This is Year 3 with the Eagles for Clint Hurtt, who presides over a defensive tackle room that is as accomplished, as promising and as intriguing as any position group in the NFL.
The longtime coach, in his 13 NFL season whose official title is Senior Defensive Assistant/Defensive Line/Associate Head Coach, has talent at the top of the list on par with the best of the best of the best in the league, and he has everything in between on the way to a 2026 seventh-round draft pick who is as raw as raw can be in the game of football.
All of this, of course, delights Hurtt, an enthusiastic and demanding and accomplished coach who is loving every minute of the many challenges in his position room.
"All I want from these guys is their best effort,to continue to grow and mature as peopleand then the rest of it just kind of falls where it may," Hurtt said. "If they do all of that and continue their growth, I think they can fulfill that talent."
There is plenty of talent for Hurtt to mold. He has helped Jalen Carter and Jordan Davis develop into a devastating defensive tackle combination. He has guided the enormous growth of Moro Ojomo, a seventh-round draft pick in 2023 who plays as a high-level starter. He has young veteran Byron Young, who made a big leap in the 2025 season. There is Ty Robinson, bigger and stronger and hoping to make an impact in his second season. Gabe Hall has made strides since the Eagles signed him following the 2024 NFL Draft. Ta'Quon Graham signed in 2025, knows the system and is looking to earn reps.
And then there is the rawest of the raw: Seventh-round draft pick Uar Bernard, a 6-4, 306-pound talent from Nigeria who had never put on a football helmet prior to his first day on the field in South Philadelphia. Coaches love working with talent, no matter how unrefined. Hurtt has his prime project on hand after, as Hurtt admitted, not-so-gently reminding Executive Vice President/General Manager Howie Roseman how much he liked the idea of working with Bernard, should the Eagles have a chance to draft him.
"Ibelieve in young people.I believe in players and obviously giving the very best of myself to them," Hurtt said."And it starts, though, like I'm not putting my stamp on everybody.
"If you don't have a great work ethic,if I don't believe in your character and who you are as a person,I'm not putting my family's well-being in anybody's hands.But when I saw the kid's work ethic and character, like, great.He's an unbelievable human being. I felt good about doing that.
"You know, at this level, you're going to get humbledbecause you're going to get some of the best playersin the world on our team.So you've got to keep him feeling good where he's like,he can also see, yeah, I have talent,but I also can see myself ascending going forwardand I don't want to put him in a situation where,you know, he just, like, do I really belong?How quick of a learner has he been?He's picked things up well.You know, now, you've got to understand, like,he's going to need time. It's going to need time.Anybody who thinks this is going to happen overnight,you're kidding yourself.But he's coming along well. He's working hard and the group has really taken well to him as well."
For each and every one of them, the process is slow, detailed, together and very much measured in playing within the scheme and with the proper technique. Hurtt has a room that is loaded with ability – but more important than that it is one that has delivered on the football field.
The Eagles want to win from the inside first to the outside next. The defensive tackles are there to set the tempo, win the trenches and open things up for the rest of the players in Vic Fangio's scheme.
"It's fun with this group," Hurtt said. "They push each other, they push themselves. They want to be the best. We all want the same thing, and that makes it a pleasure to work with them every day."
