Eagles reportedly hire coach
Eagles to hire Colts OC Sirianni as next head coach
According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the Eagles hired Nick Sirianni on Thursday to replace Doug Pederson as head coach. Sirianni, 39, spent the past three seasons as an offensive coordinator with the Indianapolis Colts, and had stints with the Kansas City Chiefs and the then-San Diego Chargers.
Nick Sirianni, the Indianapolis Colts’ offensive coordinator, will be the Eagles’ next head coach, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
Sirianni, 39, came into the search process late but impressed the Eagles’ search committee, led by owner Jeffrey Lurie, that he was the best man for the job by the time their two-day interview ended on Wednesday.
He’s the second-youngest head coach the Eagles have ever hired, behind Dick Vermeil, who was four months younger when he took the job in 1976, and the fifth hire for Lurie since acquiring the team in 1994.
All of Lurie’s previous choices had the Eagles, who went 4-11-1 and finished last in the NFC East in 2020, in the playoffs within their first two seasons.
In outgoing coach Doug Pederson’s case, the Eagles won the Super Bowl following the 2017 season.
Sirianni inherits a certifiable mess, starting with disgruntled quarterback Carson Wentz, whose silence following reports at the end of the season that he wanted out of Philadelphia because of a strained relationship with Pederson is deafening. That is believed to be a major factor in Lurie’s decision to fire Pederson.
Wentz’s record since wrecking his knee during his breakout 2017 season is just 17-21-1. He crashed and burned in 2020, going 3-8-1 in 12 starts while leading the NFL with 15 interceptions and 50 sacks absorbed.
The 28-year-old was replaced in the 12th game by rookie Jalen Hurts and never played again.
Wentz had a great relationship with former offensive coordinator Frank Reich, who became Sirianni’s boss in Indianapolis. That dynamic could have been a driving force behind hiring Sirianni, who did not call plays for the Colts.
Beyond either trying to repair Wentz, choosing Hurts as the starter or starting over with a new quarterback, Sirianni and general manager Howie Roseman will be tasked with making difficult decisions on veterans such as center Jason Kelce, defensive ends Brandon Graham and Derek Barnett, defensive tackle Malik Jackson, tight end Zach Ertz and wide receivers Alshon Jeffery and DeSean Jackson as the team enters a rebuilding phase.
The Eagles in 2020 were ravaged by injuries throughout their roster, but particularly to their offensive line and secondary.
They were forced to use 14 starting offensive line combinations in 16 games. And the season ended with cornerbacks Avonte Maddox, Craig James and Cre’Von LeBlanc and safety Rodney McLeod on the injured
“What we know about Eagles management is this: They want to be able to control the situation. Doug Pederson is no longer the Eagles’ head coach, not because they struggled this year, contrary to what you read. He’s no longer the Eagles head coach because management wanted to tell Doug Pederson who to hire and who to fire. “
— Emmanuel Acho, former Eagles linebacker
reserve and safety Jalen Mills unable to play because of an injury.
Only one linebacker, Alex Singleton, who started the season as a reserve, was able to play all 16 games.
Sirianni is a graduate of NCAA Division III power Mount Union (Ohio), where he also began his coaching career.
From there, he moved on to Indiana of Pa. and then to the NFL in 2009 as an offensive quality control coach for the Kansas City Chiefs, who made him the receivers coach in 2012.
In 2013, Sirianni moved to the San Diego Chargers and began to work with Reich. Sirianni coached the quarterbacks in 2015 and 2015 and moved to receivers in 2016. He joined Reich’s Indianapolis staff as offensive coordinator in 2018.
Under Reich and Sirianni, the Colts have reached the playoffs twice and finished in the top 10 in scoring twice.
The transition shouldn’t be too difficult, since Sirianni ran essentially the same offense that has been run in Philadelphia since 2016.
But filling out a quality staff will be a challenge because the Eagles were the next-to-last team with an opening to hire a head coach in this cycle. Only the Houston Texans remain in search of a coach for next season.
The biggest question is whether Sirianni will be able to mend fences with Wentz, who clashed with Pederson often, according to a report by The Philadelphia Inquirer, and often went rogue by changing plays the coach sent in.
Sirianni will have to walk the fine line between getting Wentz on his side side while at the same time making sure the quarterback knows he cannot cross him without consequences.
At the very least, Wentz has to understand that if he continues to clash with the head coach, the next change the Eagles make will be at quarterback.
Many NFL sources, including some Eagles players, are on board with the hire.
Right tackle Lane Johnson tweeted “Lets Ride!”
Echoed linebacker Alex Singleton on Twitter: LETS GET IT !!!!!!
But former Eagles linebacker Emmanuel Acho, now an analyst for Fox Sports, was less than thrilled.
“What we know about Eagles management is this: They want to be able to control the situation,” he said. “Doug Pederson is no longer the Eagles’ head coach, not because they struggled this year, contrary to what you read.
“He’s no longer the Eagles head coach because management wanted to tell Doug Pederson who to hire and who to fire. Doug Pederson looked at himself and said, ‘Look, I’ve won Super Bowls. You’re not going to tell me what to do.’
“But you know who Eagles management can control? They can control a coach with no head-coaching experience. They can control a coach with a limited resume. They can control a coach with a minimal name. I believe the Eagles just hired a puppet that management can control.”