Philadelphia Eagles Hire Special Teams Coach

The Philadelphia Eagles have hired Dave Fipp to be the special teams coach under new head coach Chip Kelly.

Fipp, 38, served as the assistant special teams coach with the Miami Dolphins in 2011 and 2012. The team ranked second and fourth in the league in special teams performance, according to calculations by the Dallas Morning News.

From 2008 to 2010, Fipp worked with the San Francisco 49ers as the assistant special teams coach. 

This will be his first job as a lead man in charge of special teams. The Eagles are certainly a team that could use some work with their special teams, ranking 28th this season by the Dallas Morning News.

Fipp's biggest responsibility will be the kick and punt coverage units. The Eagles allowed 24.7 yards per kick return in 2012, compared to the 21.0 generated by rookie Brandon Boykin. This gave the Eagles consistent bad field position, which caused struggles for the offense. 

Bobby April worked as the team's special teams coach for the past two seasons, but he was let go when the team fired Andy Reid. The Oakland Raiders signed April to be their special teams coach. 

April failed to help revive the Eagles' special teams, which used to thrive under former special teams coach John Harbaugh, who coached there from 1999 to 2006. Harbaugh is now head coach of the Baltimore Ravens, who'll face the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl XLVII on February 3.