Two-time Super Bowl champion and former Philadelphia Eagles defensive end Chris Long believes his former team will be just fine entering the 2024 season.
The Eagles ended the 2023 season on a rough stretch, losing six of their final seven games. The disastrous ending to their season was puzzling considering they were 10-1 through 11 weeks of the season — the best record in the NFL. Six of their 10 wins were actually over playoff teams, with their last three against the likes of the Dallas Cowboys, Kansas City Chiefs and Buffalo Bills.
Their season came to a close when they were soundly defeated, 32-9, against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the playoffs.
“Sometimes it's hard to learn the lesson in the middle of the season,” said Long during a one-on-one interview. “NFL season is like treading water. You go under, you're trying to get back above water. You take a big breath, you get dragged down. It's a roller coaster of emotion. Sometimes it has to happen in the offseason. The Eagles team was not great last year and we thought they were great. They fooled us for a little bit. They'll be better this year.”
Long — who played for the Eagles during the 2017 and 2018 seasons and won a Super Bowl in Philadelphia — has a point. Although the Eagles started out 10-1, they showed clear signs of weakness during their hot start. They committed more turnovers than turnovers forced in four of their victories and allowed 22.3 points per game during that span.
Long believes more stability at the coordinator positions — the Eagles hired Kellen Moore as offensive coordinator and Vic Fangio as defensive coordinator — and the addition of two-time Pro Bowl running back Saquon Barkley should have the team on the right track entering 2024.
“I do (think they get back on the right track),” said Long. “I think signings like Devin White — I'm excited to see him play. I think they had to get better in the middle of the field defensively after allowing T.J. Edwards to walk. Addressing that linebacker room and the running back room (with Saquon Barkley) helps. Not that D'Andre Swift wasn't great, but that's a real difference maker back. And they'll attack the draft. I think they'll be better for sure and I think the experience can help them.”
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The Eagles appear to have filled major voids resulting from departures in the previous offseason. Following their Super Bowl appearance at the conclusion of the 2022 season, Philadelphia lost both of their coordinators, Shane Steichen and Jonathan Gannon, as they accepted head coaching positions with other teams.
Long points towards the scheme and the coordinators from the previous season as a reason for why things didn’t pan out last season.
“I think the biggest thing for the Eagles is just getting back to sound schematic football,” says Long. “I really did think both coordinators ultimately didn't work out last year. When you're trying to repat, it's hard enough if you have continuity. Imagine you walk into the building day one and you're installing two new schemes.”
While the Eagles appear to have more stability with their coordinator situation, they’ll replace two longtime veterans in center Jason Kelce and defensive tackle Fletcher Cox. Outside of defensive end Brandon Graham, both players had been the longest-tenured members of the Eagles, teaming up with Long during the 2017 and 2018 seasons.
Kelce is one of the best centers in recent memory, having been named to six All-Pro teams and having garnered seven Pro Bowl selections. Meanwhile, Cox had achieved a similar stature as a defensive lineman, posting four All-Pro selections and garnering six Pro Bowl selections while also being named to the NFL’s All-Decade Team of the 2010’s.
“They're not just great players who were playing at a high level in their final year,” explains Long. “Fletch and Jason could have continued. But they're also culture pieces. There's a whole new era of Eagles football. With those two guys leaving, that's a tough thing to replace in the locker room. The younger guys have to be ready to lead sooner than they think and I think it's a wake-up call. Guys like Jalen Carter, Cameron Jurgens can step up and be leaders.”
While Kelce has called it a career, it doesn’t mean he’s not a busy man. Long will be hosting his third annual Waterboys charity challenge at Boar’s Head Resort and Birdwood Golf Course in Charlottesville, Virginia on April 18 and 19 and Kelce will be joining him as a co-host for the first time. The two-day event features a celebrity golf tournament and a concert to raise funds for clean water in East Africa and the United States.
“Once you got Jason Kelce, you kind of have an event,” says Long. “That was the heavy hitter for me — to hit up Jason and say, 'Can you help co-host this golf tournament?' This is our third annual event, you have to keep it fresh. People don't want to hear from me every year.”
Celebrities and athletes such as former NFL safety/current ESPN analyst Ryan Clark, Chris’ dad, Hall of Fame defensive end Howie Long, and his brother, former offensive guard Kyle Long, will also be participating in the charity-raising event.
The event is held to raise awareness of the clean water crisis that affects people in both the U.S. and East Africa. According to the Chris Long Foundation, 785 million people worldwide and two million Americans do not have clean, running water in their homes.
The “Waterboys” initiative is a staple of the Chris Long Foundation and has been since its inception in 2015. Long explains how a trip to Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania — motivated in part by his former coach with the St. Louis Rams, Jeff Fisher — in 2015 led him to start getting involved in charitable work.
“I found this water crisis the last day we were there in Tanzania,” says Long. “We're at the hotel bar, having a beer celebrating summiting Mount Kilimanjaro and somebody walks in and says my name. It's Joe Buck, the announcer. He was there coincidentally on a water project. We talked and I was really struck pragmatically at how fast you can change communities as they were describing it with the implementation of a solution like solar power wells.”
Long explains that he has taken marines and athletes from America over to Tanzania to see first hand the type of water school kids drink from and that it’s changed their perspective. Providing clean water and preventing waterborne illness is why Long is featuring the “Waterboys” initiative as part of his charity event.
“These kids — going to school is hard enough,” says Long. “Growing up is hard enough. Having to battle this opponent every day (pertaining to having clean water). Are you going to get sick? Are you going to get dehydrated from diarrhea and maybe die? That's a reality there. It's not just about saving kids and people; but it's empowering people to not have to worry about that B.S. having to go get water every day.”
While the focus of the two-day charity event is obviously to raise funds to fight waterborne illness, the presence of Kelce as a co-host is something that Long hopes will make the event fun for attendees.
“It's the first time for Kelce and I think he's going to make the event (fun). People cannot get enough of Jason right now. I told him that you have to strike while the iron is hot. And so do I. So get down here and help me raise money,” says Long while laughing.
“He's a great friend,” says Long of Kelce. “He really is with everything he's got going on to come down here. I love the guy.”
