On a recent bonus episode of New Heights with Jason Kelce and Travis Kelce, the brothers spoke with former Eagles (beloved) offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland. It’s one of the few interviews he’s done since leaving the organization, but he had some interesting insights to some of the offensive struggles from last season.
“I think anytime things don’t go well, and I don’t want to sound like I’m on an interview, but it’s the truth — it’s execution, it’s calling the right plays at the right time, and not
running bad plays into bad defenses. I mean, it ain’t that hard — that’s pretty much it.”
Stoutland also talked about the tush push and how it took a step back last season. The former OL coach said he was offended by the cutesy names people were giving a quarterback sneak because it minimized the skill of the play, and said that if people want to call it something, they should call it what it is: Organized mass. As for why it wasn’t as successful in 2025, he points to the change at the center of the play.
“If you take a player out of there that’s been doing it for awhile, and now it’s not organized mass, it’s just mass, then you got a problem and you’re not making it.”
Jason didn’t dig much after the comment and instead shifted gears to another segment in the show, appearing as though he didn’t want to throw anyone (Cam Jurgens) under the bus.
Stoutland said that he isn’t sure exactly what’s in his future, but he’ll be taking a year off — he started to say that he can’t do much right now (because he’s still under contract with the Eagles), but didn’t appear to want to go down that road. Instead he talked about spending time with his family, and being fully present without a million things to think about, but also noted he’s fired up and still passionate about coaching offensive lineman.
Lineman superlatives
The second half of the New Heights episode was Jason Kelce hosting a round table discussion with Stoutland, Jordan Mailata, and Brent Celek, and they talked OL superlatives:
- When asked who was the toughest OL that he coached, Stoutland admitted it was a hard question, but ultimately chose Landon Dickerson. He noted that no one knows what Dickerson does to get ready to play every week, but there were times the coach would see tears in his eyes.
- As for who the smartest lineman he ever coached, first Stoutland chose Kelce, but then also pointed out Isaac Seumalo, who Kelce agreed was the smartest. Stoutland pointed out the time that Seumalo played six positions in one game, including tight end, against the Ravens.
- Who was the meanest? Stoutland reluctantly named Jason Peters, who he said was not someone to mess with especially once he reached a certain point. Kelce recalled a story from his rookie season when Peters lost a rep to an inside move by Trent Cole, ran it back, and then palmed Cole so hard in the face mask he fell backward onto his head. The former center joked that seeing it made him question if he had what it took to play in the NFL if that’s how intense guys were.
- Stoutland pointed to Mailata as the most improved, taking someone so talented but who absolutely nothing about football and turning him into an All-Pro.
