Bill McGovern is leaving his current post as linebackers coach at Boston College to join the coaching staff of the Philadelphia Eagles, a source confirmed to The Heights this morning. The move was first reported by FootballScoop.com. He will either be named the linebackers coach or defensive backs coach, depending on who new head coach Chip Kelly brings in as the defensive coordinator, the source said.
McGovern spent 16 years at BC, serving as defensive coordinator from 2009 to 2012 under former head coach Frank Spaziani. He was retained on the staff when Steve Addazio was named the new head coach, and was set to coach the linebackers again in 2013.
There are various ties between McGovern and Kelly’s new coaching staff in Philadelphia. Kelly worked the BC football camp for 10 years, and got to know McGovern during that time. Philadelphia’s new defensive line coach Jerry Azzinario, who came to the Eagles from Oregon with Kelly, also knew McGovern from when the two coached together at BC from 1995 to 1996 under Dan Henning.
In his time at the Heights, McGovern helped recruit and coach several current NFL linebackers, including Luke Kuechly, Mark Herzlich, Robert Francois, and Jo-Lonn Dunbar. His departure will leave a void in BC’s recruiting department, and Addazio will now need to name a new linebackers coach, in addition to someone who will recruit as well as McGovern did.
In recent years, linebackers including Kuechly, Nick Clancy, and Steele Divitto, raved about how much they liked McGovern as a coach and a person. Herzlich’s father, Sandon, also voiced his support for McGovern on Twitter, writing “Bill McGovern’s a great guy and a heck of a football coach. Good pickup by the Eagles.”
In total at BC, McGovern spent three years as defensive backs coach, nine years as linebackers coach, and four as defensive coordinator.
The move to Philadelphia brings McGovern closer to his family, as he grew up in Oradell, New Jersey.
