Jason Kelce is at training camp helping Jeff Stoutland shape the young Eagles linemen: ‘He’s part of us’
Kelce, who will be back with ESPN this season and hasn’t taken an official role with the team, is “always welcome here,” Stoutland said.
Jason Kelce blends right in with the coaches at Eagles training camp. He wears the same Eagles long-sleeve shirt as a large group of the staff does, along with black shorts and a wide-brim white hat.
He’s been a familiar face at camp, popping up on the first day last Wednesday and again on Tuesday to lend his expertise to offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland and his group. Stoutland said he has encouraged Kelce to come as much as possible to help out since his retirement last year.
“He’s always welcome here,” Stoutland said. “He’s part of us. He’s a part of our family. So when he has time, I always tell him, ‘Get over here. Help us. Help these young players out.’”
Center Cam Jurgens had the opportunity to play with Kelce for two seasons, but the team’s younger offensive linemen, including rookie center Drew Kendall, have only gotten to watch him from afar. Kendall cited Kelce as “the most influential center” in the game after he was drafted and was one of his inspirations.
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During drills, Kelce pulled Kendall aside to give him pointers.
“To have a guy like that around and be able to talk to him, I mean, Drew Kendall, come on,” Stoutland said. “Having Jason Kelce, a Hall of Famer, around here to tap his brain. I told him, ‘If you let that guy get out of here and you haven’t asked him a dozen questions, you’re crazy.’”
Kelce’s tutelage even extends to the kids watching camp, including a student from Glassboro High School, who got a few reps in with the former center.
Kelce still hasn’t made an official foray into coaching — he’ll return to his Monday Night Countdown duties on ESPN this season, a network spokesperson confirmed — but he’s right at home with the Birds.
He’s also one of the best examples of what happens when you buy in to the Stoutland University system. Kelce was a sixth-round pick, and Stoutland helped develop him into a likely Hall of Famer. Having him back in the room keeps the players fresh when Stoutland, who recently was awarded the Pro Football Writers’ Association Dr. Z Award for lifetime achievement, feels like his message is growing stale.
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“They get tired of hearing me sometimes,” Stoutland said. “Landon [Dickerson] does that for me, and Lane [Johnson] will do that for me, and Jordan [Mailata] will do that for me, where they’ll say, ‘Stout, hold on,’ in the meeting, and then they’ll start to talk, and all of a sudden, the players will hear it.
“It’s good to break it up a little bit and hear it from the guys that are actually doing it. Jason, he knows me. He knows what we’re teaching. He knows what works best.”
Now, he’s sharing his secrets with the next generation.