Haason Reddick crafts a personal endorsement for Jonathan Gannon to be a head coach

Throughout the season, The Inquirer’s Eagles reporters will compile a weekly report on what they’re hearing and seeing from inside the locker room at the NovaCare Complex.

Led by second-year coach Nick Sirianni and coordinators Shane Steichen and Jonathan Gannon, the 14-3 Eagles finished the 2022 regular season with a top-five offense and top-five defense.

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Defensively, they finished second in the NFL in total yards allowed per game (301.5). While the rush defense was spotty early on, the pass defense was elite. The Eagles allowed a league-low 179.8 passing yards per contest. They also became the first team in NFL history to have four players record double-digit sacks: linebacker Haason Reddick compiled 16, while defensive ends Josh Sweat and Brandon Graham, and defensive tackle Javon Hargrave each finished with 11. The influx of sacks represented career-highs for each player.

Thanks to the team’s success, Gannon and Steichen are garnering interest across the league for multiple head coaching vacancies. With the Eagles currently on their bye, Steichen interviewed with the Texans for their head coaching job Friday and Gannon is scheduled to do so this weekend.

“I imagine Gannon will wear a pretty nice suit,” Sirianni said with a laugh earlier this week. “I imagine he has it dry-cleaned. Shane will have a nice suit on, but not as nice as Gannon’s. They’ll be getting ready for that.”

Last offseason, Gannon interviewed for the same position; he was considered a finalist before the Texans hired Lovie Smith, who was recently fired after the Texans went 3-13-1.

“As far as anything with just helping them get ready for it, I really made a conscious effort of doing that all during the offseason, very similar to what Frank Reich did for me when he had nuggets to give me,” said Sirianni, referring to the former Eagles offensive coordinator and Colts head coach.

“I made a very deliberate point of once a week, getting the guys together and talking to them about things that I felt would help them. I always thought that was my responsibility as the head coach, to help them with those things.

“I’ll be a sounding board for them if they need to bounce some things off of me.”

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In addition to Sirianni, The Inquirer asked Reddick to craft his personal letter of recommendation for Gannon. The letter has been edited lightly for clarity:

To whom it may concern:

Plain and simple, Jonathan Gannon is a great coach, at the end of the day. First and foremost, he knows his ball. He knows what he’s doing. He has a philosophy of winning, and he stays true to that. Not only is he a great coach, but he is a guy that brings energy. He’s a great energy guy. He comes in with juice every single day.

He really is a players’ coach. He wants to make sure that all of his players are playing to their best ability. He always wants to put us in the best situations. He’s willing to listen to us in order to do that.

If he does get this head coaching job, your team will definitely be lucky to have him.

Signed,

Eagles outside linebacker Haason Reddick