Philadelphia Eagles
Michael Clay
Special Teams Coordinator
Biography
Michael Clay enters his third year as the special teams coordinator of the Philadelphia Eagles and 10th season overall coaching in the NFL.
A member of an Eagles staff that guided the team to a Super Bowl LVII appearance, Clay led a group that featured three NFC Special Teams Player of the Week performances during the 2022 season. He also helped rookie Britain Covey rank third in the conference in both punt return yards (308, eighth in the NFL) and punt return average (9.3, ninth in the NFL).
In 2021, Clay oversaw a special teams unit that was highlighted by the excellence of kicker Jake Elliott, who earned his first career Pro Bowl nod after producing a franchise-record 90.9 field goal percentage (30-of-33) and a career-high 134 points (sixth-most in team history). Additionally, Elliott finished as one of just three NFL kickers who converted at least 90 percent of their field goals and all of their extra-point attempts (44-of-44), joining Justin Tucker (94.6 pct.) and Younghoe Koo (93.1 pct.).
Prior to coming back to Philadelphia, Clay spent five seasons (2016-20) as an assistant coach with the San Francisco 49ers.
During the 2020 campaign, Clay helped punter Mitch Wishnowsky post the most punts inside the 20-yard line (25) in the NFL while finishing among the top 12 in the NFL in net (41.6, 12th) and gross (46.9, 11th) average.
In 2019, when San Francisco advanced to Super Bowl LIV, Clay assisted a special teams group that ranked second in average starting field position (32.1-yard line) and seventh in opponent average starting field position (24.7-yard line). Kicker Robbie Gould recorded 100-plus points (110) for the third straight season and Wishnowsky registered the second-best punting average (44.9) by a 49ers rookie. Richie James also ranked seventh in the league in punt return average (8.0) and 10th in kickoff return average (21.4).