Siri, Find Me A Coach
Posted: January 21st, 2021 | Author: Tommy Lawlor | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 4 Comments »The Eagles coaching search is over. The team looked far and wide before finding their man.
Eagles are hiring Colts' OC Nick Sirianni as their head coach, sources tell ESPN. Sirianni spent three seasons as a Chiefs' assistant coach, five seasons with the Chargers, and the past three with the Colts. Now the 39-year-old Sirianni becomes the lead man in Philadelphia.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 21, 2021
This is a risky hire, but I like it. The Eagles went with a young coach with lots of upside. I prefer that to hiring a guy who has been looked at heavily for several years and checks all the boxes. If you want to get ahead in the NFL, you have to take some chances.
Sirianni has been exposed to different schemes and styles of coaching. He has worked with several QBs. His career isn’t built on one player or one amazing season. He hasn’t been a regular play-caller in the NFL, but Andy Reid and Doug Pederson had limited experience as play-callers before becoming head coaches and they both did okay.
2016: The Eagles miss Andy Reid but can’t get him back so they hire the next closest thing: Doug Pederson.
2021: The Eagles miss Frank Reich but can’t get him so they hire the next closest thing: Nick Sirianni.https://t.co/DsfDWgFYRi
— Brandon Lee Gowton (@BrandonGowton) January 21, 2021
That isn’t fully accurate, but there is some truth in Brandon’s quick take on the hiring. The Eagles seemed to have one primary target…Lincoln Riley. After that, they were wide open.
And let’s be honest about Sirianni. One of the reasons he was chosen is that he didn’t have a lot of clout. He wouldn’t come to Philly and fight with Jeffrey Lurie and Howie Roseman over certain issues. Josh McDaniels would have had a better understanding of office politics and would have been much harder to deal with at times.
Still, let’s not downplay Sirianni. He was an up and coming coach. The Chargers hated to lose him to Indy back in 2018.
More love for Jamestown native Nick Sirianni, as Chargers GM Tom Telesco and head coach Anthony Lynn give their thoughts on losing Sirianni to the Colts as their new OC. pic.twitter.com/aMa6T6Y7fo
— Jon Scott (@JonScottTV) March 1, 2018
Nick Sirianni and I were both hired the same year in Kansas City when he was the offensive QC coach.
That dude worked and worked and worked tirelessly, taking on any task asked. He earned the respect of everyone around him — coaches and players alike.
Eagles got a good one.
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) January 21, 2021
Frank Reich a few years ago said he knew he wanted Nick Sirianni to be his OC when he got the job with the Colts and says they think alike with the passing game
“He’s extremely intelligent. He’s very energetic. Very passionate about ball”
pic.twitter.com/g8U4iySVm3— John Clark (@JClarkNBCS) January 21, 2021
Time will tell if the Eagles hired a great coach, terrible coach or something in between.
Not everyone is on board with this hire and there are some who don’t like the optics.
https://twitter.com/JimTrotter_NFL/status/1352365038959423488
The Eagles never interviewed Eric Bieniemy. They did interview Todd Bowles a couple of days ago.
Duce Staley got passed over and that will bother some players and outside observers. More than a few people thought he deserved the job. He’s coached in Philly since 2010. He’s well-liked in the building and is a natural leader. He bleeds Eagles green, so why not hire him?
You don’t just give out head coaching jobs as rewards. You need to feel the candidate is capable of running an NFL team. Football is the most complex sport because of the sheer size. An NFL coaching staff is about the same size as an NBA team. Think about that.
You have 53 players, plus a practice squad of 10 to 16 players and a coaching staff of 10 to 15 people. There is a large support staff. Payroll for the players is almost $200M. You don’t give this job out lightly. This isn’t a reward.
Timing is also a huge key. Duce Staley was part of the staff that went 4-11-1. I just don’t think you could promote him to fix that mess. Had the Eagles gone 9-7 and Pederson left for whatever reason, promoting Staley would have been fine.
As for Bieniemy, it sure sounds like the Eagles wanted to go away from Andy Reid. That’s nothing against Reid, but you need to shake things up. Bring in an outside coach who isn’t part of the Reid tree. Sirianni doesn’t know Reid’s speeches. He doesn’t know Reid’s schedule or practice style. Sirianni will do things differently and I think this team needs that.
We’ll have to see what happens with the coordinators. There are veteran coaches out there who could be good coordinators. Jim Caldwell could be the OC. Marvin Lewis could be the DC. He’s reportedly heading back to Arizona State for now, but might be open to an NFL DC job. Sirianni worked with Anthony Lynn in the past and could bring him in as the OC.
Mike Caldwell, former Eagles player and assistant coach, could be an interesting DC candidate. He knows the 4-3, but also a lot about blitzing. He also has done good work with young LBs.
As for the history side of things, Andy Reid’s first target for DC in 1999 was Marvin Lewis. Lewis turned him down so Reid then hired Jim Johnson. Todd Bowles ws the interim DC after Juan Castillo was fired at midseason in 2012. The Eagles spent big money on black QBs (Donovan McNabb, Mike Vick) so it isn’t like this team is anti-progressive.
We’ll see how things go with the coaching staff this time around.
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