Philadelphia Eagles‘ offensive line has endured a difficult start to the 2026 season, with injuries and inconsistent performances raising questions about the unit’s ability to find its footing under new offensive line coach Chris Kuper. Philly has struggled to establish its running game and protect quarterback Jalen Hurts.
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At the same time, the O-line has also lost three of its starting offensive linemen after the first three weeks of the season. Amid all this, former Eagles center Jason Kelce was asked whether he could see himself coaching his former team’s offensive line. However, Kelce gave a couple of reasons why he doesn’t believe he is the right person for the job.
“I was there in training camp a little bit and learning the offense a little bit and trying to help those guys as far as, like, I think anybody who’s played a long time can offer a good perspective on how to help and assist in a room like that at a position that they played in,” said Kelce on SPORTSRADIO 94WIP. “I think that there’s probably people that are far more experienced and knowledgeable than I am.
“…The reality is one, I don’t have the time to do that, and then two, in a meaningful way, like, I’ll try and help those guys out any way I can, and I still go in every once in a while but to offer the type of assistance you would be saying I don’t have that time, and then two, there’s just better people that have been offensive line coaches that, if they wanted to seek outside help, they could go to.”
Jason Kelce certainly has the pedigree to coach his former team’s offensive line. The 38-year-old spent 13 seasons with the franchise, won a Super Bowl ring, and earned six First-Team All-Pro selections and seven Pro Bowl honors.
The question of whether Kelce would coach the Eagles’ offensive line comes at an interesting time, as 2026 marks the team’s first season without Jeff Stoutland. After spending over a decade in Philadelphia from 2013 to 2025, Stoutland did not return to coach the Eagles this season.
During his tenure, he helped at least one Eagles offensive lineman earn Pro Bowl honors every year. Kelce also acknowledged Stoutland’s role in his success during his retirement speech.
“No one has been more influential or meaningful to my success on the field in my career than Stout,” said Kelce. “I think one of the greatest things a human being can give another is belief. This world, life, it can be hard. It can challenge yourself to points of self doubt and that is a dangerous place to be. Well, I am lucky my whole life I have been surrounded by people that have believed in me – my father, my mother, my brother, Paul Longo, Howard Mudd. And in my darkest hours a Philadelphian, Stout was the one who believed in me.”
This season, the Eagles replaced Stoutland with Chris Kuper, and Jason Kelce has no interest in replacing Kuper as his former team’s O-line coach because of his already packed schedule.
After retiring from the NFL, Kelce joined ESPN’s Monday Night Countdown pregame crew in 2024. At the same time, he hosts the New Heights podcast with his brother and Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce. Their podcast has a lucrative $100 million deal with Amazon’s Wondery to market New Heights.
This is exactly why Jason Kelce has refused to coach in the NFL multiple times. A couple of years ago, he said he would love to coach someday, but the NFL isn’t his final destination because of the workload.
“I would love to coach,” said Kelce. “The problem with coaching is the time — huge time commitment. If you want to be great at coaching, you can only coach and it takes away, especially if you want to do it at the NFL level. Potentially could do that in future at the high-school level. Definitely a different time commitment there. I want nothing to do with college.”
Apart from his ESPN job and podcasting, Jason Kelce is also a family man. He and his wife, Kylie Kelce, share four daughters. During an interview on Pardon My Take last year, Kelce explained how his commitment to his family makes it hard for him to consider coaching in the NFL.
“There’s also just the time commitment of those guys,” said Kelce. “I got three young kids, a fourth on the way. I don’t know that I’m ready for that yet.”
That said, Jason Kelce appears happy in retirement, with no plans to return to the NFL in a different role. Soon, he could be joined in retirement by his brother Travis, leaving the question of whether the Chiefs tight end will follow Jason’s path into broadcasting or choose a different direction.