An offensive coordinator with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last season, Josh Grizzard interviewed for the same job with the Eagles after the 2025 season and during that process he gained a feel for the football organization, management and the entire team.
Things didn't turn out exactly as Grizzard planned, but in this league, you learn to re-direct. Grizzard was hired, not as the offensive coordinator, but as the passing game coordinator working with OC Sean Mannion, and the situation couldn't be better as far as Grizzard is concerned.
"Great opportunity for me, working here with the winning history and with the way the Eagles do things, I felt great about taking the job," Grizzard said. "My role is to help Sean in a multitude of ways with getting ahead on each portion of the game plan. We break it down, first and second down, how do we want to attack a defense when it comes to the pass game? We put that to bed. Ok, now we move to third down. What plays do we design for third down? Then, how do we want to attack in the red zone? How do we want to attack in the red zone on third down?
"Being able to help these guys – with Sean, with Nick (Sirianni, head coach) with what I'm seeing on these downs and distances and these are the plays we want to implement in a collaborative environment, we can work ahead a day or two and give the guys some ideas when they get to that part of the plan."
Grizzard's time in Tampa Bay was marked by big plays in the passing game, the resurgence of quarterback Baker Mayfield, huge receiving numbers from receivers Mike Evans and Emeka Egbuka and punch in the running game.
Now he's here, part of the coaching staff implementing a new scheme.
"Whatever he needs, I'm here for him. He already has a very clear vision of how he wants to do things … I'm an open door for him," Grizzard said. "We're all working together to put this together."
Grizzard played defensive back at Yale and earned a degree in political science there before gaining a master's degree in Christian studies from Duke. He had options with that tremendous academic background but always wanted to be a coach.
And he got his shot, first as a graduate assistant at Duke before moving to the NFL as an offensive quality control coach with the Miami Dolphins. Grizzard has worked his way up the ladder and brings with him an extensive understanding of the offensive game and the different ways to attack defenses in this league.
"I think a lot of it is, to an extent, a shared vision of the things that I might have done in the past, or things that they might have seen on tape that we might have run that might be a good mix or a blend of what's been done here," Grizzard said. "Adding those elements from what this (new) system could bring to what is already here, that's exciting."
Mixing the X's and the O's with the Jimmies and the Joes, that's what coaching is all about. The Eagles have plenty of the latter and as Training Camp nears, Grizzard is working with Mannion and running game coordinator Ryan Mahaffey and the rest of the coaching staff to design the scheme.
That's what we're all waiting to see: What is this offense going to look like in 2026, driven by quarterback Jalen Hurts, a terrific offensive line and a talented group of playmakers?
"Once camp starts and you get into the early parts of the season and you get a feel for how well everyone is understanding the scheme and how it's fitting them, because until you have the pads on, you don't have as good a feel for how it's going," Grizzard said. "It takes a little bit of time. When we get to Training Camp, we will start to see the scheme and how it's coming together.
"We have a lot of different skill sets here and we can spread the ball around. The idea is to keep the defense on its toes. Keep them guessing and that helps us score points and win games."
