Nick Sirianni plans to delegate duties to the Eagles’ replacements for Jonathan Gannon and Shane Steichen
As Sirianni is looking at candidates, he'll look to continue enabling the offensive coordinator to call the plays and is open to the defensive coordinator tweak the scheme.
Eagles coach Nick Sirianni is already dealing with a busy offseason.
Within 48 hours of the Eagles losing to Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LVII, Sirianni has lost a pair of key cogs from his coaching staff. Offensive coordinator Shane Steichen now is the Indianapolis Colts coach, while defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon was hired as the Arizona Cardinals coach.
“Shane and Jonathan were successful, not only because Shane and Jonathan are good football coaches, but also because they have good assistants,” Sirianni said Thursday in his end-of-season press conference. “And they have good people working with them. I feel like we have a lot of good in-house options, which is always going to be where I start because that’s just always kind of been how I’ve learned, grooming the people that you have, in [preparation] for when this day happens.
“But we won’t stop just there. We’ll look at every option to make sure we’re getting the best people in here to help our team. We’re going to do what’s best for the Philadelphia Eagles.”
» READ MORE: Jonathan Gannon reflects on the Eagles’ Super Bowl loss in his Cardinals introductory press conference
If Sirianni chooses to fill his coordinator positions internally, he has several quality options. Quarterbacks coach Brian Johnson has been reported to be a favorite to be promoted to offensive coordinator. Over the past two seasons, Johnson has worked closely with Jalen Hurts, who finished this season as finalist for NFL MVP and offensive player of the year. Passing game coordinator Kevin Patullo is another viable option.
Defensive backs coach and defensive passing game coordinator Dennard Wilson could be a fit to succeed Gannon, given his familiarity with the existing scheme and his experience working under other established coordinators across the league, including Todd Bowles and Gregg Williams. Sirianni said the new defensive coordinator will need to adapt to his basic principles, although he hinted that the overall scheme could be tweaked based on the new hire.
“I do believe we have great options in-house, because when you’re grinding to put together a staff, you’re not just grinding to put together the offensive and defensive coordinators,” Sirianni said. “The grind was getting the [assistants], getting those other guys in place that we felt really good with. A lot of good options.
“But with the defense, we’re hiring the guy to do his job. I do have core beliefs that I don’t want to change intermixed with that. But he’s still got to do the job to his best ability, to do his job whoever that may be.”
Sirianni also revealed that he’ll continue allowing his offensive coordinator to call plays, which follows his in-game structure from the past 1½ seasons. Initially, Sirianni handled play-calling duties during his rookie year, but he handed that responsibility over to Steichen in the middle of the 2021 season. Steichen finished 22-7 as the team’s play caller.
Given his background, Sirianni will still be heavily involved in developing the offensive game plan. But by allowing his coordinator to call the actual plays, Sirianni is able to handle his other multiple game-day responsibilities with a clear mind.
“It does help me manage the game better,” Sirianni said. “It helps me interact with the players more on the sideline. It helps me be able to discuss something with somebody upstairs, to get on the defensive headset when the offense is up, vice versa. ... My intent is to [have] the next offensive coordinator call the game. We’ve seen benefits from that. I just feel like my ability to manage the game, I do a better job managing the game when I don’t [call plays]. Some [coaches] do it and they do a great job of it, and I’m highly impressed by that.
“For me, what works is this. And I’ll continue doing it that way. That’s the plan.”
Additionally, Sirianni plans to retain special teams coordinator Michael Clay. Special teams has been spotty throughout the season, but Sirianni believes he witnessed overall growth from the unit. During the loss to the Chiefs, the Eagles gave up a Super Bowl-record, 65-yard return to Kadarius Toney off a shanked punt by Arryn Siposs.
“We had some rocky beginnings in special teams, and I thought we did a nice job improving those special teams as the year went along,” Sirianni said. “A lot of credit to Coach Clay. Obviously, a lot of credit to the players that stepped up and made plays to do so. The punt return by Kansas City, hats off to them. We didn’t do a good enough job on that play. ... Arryn didn’t get the punt that he wanted there. So, there was a low hang time. Toney did a good job of scooping that up and not letting it hit [the ground].
“But again, nothing is ever decided on one play. I have a great deal of confidence in Coach Clay and the job that he did over these last two years. Our special teams has improved greatly and he’ll be back.”