January 14, 2017
After firing wide receiver coach Greg Lewis, the Philadelphia Eagles have reportedly interviewed at least two new candidates for the job. They are Sanjay Lal and Mike Groh. Let's take a look at both.
Lal was previously a wide receivers coach for the Oakland Raiders (2009-2011), New York Jets (2012-2014), and the Buffalo Bills (2015-present). Here are the receivers with at least 500 yards in any one season under Lal's watch:
| Year | Player | Rec | Yards | TD |
| 2009 Raiders | Louis Murphy | 34 | 251 | 4 |
| 2010 Raiders | Louis Murphy | 41 | 609 | 2 |
| 2011 Raiders | Darrius Heyward-Bey | 64 | 975 | 4 |
| 2011 Raiders | Louis Murphy | 33 | 618 | 5 |
| 2012 Jets | Jeremy Kerley | 56 | 827 | 2 |
| 2013 Jets | Jeremy Kerley | 43 | 523 | 3 |
| 2014 Jets | Eric Decker | 74 | 962 | 5 |
| 2015 Bills | Sammy Watkins | 60 | 1047 | 9 |
| 2015 Bills | Robert Woods | 47 | 552 | 3 |
| 2016 Bills | Robert Woods | 51 | 613 | 1 |
As you can see, in his eight-year career, Lal has only coached one player who amassed at least 1000 yards in one season. Like Greg Lewis, Lal didn't have much to work with until 2014 when the Jets signed Eric Decker.
Perhaps the encouraging player example in Lal's career is Sammy Watkins, who topped 1000 yards as a second-year player in 2015, before seeing his numbers fall off in an injury-plagued 2016 season.
At the end of the 2016 season, after the Bills fired Rex Ryan, Watkins feared losing Lal as his positional coach, via Vic Carucci of The Buffalo News.
"That's one guy that I don't want to leave," Watkins said. "Probably if he leaves, then I don't know how my mindset will be, honestly. That's a guy that kind of groomed me in to running routes and doing everything the right way -- mental, physical -- and if he leaves, that'll hurt. Because that's a guy that kind of helped this whole (receiver) group form a mentality and shape us to professionals. He gave us the whole script of off the field, on the field, and it's helping this wide receiver group and helping the players."
Groh was previously the wide receivers coach for the Chicago Bears (2013-2015) and the Los Angeles Rams (2016-present). He also had several jobs in college, with Alabama, Louisville, and Virginia. He is the son of former coach Al Groh, who had a long coaching career both in the NFL and at various colleges, most notably Virginia.
Unlike Lal, Groh had some players to work with in Chicago. Here are the receivers with at least 500 yards in any one season under Groh's watch:
| Year | Player | Rec | Yards | TD |
| 2013 Bears | Alshon Jeffery | 89 | 1421 | 7 |
| 2013 Bears | Brandon Marshall | 100 | 1295 | 12 |
| 2014 Bears | Alshon Jeffery | 85 | 1133 | 10 |
| 2014 Bears | Brandon Marshall | 61 | 721 | 8 |
| 2015 Bears | Alshon Jeffery | 54 | 807 | 4 |
| 2016 Rams | Kenny Britt | 68 | 1002 | 5 |
| 2016 Rams | Brian Quick | 41 | 564 | 3 |
| 2016 Rams | Tavon Austin | 58 | 509 | 3 |
As the wide receivers coach at Alabama from 2011-2012, Groh coached NFL draftees Amari Cooper and Kevin Norwood.
Groh also has experience coaching quarterbacks (Louisville 2010). Groh himself was a two-year starting quarterback at the University of Virginia before signing with the Baltimore Ravens in 1996 as an undrafted free agent. In a Q&A post, Chicago Tribune reporter Brad Biggs noted that when Groh left the Bears to join the Rams' staff, he did so partly because he had hoped to become the Bears' quarterbacks coach, but was passed over for the job.
Groh could view the Eagles as an opportunity for advancement, as current quarterbacks coach John DeFilippo got sniffs for offensive coordinator jobs this offseason.
Follow Jimmy on Twitter: @JimmyKempski
Like Jimmy on Facebook.
