Eagles coach Nick Sirianni on his job security: ‘I’m not thinking about that ... I’m not worried about me’

TAMPA, Fla. — An emotional Nick Sirianni walked through the visitors’ locker room at Raymond James Stadium late Monday night, going from locker to locker to give players handshakes and hugs.

After the Eagles’ 32-9 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the wild-card round of the playoffs, the coach wore the rigors of the last few months — and perhaps the uncertainty that awaits him in the immediate future — on his face.

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The Eagles now enter a long offseason with the bitter taste of a stunning collapse to accompany them. After they lost six of their last seven games, it’s fair to wonder whether Sirianni will remain head coach of the team going into the offseason.

When asked about his level of concern about his job security, Sirianni said he wasn’t focused on himself.

“I’m not thinking about that,” he said. “I’m thinking about the guys. There’s a lot of guys in that locker room, all the guys in that locker room that put their heart and soul into this. I’m not worried about me. As a head coach, I’m just trying to be there for our guys and our staff right now, through a tough time, obviously.”

In detailing the free fall that will define this Eagles season Monday night, Sirianni took accountability for not being able to find a way out of the rut the team fell into.

The offensive struggles to find rhythm against blitz-heavy defenses persisted as the answers, or lack thereof, against extra rushers became increasingly predictable. Quarterback Jalen Hurts faced constant pressure Monday night, getting sacked three times and committing an intentional-grounding penalty in the end zone, resulting in a safety that effectively put the game out of reach for the Eagles.

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Defensively, Sirianni’s decision to strip coordinator Sean Desai of play-calling duties in favor of Matt Patricia backfired. The defense gave up 426 yards to a Bucs offense that ranked 23rd in total yards in the regular season.

The persistent nature of the Eagles’ schematic problems on both sides of the ball invites questions about Sirianni’s ability to fix what ails the team, something the third-year coach said he’s still confident he can do.

“We believe in ourselves,” he said. “I’m not sitting in this room for any [other] reason. I’m not built that way. What gives me the confidence to think that we can fix it? Because we believe in ourselves and we’re in these seats at the top of our profession because we worked our [butt] off to get here. I can promise you this, nobody in that locker room thinks that way even a little bit. I don’t know in what profession anyone does think that way and doubts themselves, but it sure as [heck] ain’t us.”

Sirianni got several votes of confidence from players in the Eagles locker room, although Hurts’ answers when asked if he wanted Sirianni back as head coach left room for interpretation.

“I didn’t know he was going anywhere,” Hurts said initially.

Hurts had a career-high 15 interceptions and five fumbles lost in the regular season, giving him the highest turnover tally of his career as well. According to an ESPN report on Monday, the shape the offense took on this season has been a source of disappointment for Hurts.

When asked if he had confidence in Sirianni, Hurts said, “I have a ton of confidence in everyone in this building. It’s just a matter of us going out there and playing clean football.”

Sirianni said he hasn’t set the schedule for the upcoming days yet and wouldn’t give details on when he would meet with Jeffrey Lurie. The 72-year-old owner has overseen four coaching changes (not counting interim coaches) since purchasing the team in 1994. His most recent change came when he fired Doug Pederson after the 2020 season, almost three years removed from the first Super Bowl victory in franchise history.

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Aside from interim coaches, Sirianni has the best winning percentage in franchise history. He has gone 34-17 (.667) in the regular season and 2-3 in the playoffs, but it may not matter considering the free fall the team has experienced.

Eagles edge rusher Haason Reddick defended Sirianni after the game, saying the problems that faced the team were bigger than just one person.

“I think that Nick did the very best that he could to make sure guys were motivated to go play and do his best to make sure everybody knew their job and their details on both sides,” Reddick said. “I place no blame on Nick, man. It’s a team sport, it takes a lot of people — it’s not just one person, it takes a lot of people to make this thing work.

“It’s not what we wanted. But it’s not on one person, and it’s definitely not on Nick.”

Right tackle Lane Johnson, notably more experienced with the organization and more familiar with the nature of the business for its coaches, said he’s “just sitting and watching.”

“I really don’t know what’s going to happen,” Johnson said. “It’s very frustrating. You see what this team was and you see how the team ended and the slide that we had.

“It’s a wild business we’re in. Nobody’s safe. We’ll see what happens.”