The hilarious story of when Miles Sanders first met Jeff Stoutland originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
The day after the Eagles drafted Miles Sanders in the second round in 2019, he flew to Philly for a press conference.
One of the first people he ran into in the hallway at the NovaCare Complex was offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland.
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“And the first thing he says -- he’s yelling, which is his normal voice -- and he’s just like, ‘Did you know we have over 50 protections that you need to know?’" Sanders recalled. "I’m like, ‘All right.’
“First day here. He didn’t even say hi.”
That’s pure Jeff Stoutland. He’s all ball all the time. Even in April with a kid who was just drafted 24 hours earlier.
But Sanders did learn those 50 protections.
“It took me a minute,” he said with a laugh. “It took me the whole camp. It wasn’t like I had to know all 50 at the beginning of camp, but I eventually learned them all.”
Sanders was 21 years old, didn’t know his coaches or teammates, and had been an NFL player for one day, and Stout had no time for small-talk.
But Sanders appreciated it.
“That’s the type of coach he is, he just keeps you on your toes,” Sanders said. “But he wants you to be as good as you can be and that’s what I love about him.”
That was the beginning of an extremely productive relationship between Stoutland and Sanders, and while it may seem unusual for an offensive line coach and a running back to spend a lot of time together, keep in mind that in 2018 – a year before Sanders was drafted – Doug Pederson expanded Stoutland’s title, adding “running game coordinator” to O-line coach.
So while Jemal Singleton is the running backs coach and runs the meeting room, Stoutland has a lot to do with the design of the runs.
Because of that Sanders has always made sure to monitor offensive line practices when he has the chance and occasionally sit in on offensive line meetings.
His first reaction to a Jeff Stoutland meeting?
“Why is he yelling?” Sanders said with a laugh.
Whatever Sanders is doing, it’s working.
He’s having a career year, he’s fifth in the NFL with 900 rushing yards, sixth with eight touchdowns and seventh among running backs with his 5.1 average.
He’s already the first player in franchise history to rush for 750 yards in each of his first four seasons, and he’s a lock to join Gale Sayers, Jim Brown and Nick Chubb as the fourth player in NFL history to open his career with four straight seasons with 750 rushing yards and a 4.6 average.
Paying attention to Stout is a big reason why.
“When special teams is practicing, I’ll go over (to offensive line drills), and I just like to listen to Stout and listen to what he says,” Sanders said. “I pay attention to what he says about each run and the blocking and gap schemes, inside zone, outside zone, whatever, to see how they’re blocking and just try to marry it up with my steps.
“Everything works when everything is married up together and looks the same and compliments each other. That’s something I take seriously as a running back, just trying to be on the same page as them.”
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