Who could replace Eagles’ Jonathan Gannon and Shane Steichen if they leave for head coaching jobs?

Two years into his Eagles tenure, Nick Sirianni is at risk of losing his top two deputies. But he says he has a plan.

Eagles coordinators Shane Steichen and Jonathan Gannon.Read moreYong Kim / Staff Photographer

Published Jan. 14, 2023, 5:00 a.m. ET

On Andy Reid’s first coaching staff with the Eagles, eight of his 14 assistants eventually became head coaches in the NFL.

Despite losing what would be a remarkable percentage of his coaches over the span of a decade, Reid’s pipeline of younger assistants helped maintain some stability that successful teams often lose when top coordinators leave.

Reid also benefited from Jim Johnson’s permanence as defensive coordinator until Johnson passed away following the 2008 season. That’s about when Big Red’s Rolodex no longer spun out the next hot young thing and the unraveling of his staff mirrored that of his team.

Two tenures later, Doug Pederson’s succession plans following the Eagles’ first Super Bowl victory and the departure of a few key lieutenants led to a faster demise. Depending upon the perspective, he either failed to find capable replacements or they were never given enough time to prove their competency.

Nevertheless, both Reid and Pederson were able to pick up the pieces after being fired in Philadelphia and rebuild winning staffs elsewhere — with the former winning a Super Bowl with the Chiefs and the AFC No. 1 seed again this postseason, and the latter guiding the Jaguars to the AFC North title in his first season.

Nick Sirianni, like Reid and Pederson, assembled a formidable initial group of assistants. There was initially some concern that his staff was too young and lacked experience, particularly a veteran voice to aid the first-time head coach.

But the bigger issue with having so many budding talents hasn’t been whether they were ready enough to step into bigger roles, it’s that a significant number are now candidates for promotions elsewhere.

The two most immediate concerns are with his defensive and offensive coordinators, Jonathan Gannon and Shane Steichen, who are interviewing via video conference for head coaching jobs this weekend during the Eagles’ playoff bye.

Gannon met with the Texans on Saturday, while Steichen met with Houston on Friday and is scheduled to interview with the Colts and Panthers on Saturday, per NFL sources. More requests could be forthcoming. The Broncos and Cardinals have vacancies to fill, as well.

The 40-year-old Gannon has been through the process before having been under consideration in Houston, Denver, and Minnesota last offseason. He came closest to being hired by the Texans, so it’s likely he’s again a finalist.

Steichen, 37, has been a coordinator longer — by just two years — but he is viewed in some NFL circles as not as ready as Gannon to become the CEO of a team. His three interviews could easily be as much fact-finding missions for those respective franchises than they are legitimate opportunities.

That said, Sirianni wasn’t on any organization’s radar two years ago until the Eagles, somewhat out of desperation, asked Colts coach Frank Reich for suggestions. He nailed the interview and the rest is history.

Now, just two years later, he’s at risk of losing both of his top two deputies. He says he has a plan.

“In the event that I lose them, I have an idea of what I want to do at both spots,” Sirianni said on Tuesday. “Sometimes, yes, it’s in the building, sometimes it’s outside of the building. But I feel like we have a lot of good options.”

His in-house option to replace Gannon would likely be defensive backs coach Dennard Wilson, who had the responsibility of defensive passing game coordinator added to his role, representing his ascension among the position coaching ranks.

On offense, passing game coordinator Kevin Patullo or quarterbacks coach Brian Johnson would be in position to step into Steichen’s spot.

That’s the accession plan Reid often had in place as one coach after the other left the more he won with the Eagles, and the one Pederson similarly tried to follow when his offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, Reich and John DeFilippo, left in 2018.

Sirianni may have built-in replacements. It’s likely he’s told Gannon and Steichen, who will have to fill staffs themselves, that certain assistants are off limits. But any one of Wilson, Patullo, and Johnson could leave for coordinator positions elsewhere. Wilson interviewed with the Browns for their defensive coordinator opening on Saturday. And if Gannon or Steichen were to remain, Sirianni would then have to find viable lower-level replacements.

“As the head coach, I still have to think about those things because that is a very important part of being a head coach, is who you replace guys with,” Sirianni said. “You’re hoping that you have success. You’re hoping you lose guys for the benefit of them and their career and their family.

“You hate to lose guys because the reason they’re here in the first place is because I felt like they were really good coaches.”

Gannon’s reputation around the league is far different than it is with some here in Philly. He improved the defense after a shaky first season in charge and his unit finished near the top of most analytics, perhaps most importantly, No. 1 in Football Outsiders’ Defense-adjusted Value Over Average rankings for pass defense.

Was his scheme always aesthetically pleasing to watch? Did he face a proportionally high number of top-level quarterbacks? No and no. But his defense, which is predicated on limiting explosive plays, was effective for most of the season.

Good luck to the guy who replaces him, especially in the likelihood that he will have to run some version of Gannon’s multiple-front, zone-heavy system. The accepted forefather of the scheme, Vic Fangio, spent the last year out of work by choice after getting fired as head coach of the Broncos.

He spent several days observing Eagles training camp this summer and was a part-time in-season consultant to Gannon. Fangio would seem to be the ideal outside successor, but there will be competition. Sean Payton and Jim Harbaugh, two head coach candidates, are reportedly wooing Fangio.

If either wants him, but he gets the Denver job — Payton and Harbaugh are both interviewing there — Fangio won’t follow them to the Broncos. His head coaching days are likely over, but the 64-year-old will likely want to go where there is talent.

The Eagles clearly have it in droves, but seven of their starters are free agents this offseason.

Steichen, on paper, has more of what owners nowadays are looking for simply because he’s called plays on offense. The NFL is an offense-first league and teams are also cautious about hiring defensive-minded head coaches because they don’t want to keep losing offensive play-callers.

Sirianni called plays for the first half of his rookie season before handing those duties over to Steichen. He could easily jump back into doing that, but the Eagles’ record since — 20-6 or 21-7, depending upon the exact nebulous date — suggests he should remain more the game manager.

Reich, who was fired by the Colts midseason, might seem like an obvious outside alternative should Steichen bolt. He’s Sirianni’s long-time mentor and has called plays, if not as Pederson’s coordinator. But it might create an awkward dynamic and there’s still a chance he gets one of the five head coach openings.

The Eagles can be a little more creative on offense if they want to look outside of the NovaCare Complex. They have dual-threat quarterback Jalen Hurts, one of the best offensive lines in the NFL, and weapons at each skill position, although there could be some turnover.

Sirianni understands the forces at play. Reich didn’t hold him back, even though the Colts’ offense regressed after his only coordinator left for Philly, and he won’t hold his assistants back from better opportunities in other cities.

“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 … and talking to them about things that I felt would help them,” Sirianni said.

He did something similar with lower-level assistants like Johnson or assistant quarterbacks coach Alex Tanney by giving them tasks in the spring to groom them if/when they moved up the chain of command.

Like Gannon and Steichen, they’ve likely been preparing for the next steps on their own time and for years. Sirianni has been there and he knows the drill, as much as it may pain him to see his acolytes talk to other teams while the Eagles are still playing, knowing they may be gone in a few weeks.

“I imagine Gannon will wear a pretty nice suit,” he joked. “I imagine he has it dry cleaned. Yeah, Shane will have a nice suit on, but not as nice as Gannon’s.”

He knows his coordinator well. Replacing them should they depart can be a leap into the abyss.