\n<\/p>\n
We split this mailbag into two parts: Questions specific to the offensive coordinator search, and then other questions about the offseason. The latter will be published in the coming days.<\/p>\n
There were many questions about the search, and we kept this mailbag more to big-picture process questions that will remain relevant even when the candidate list is pared. The specifics of the search were covered on Tuesday,<\/a> Since then, Green Bay Packers quarterbacks coach Sean Mannion has gained momentum. We\u2019ll continue with substantive updates while the Eagles zero in on their candidate, but as expressed on Tuesday, they\u2019re not abiding by an arbitrary timeline for a resolution.<\/p>\n (Note: Questions were only lightly edited for grammar, but kept mostly as submitted.)<\/p>\n Much has been made of the fact that Jalen Hurts has had a different play caller every year since high school. Therefore, you\u2019d think part of the Eagles\u2019 criteria in OC hiring is perceived longevity. Maybe signing the top candidates and\/or those also interested in head coaching positions are actually less desirable because of the concern they won\u2019t be around for consecutive years. So how much of a factor do you think longevity (perhaps even stipulated as a contract condition) is in the Eagles OC search? \u2014 Susan W.<\/strong><\/p>\n This topic has been raised often in recent weeks \u2014 and even back to last year when Kellen Moore was hired by New Orleans. The short answer is it\u2019s not a major factor, nor should it be a major factor. Howie Roseman said as much after the season. Why? If the offensive coordinator is hired elsewhere as a head coach, it presumably means the Eagles demonstrated offensive improvement and had a successful season. That\u2019s the entire objective of the search, right? The offense must improve. The Eagles are in win-now mode. The hire should be made to maximize 2026, and if they\u2019re successful enough that the offensive coordinator is hired, they\u2019ll take that over fielding an offense and finishing with a record that does not make him desirable. Of course, it\u2019s not either\/or. Vic Fangio is an elite coordinator unlikely to become a head coach again. If you can find one with staying power (Josh McDaniels in New England is probably the best example), there are obviously benefits. It\u2019s different with offense, though. Look at Todd Monken in Cleveland. If you show you have a high-level offensive mind and you haven\u2019t struggled in multiple head-coaching stops, you\u2019re going to be a head coach candidate. In fact, it might be alarming for teams if their offensive coordinator is not of interest elsewhere.<\/p>\n This ownership and admin (led by Roseman) are quite smart. They have to know that the surest way to avoid this headache of a situation with the OC is to have the HC be the offensive mastermind. Why are we still putting Band-Aids on the situation and taking a yearly gamble on new OCs? Win big, replace the OC, stagnate on offense, replace the OC. It\u2019s a tough situation and a coin flip gamble each time they do it. <\/strong>It\u2019s time to do the obvious, no?<\/strong><\/p>\n It\u2019s time to say see ya later to Nick and go get the best offensive minds in the league, i.e., Davis Webb, Nate Scheelhaase, etc. With full control and with Howie as your partner, this job will be the most attractive job, or close to it, in the league! \u2013 Alexander B.<\/strong><\/p>\n Your general point about having a head coach who does not call offensive plays, thus creating a situation in which you\u2019re consistently changing coordinators, has some logic, but I disagree with the premise of your question. Let me give you three reasons why:<\/p>\n If your argument is that Sirianni is deficient in these other areas, it\u2019s a different conversation. I think he\u2019s maximized the Eagles\u2019 talent for the majority of his time in Philadelphia. They outperformed the oddsmakers\u2019 over\/under in three of his five seasons. I don\u2019t believe Sirianni did a good enough job this year, but he\u2019s established himself as a top head coach and he\u2019s earned equity \u2014 and certainly enough equity to avoid the suggestion that he be replaced by Webb or Scheelhaase this cycle. (By the way, neither of them has called plays\u2026)<\/p>\n If the Eagles underachieve in 2026, we can have a reasonable conversation about the trajectory of the team. But I think it\u2019s premature at the moment based on Sirianni\u2019s track record. The idea that the play-calling head coach is the answer does not have enough evidence to suggest it\u2019s the solution (for a problem that might not even exist). If you disagree with me, you need to merely watch the Super Bowl next week \u2014\u00a0or watch the Super Bowl from last season, for that matter. (Or, if I can shamelessly suggest, read this book<\/a>.)<\/p>\n With the OC search ongoing, has there been any discussion around Sirianni taking offensive responsibilities? By no means am I condoning that, but it feels like he may be going into a make-or-break type of season. If the offense continues to hold this team back, he\u2019s going to be on the chopping block. It seems like him taking ownership of the offense may be in his best interest. \u2014 Joe S.<\/strong><\/p>\n If you mean play-calling responsibilities, Sirianni gave up play-calling duties in 2021 and has since felt that his game-day responsibilities are so vast and important that he wants that to be his focus. I can understand why. Game management is a critical part of a coach\u2019s responsibility. Causation does not suggest correlation, but this is not an area in which some high-level offensive play-callers such as Sean McVay thrive. (Then again, I could quibble with some of Sirianni\u2019s decisions this season. But I know it\u2019s an area in which he devotes considerable thought.) Sirianni ceded offensive oversight in 2024, and the Eagles won the Super Bowl. He got more involved toward the end of this season. My understanding is he\u2019s been willing to grant autonomy of the offense to the next coordinator, but we\u2019ll see who that is and how that looks. Sirianni takes pride in his offensive mind. There\u2019s always a chance he could take control of the offense, but my understanding is they\u2019re seeking a new voice for the offense.<\/p>\n To answer your question succinctly, Sirianni needs to win. It\u2019s in his best interest to make a deep playoff run \u2014 not necessarily call the plays or be in charge of the offense while doing it. If the Eagles win 12-14 games and are playing deep into January, you\u2019ll likely praise him for how he\u2019s coached the team instead of scrutinizing his role in the offense. The Eagles need to maximize the roster and win big in 2026. If that\u2019s best achieved with a fresh offensive voice, then that must be the direction Sirianni takes.<\/p>\n Jeff Lurie has always wanted to be ahead of the league when it comes to offense. Why is it that he and Roseman allowed Sirianni to promote an internal candidate (with little or no outside search) on a win-now team with no play-calling experience? And further, allow him to continue to call plays all season when it was pretty clear he didn\u2019t have it? Feels like a wasted season and opportunity with a deep and talented roster on offense and a defense that was playing well. \u2014 Matt W.<\/strong><\/p>\n This is a fair question about the search, or lack thereof, last season. During the week leading up to the Super Bowl, I wrote and said that Kevin Patullo was the favorite for the job. It was not much of a secret. I think the Eagles liked the idea of a succession plan at the position; there was a feeling that Patullo earned the job (he was a candidate in 2023), and it offered continuity for a Super Bowl offense. That made sense. It\u2019s also difficult to conduct an exhaustive search after winning the Super Bowl. The Eagles are required to conduct an outside search, although they refused to divulge who was interviewed. (In that case, I think transparency would have beneficial for the organization to avoid the appearance of a sham search, but their unforthcoming approach was their prerogative.) Given the way the 2024 season went and Patullo\u2019s role on the coaching staff for four seasons, a promotion was merited. His resume topped some they\u2019re interviewing this cycle, and was in line with coaches hired as offensive coordinators.<\/p>\n It did not go well enough, which is why a change was made. You could reasonably argue there were other factors, but the reality was the talent and experience on the team should have produced better results than an offense that finished in the bottom half of the league in too many categories. I\u2019d certainly categorize the season as a missed opportunity, and it\u2019s fair for the organization and fan base to lament what occurred in 2025. That\u2019s not entirely on Patullo. But that\u2019s the gig of the offensive coordinator \u2014 you\u2019re judged on the offense\u2019s performance. That\u2019s why there was a change.<\/p>\n As far as solutions in-season, I\u2019m not sure what their options were unless you gave the role to Scot Loeffler or a coach without significant play-calling experience. Sirianni might have been well-served hiring a senior offensive assistant with play-calling experience, although that happened on defense in 2023 with Matt Patricia, and the presence loomed to the point that it might have been unproductive. So I can see why that did not happen, but the Eagles also did not have a clear place to turn, even if Sirianni wanted to strip Patullo of play-calling duties in 2025. We\u2019ll see the composition of the 2026 staff in the coming weeks.<\/p>\n Much has been made about the Eagles\u2019 OC position and why it may be less appealing than originally thought (e.g., the Patullo home vandalism, roster uncertainty). But what are the chances that prospective candidates see the current coaching regime as a group of dead men walking, with anyone not named Fangio likely to be fired if the Eagles don\u2019t make a deep playoff run? \u2014 Chase W.<\/strong><\/p>\n It\u2019s true this job does not have the three-year runway of a team with a new head coach, although what\u2019s job security anymore in the NFL? Sixteen head coaches have turned over during the past two years. That\u2019s half the league. Among the 10 coaching changes this year, three coaches were fired in one or two seasons. And there have been 16 offensive coordinator changes on top of that. The \u201cdead man walking\u201d angle has been overstated \u2014 and perhaps unfair to a head coach who has a better winning percentage than any coach in the NFL. The evidence suggests he\u2019ll win far more than he loses. But it\u2019s true the Eagles are in win-now mode. There\u2019s no three-year plan here. And the offensive coordinator role is one in which it makes sense to rent more than buy. The last two offensive coordinators removed came after 11-win seasons. The Giants haven\u2019t won 11 games since 2016. The Jets haven\u2019t won 11 games since 2010. Win 11 games with those franchises, and everyone gets a contract extension. So the win-now expectation \u2014 in this role and across the staff, to your point \u2014 could present more pressure than in Tennessee, where you\u2019re not expected to make a deep playoff run next year. But if I were a coach, I\u2019d take a job planning to win and not planning on losing.<\/p>\n Zach, thanks as always for your valuable content. You mentioned the stipulation that interview slates must include minority\/female candidates. It\u2019s been documented that the Eagles possess a higher-percentage female front office than many other NFL organizations, and they\u2019re among the most innovative at problem-solving. Do you have any sense that they\u2019ve tried to develop female talent for future positions on the sideline? This probably doesn\u2019t solve the 2026 OC job opening, but curious what widening of the aperture Lurie\/Roseman might kick the tires on. \u2014 Ben S.<\/strong><\/p>\n Thank you for reading every word of Tuesday\u2019s article, Ben! The women involved in the football-facing parts of the Eagles\u2019 operation are mostly in the front office and the training\/support staff \u2014 not the coaching staff. There are female coaches elsewhere, but not in Philadelphia. You\u2019re correct that the Eagles have made strides in this area. In fact, I attended a panel at the NFL\u2019s Women\u2019s Forum at the combine last year focused on the women who helped the Eagles win the Super Bowl. The panel included Ameena Soliman from the scouting staff and Autumn Lockwood from the performance staff, in addition to Roseman and Sirianni. But at this point, it\u2019s inapplicable to Sirianni\u2019s coaching staff. It would be more applicable to Roseman\u2019s scouting staff. Perhaps if we have a similar mailbag in five years or 10 years, the answer is different. There are talented women throughout the NFL and in the management\/coaching pipeline.\n<\/p><\/div>\n PHILADELPHIA \u2014 The questions about the Eagles\u2019 offensive coordinator search have emerged anywhere you go in Philadelphia \u2014 from the barbershop to the coffee shop, from the Sixers game to youth basketball games. (My 8-year-old son is asking me why they haven\u2019t hired anyone yet, so it\u2019s presumably coming up in the schoolyards, too.) It\u2019s … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":18699,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18698","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Nick-Siriannis-role-in-offensive-coordinator-search-play-calling-head-coaches.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18698","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18698"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18698\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18700,"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18698\/revisions\/18700"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/18699"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18698"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=18698"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=18698"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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