Two former Eagles are with the team once again for training camp. Todd Pinkston and Brandon Whiting are not suiting up, but they are going to be on the sidelines as coaching interns.
Pinkston caught members of the media by surprise when he walked by the players' dorms at Lehigh University with special teams coordinator Ted Daisher on Sunday afternoon. One of the reasons is the fact that he now tips the scales at 205 pounds. He was 180 when he played. Looking to get into the coaching business, Pinkston reached out to wide receivers coach David Culley and head coach Andy Reid to see if there was anything open. And, like he was at times during his playing career, a spot was open.
"Todd always had a great attitude here," Reid said. "I remember going back to his rookie year, he came in this little skinny guy and he was the only receiver his rookie year not to miss a practice, and that impressed me. He is a coach's kid, he always wanted to be a coach and he's coaching at the high school level and this gives him a chance to get better. I was talking to a couple of the coaches that have been around here awhile and I was saying we're getting old. When your players start coming back and coaching for you then it means you've been doing OK, coaching in one place for a long time."
Why does Pinkston want to get into coaching?
"I've been thinking about coaching for quite some time to expand my horizons after football," Pinkston said. "Once you've been playing football and sports all of you life, it's something you want to hand down to the little kids who look up to you."
Pinkston's last game as an Eagle was, believe it or not, the Super Bowl. Now, he has to get adjusted to not being one of the players even though there are still some of his former teammates playing with the Eagles.
"It's going to be different. I'm not coming in as a player now. I've got to distance myself as far as being a player and now being a coach," Pinkston said.
Pinkston had 184 catches for 2,816 yards and 14 touchdowns during his career. He was a second-round pick out of Southern Miss in 2000.
-- Posted by Chris McPherson, 4:17 p.m., July 26
