By any measure, the 1999 Eagles were not very good. In fact, they were awful.
On opening day, they became the first team in NFL history to blow a 21-point 1st-quarter lead at home. They lost their first four games and 11 of their first 14, went 1-7 on the road, lost three games by at least 26 points and finished last in the NFC East.
They ranked 30th in the NFL in offense and 24th in defense, the only time since 1972 the Eagles have ranked in the bottom 10 in both categories. They finished 5-11, and only four NFL teams had a worse record.Stay in the game with the latest updates on your beloved Philadelphia sports teams! Sign up here for our All Access Daily newsletter.
The 1999 Eagles are also one of the most remarkable teams in NFL history.
Because that team produced an astonishing 15 NFL coaches. Including some of the best in the business.
When new Jaguars coach Doug Pederson hired Mike Caldwell last week as his defensive coordinator, that made three players on the 1999 Eagles who became NFL coordinators or head coaches along with seven position coaches who became head coaches, two other players who became NFL assistants and two other assistants who are currently head coaches.
Along with a Hall of Fame head coach.
And here’s the most incredible part of it:
The head coach, quarterback and special teams coach from that team all won Super Bowls as head coaches. Three assistants on that team won Super Bowls as assistant coaches. And four other players on that team won a Super Bowl as assistant coaches.
Of the four non Super Bowl winners, one is head coach of the team with the 3rd-best record in the NFL over the last three years, another won a Super Bowl as a player and reached another as a head coach and the last two were assistants on a team that lost a Super Bowl.
Four of the last 10 Super Bowl champs have had at least one player or coach from the 1999 Eagles on the coaching staff.
They call Miami of Ohio the Cradle of the Coaches because of the legendary coaches it’s produced over the last 70 years – Woody Hayes, Paul Brown, Ara Parseghian, Weeb Ewbank, Bo Schembechler, Jim Harbuagh (as well as long-time Dodgers manager Walter Alston).
But the Eagles have ‘em beat. Because this group was all together at the same time.
Let’s take a look at the 15 coaches who were part of the 1999 Eagles:
Eric Bieniemy: Bieniemy finished his nine-year career on the 1999 Eagle, and although he didn’t play much on offense – 12 carries for 75 yards and an 11-yard game-winning TD run in a win over Washington – he certainly made an impression on Eagles quarterbacks coach Brad Childress, who hired Bieniemy as running backs coach when he was named head coach of the Vikings in 2006. And when Andy Reid became Chiefs head coach in 2013, he hired Bieniemy in the same role, promoting him to offensive coordinator in 2018 to replace Matt Nagy (who had replaced Doug Pederson) when Nagy got the Bears head coaching job. Bieniemy won his Super Bowl ring with the Chiefs in 2019.
Mike Caldwell: The Eagles signed Caldwell in 1998 and he immediately became one of John Harbaugh’s top special teamers. He spent four years and eventually began his coaching career as an entry-level quality control coach under Jim Johnson in 2008. When Reid and his staff got fired after 2012, Caldwell got a job coaching linebackers for Bruce Arians and Todd Bowles in Arizona. He went with Bowles to the Jets, and they rejoined Arians in Tampa in 2019, winning a Super Bowl in 2021. After interviewing with Harbs for the Ravens’ DC vacancy, Caldwell was hired last week by Pederson as the Jaguars’ defensive coordinator.
Juan Castillo: Castillo joined the Eagles in 1995 and remained here nearly 17 years until Reid fired him (and promoted Bowles) six games into the 2012 season. Castillo quickly landed in Baltimore with Harbaugh, who he first coached with on Ray Rhodes’ staff in 1998. Castillo served the rest of the year as running game coordinator, and when the Ravens beat the 49ers in Super Bowl XLVII in New Orleans, Castillo had his first Super Bowl ring. He has since coached under Sean McDermott in Buffalo and the past two years under Nagy in Chicago.
John Harbaugh: Like Castillo, Harbs was a holdover from Rhodes’ staff when Reid arrived here. After nine years with Reid, Harbaugh got the Ravens head coaching job and was the first of Reid’s coaching tree to win a Super Bowl, beating his brother in Super Bowl XLVII in New Orleans. Harbaugh, now going into his 15th season with the Ravens, ranks 10th in NFL history with 11 career postseason wins.
Tim Hauck: Hauck spent the 1999 through 2001 seasons with the Eagles as a special teamer and occasional starting safety, and when Pederson was building his initial staff in 2016 he hired Hauck as safeties coach. When the Eagles won Super Bowl LII in Minneapolis, Hauck became one of three players on the 1999 team to win a Super Bowl ring 18 years later.
Tom Melvin: Melvin and Andy Reid first coached together at San Francisco State in 1984 and 1985, and they also coached together at Northern Arizona in 1986. Reid hired Melvin as a member of his inaugural Eagles staff in 1999, and 22 years later they’re still together. Melvin won his first Super Bowl ring when the Chiefs beat the 49ers in Super Bowl LIV after the 2019 season. He’s the only assistant who’s been with Reid his entire head coaching career. His cousin Bob is manager of the Padres.
