The New Orleans Breakers have hired John DeFilippo as their next Head Coach. John Eugene DeFilippo was born April 12, 1978 in Youngstown, Ohio. John's father was a football coach at the collegiate level, so from a football rich family, coaching was the natural career path. Moving every few years for his father's coaching, John settled himself into Radner High School in Pennsylvania, where he ended up graduating. He earned the opportunity to play Quarterback at James Madison University from 1996-1999.
John has been a QB coach for numerous universities and NFL teams including Fordham University (2000), Columbia University (2003), the Oakland Raiders (2007-2008, 2012-2014), the New York Jets (2009) as an assistant QB coach, SJSU (2010-2011), the Philadelphia Eagles where he won a Super Bowl (2016-2017), and the Chicago Bears (2020-2021). DeFilippo has also been an Offensive Coordinator for SJSU (2011), the Cleveland Browns (2015), the Minnesota Vikings (2018), and the Jacksonville Jaguars (2019). Most recently in 2021, he served as the Bears Passing Game Coordinator. The New York Giants had him as their Offensive Quality Control Coach from 2005-2006. In 2001 he enrolled at Notre Dame as a graduate assistant, he was there until 2002. There is no one saying that DeFilippo doesn't have the resume for the position. All of his former stops have led him to his first Head Coaching opportunity with the New Orleans Breakers in 2023, new league, fresh new coach!
Expect to see a pass happy offense for New Orleans in 2023. The Jaguars in 2019 attempted 589 passes with DeFilippo calling the plays. The Breakers have fantastic passing weapons such as Jay Adams, Johnnie Dixon, and Eli Stove. These receivers will be utilized in many ways if we see play calling similar to DeFilippo's past schemes. Seeing that DeFilippo has been a QB coach, and/or play caller for most of his career, expect him to call plays as well as coach the Breakers quarterbacks next season. He’s helped quarterbacks like Mark Sanchez, Carson Wentz, and Gardner Minshew succeed under his mentorship. The year the Eagles won the Super Bowl, DeFilippo was the QB coach that helped the transition from Wentz to Foles mid-season happen smoothly. That kind of versatility screams USFL.
Players seem to love to play for him, being called "player friendly" by former players. Kirk Cousins was quoted saying, "I really enjoyed working with him, and I was disappointed I didn't get more time with him". Be prepared to see differences in this 2023 New Orleans Breakers team. The future is bright for this first time head coach, which should bring excitement and anticipation to any Breakers fan.
Breakers nation, how do you feel about John DeFilippo as the new head coach? Let me and the rest of the Breakers nation know in the official USFL Discord!
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