Former UA player, assistant Fipp among 'Black Monday' casualties

Among the many NFL assistant coaches fired last week was ex-Arizona graduate assistant Kevin Patullo, who served two years as the New York Jets’ quarterbacks coach, and Washington Redskins defensive coordinator Joe Barry, who grew up in Tucson, the son of ex-UA offensive line coach Mike Barry and stepson of former Arizona defensive coordinator Moe Ankney. Among those surviving during the NFL’s annual “Black Monday” firing bloodbath was Philadelphia Eagles special teams coach David Fipp, a starting Arizona safety in the late ‘90s who coached for Dick Tomey at San Jose State. Eagles head coach Doug Pederson last week told Philadelphia reporters that Fipp “would be right for a head coaching opportunity. Fipp’s very detailed in his work, he’s very thorough in his work, he gets the guys to practice fast. He’s another one, as a coach, who keeps things very simplistic for the guys and allows them to execute and go out and play the scheme fast and aggressively.” Fipp was a walk-on from Helix High School in San Diego, the same school that produced standout Arizona safeties Allan Durden, Jeff Hammerschmidt and Brandon Sanders.