PHILADELPHIA — Mike Pellegrino is still getting used to the commute, the energy, and the job that now has him as one of the overseers of a very talented Eagles secondary. 

The Long Island native, hired in February as Philadelphia’s secondary coach after a one-year stint as Buffalo’s nickel coach and a decade in New England where he was a part of two Super Bowl championship staffs.

Pelligrini sounded more settled than starstruck when he talked about his new chapter, which will include perhaps the best trio of cornerbacks in the NFL – Quinyon Mitchell, Cooper DeJean and Riq Woolen, along with the intriguing versatility of DeJean and Michael Carter.

“It’s going great,” Pellegrino said with Week 1 rapidly approaching. “I really love this city. I’m really excited. Working in New England and Buffalo and playing against this team, you feel the energy and it’s very exciting to be here. I’m very blessed and I love it in this city. I’m from Long Island too, so it’s a quick commute back home, so it’s good.”

The hiring of Pellegrino helped fill the hole created when Christian Parker left for Dallas to be the Cowboys defensive coordinator. Joe Kasper was elevated to defensive passing game coordinator, while Roy Anderson remained as the cornerbacks coach, and Pellegrino took the secondary title on Vic Fangio’s staff. 

For a coach who never played college football, the path to the NFL still sounds improbable, never mind being tasked with mentoring some of the best.

Pellegrino’s non-traditional path came as a two-time All-American lacrosse player at powerhouse Johns Hopkins. A connection between then-Blue Jays coach Dave Pietramala and Bill Belichick opened the door for Pellegrino. 

The journey started in Patriots football operations in 2015, doing the jobs nobody else wanted.

“Dave has a connection with Bill Belichick. I get into football operations, kinda picking up dry cleaning, driving golf carts, like, doing all the nonsense jobs, gofer jobs,” said Pellegrino. “During my free time I would help Matty P [Matt Patricia] out and Steve Belichick. Matty P would be like, ‘Yo, paisan, what do you need? I got you.’”

The defensive staff was short-handed, and Belichick asked Pellegrino to help. The staff taught him how to break down film, and by Week 8, Pellegrino had a contract for the rest of the year.

The next season he was a full-time member of the staff and was running his own room by 2019 as the cornerbacks coach.

Quite the Transition

Pellegrini hasn’t looked back since.

“I remember being in that meeting saying, ‘there’s gotta be somebody more qualified to do this job,’ but Bill believed in me,” Pellegrino said. “From that moment when after he put his faith in me, I worked my ass off, and I’m very blessed that he showed that faith in me.”

Pellegrino stayed in Foxborough through two Super Bowl titles. became New England’s cornerbacks coach in 2019, then spent 2025 in Buffalo. Now he inherits a Philadelphia group that already has proven pieces all over the back end led by two All-Pros and Woolen, an accomplished veteran, at cornerback.

Pellegrino is not leaning on the hype, though.

“I’ve always felt like the preseason expectations are great,” he said. “That’s nice, but let’s see how we do when the ball snaps.”

Playing cornerback is often an unforgiving life in the NFL.

“That’s always my thing, because it’s a long season, and playing corner you could play great 59 out of 60 plays, but everybody only talks about that one play,” the assistant coach said. “So we just need to be consistent throughout the entire year, and that’s the goal. 

“Like, 60 snaps, we gotta play our best ball. Three bad snaps isn’t good enough.”

Pellegrino’s teaching approach is tailored for the individual, not one-size-fits-all.

“I coach every player different. I always have,” Pellegrino said. “From the very moment I took over a room in 2019, I coached each player different. You’re different than him. He’s different than you. You two are nothing alike. So each guy has their own style of play. 

“I try to highlight the strengths and cover up the weaknesses. That’s really the goal of coaching from my perspective.”

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