Coach Kuper have started to build a relationship so it’s been pretty good.
I think we can be honest with each other. So I think it’s been good so far.”
For Sirianni, the formula is simple: Kuper doesn’t need to be Stoutland. He just needs to be himself and coach the way he knows how.
“He can only be himself and coach the way he knows how to coach,” Sirianni said. “I hired him for a reason.
We were really impressed by him, and we know he's a phenomenal coach, and he's doing a good job of building relationships with his players. He's doing a good job of teaching his players.”
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