Eagles’ Nick Sirianni is looking for a new offensive scheme and coordinator — maybe at his own expense

Sirianni said that he’s looking for a replacement who will “be in charge of the offense” and doesn’t come from a similar school of thought.

Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni (right) during a press conference with Howie Roseman at the NovaCare Complex on Wednesday.Read moreHeather Khalifa / Staff Photographer

by Jeff McLane

Published Jan. 25, 2024, 5:00 a.m. ET

Nick Sirianni took the first step in admitting that his offensive scheme was a problem.

Whether it took an intervention from owner Jeffrey Lurie and general manager Howie Roseman, Sirianni has started a process meant to rehabilitate quarterback Jalen Hurts and his offense, but one that could further weaken his standing as Eagles coach.

He fired offensive coordinator and play-caller Brian Johnson this week and said Wednesday that he’s looking for a replacement who will bring “in a new scheme” and “be in charge of the offense” and who doesn’t come from a similar school of thought.

“We need to bring a guy in with new ideas that’s not part of this family of coaches,” Sirianni said during his end-of-season news conference with Roseman. “I think that’s an important thing.”

First thought: That rules out his mentor, Frank Reich, or any candidate who has run the Philip Rivers offense with the Los Angeles Chargers and Indianapolis Colts. Sirianni’s system had evolved to include elements to accentuate Hurts’ skills — a dichotomy that may have contributed to the overall regression — but a new scheme will likely bring significant alterations.

Just two weeks ago, heading into the playoffs, Sirianni defended his offense and had with him a bunch of numbers to support his case. But the unit never hummed as it did in 2022 — even during the Eagles’ 10-1 start — and by the end of a 1-6 collapse even the confident coach had to concede that changes were necessary.

“To me, we got a little bit stale on offense by the end of the year,” Sirianni said nine days after the Eagles’ 32-9 first-round playoff loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. “These ideas and this new person coming in is meant to take away the staleness and add the value of what they’re adding to the offense.”

Sirianni declined to say whether he would have authority over the offense that he described as “our scheme.” But he understandably offered little detail in terms of hierarchy and what he’s looking for with the Eagles just beginning to interview candidates.

If he gets X coach who has had great success as an offensive coach, he may be willing to cede most control. If he gets Y coach who isn’t as accomplished, he may have to still be heavily involved. But to hire one of the hottest names out there, Sirianni will likely have to include with the offer great sway.

He also may have no choice if Lurie gave him an ultimatum. Sirianni characterized Friday’s exit meeting with the 72-year-old owner as “business as usual.” But firing both coordinators — demoted defensive coordinator Sean Desai was also let go — with more assistants to follow isn’t normal.

And when you’re essentially the last man standing and you aren’t responsible for schemes on either side of the ball, is it fair to question what exactly is your role?

“To be the head coach of the football team,” Sirianni said.

The construct of a CEO coach can work. Bill Belichick, Mike Tomlin, John Harbaugh, and Dan Campbell are some notable examples, although their involvement in scheme, game planning, and play calling has varied.

But rarely do coaches lose such power and survive. Sirianni forfeited play calling to then-offensive coordinator Shane Steichen midway through his first season in 2021 and the Eagles went on a 23-8 run over the next two seasons and postseasons that culminated with a near victory in Super Bowl LVII last February.

Steichen left and Johnson was promoted from quarterbacks coach — the most significant move on that side of the ball — and Hurts and the offense struggled out of the gate in 2023.

Owners like Lurie typically want to avoid having head coaches who don’t call plays because success will often result in coordinators departing for top jobs. Campbell, for instance, will likely have to replace offensive coordinator Ben Johnson once the Lions’ season is over.

It’s possible to bring in a coordinator who either isn’t head coach material or had recently failed in that regard. Former Cardinals coach Kliff Kingsbury, whom the Eagles reportedly met with via video conference, would represent the latter.

But he would also give Lurie a suitable interim if Sirianni’s hook is short next season. A ready-made option could also come from the defensive side. Vic Fangio, whom the Eagles are reportedly close to signing as defensive coordinator, has been a head coach as well.

Texans quarterbacks coach Jerrod Johnson, whom the Eagles also reportedly have interviewed, would be potentially the type of coordinator who could be gone in short time with any given amount of success.

Sirianni can’t factor in his job security at this point, however. He needs to right an offense that had become predictable, static, and lacking in built-in answers for Hurts and the unit against the increasing amount of blitzes the Eagles saw late in the season.

He shouldn’t scrap all of his scheme. The Eagles finished eighth in yards and seventh in points in the league just a year after they ranked third in both categories. But Sirianni didn’t change enough ahead of this season in anticipation of defensive coordinators catching up to his tendencies.

“It’s not always about coming up with new plays and new wrinkles and new things like that,” Sirianni said to The Inquirer before the season. “Sometimes it’s just getting better … at your base stuff.”

The scheme Sirianni originally brought with him to Philadelphia was one built around Rivers. It placed an emphasis on explosive passing plays and gave the quarterback freedom at the line to check to new plays. Rivers didn’t need motion as much as some to get his pre-snap reads.

But many modern offenses, like Andy Reid’s or Kyle Shanahan’s, use a lot of motion before and at the snap and a bunch of formations to give defenders one more variable to consider or to create confusion. Sirianni is right that some motion is unnecessary, but the Eagles were last in quantity, and he said before that he never wants his offense to be at an extreme.

Brian Johnson brought with him from college the zone read, run-pass, run-pass-run option offense that utilized Hurts’ mobility. Once the Eagles implemented more of plus-one quarterback elements in 2021, the running game took off and eventually the offense as a whole.

Sirianni, Steichen & Co. were able to marry the two tactics, and Hurts nearly won an MVP award in 2022. But it didn’t take long the next season for defenses to limit the quarterback in the run game, and Hurts often didn’t look comfortable on the ground.

The passing game, meanwhile, wasn’t as multidimensional once defenses started implementing more two-high safety coverages vs. receivers A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith. Hurts, in turn, more than doubled his number of turnovers, and struggled to get the offense into the right play when audibles were required.

“Obviously we’re all going to have things that we need to work on, and Jalen is no different,” Sirianni said when asked about getting the quarterback back to his 2022 form. He added: “The one thing I do know about Jalen is when there are things of his game that he needs to improve, he goes to work and he busts his [butt] to do that.”

Hurts will have to soldier on without Brian Johnson, a family friend who was originally hired partly because of their relationship. Sirianni said Hurts was told about his firing during the process, but he declined to give his reaction.

Johnson’s exit can also be viewed as an indictment of their dynamic and possibly a message to the 25-year-old quarterback.

“I’ll keep him aware of things that he needs to be aware of and keep him in the loop of that because he’s our guy,” Sirianni said of Hurts in relation to the next offensive coordinator. “It’s really important that those two guys are going to work hand-in-hand to make sure we’re getting back to where we need to be.”

Sirianni is moving forward with a new scheme — seemingly with less influence — but if the Eagles offense relapses, he may not have enough capital to recover this time.