Wiiiiiiiiiiiide

We knew the Eagles would have a wide-ranging coaching search. What we didn’t know is that it would be this wide. The Eagles are either being creative and thorough or they are randomly choosing names out of a hat.

As I reported on #Eagles Extra earlier this afternoon, Colts OC Nick Sirianni had a good interview today with the Eagles.

There’s optimism about the type of staff he could put together in Philly. He appears to be a legitimate contender.

— Mike Kaye (@mike_e_kaye) January 19, 2021

Who?

I’m not going to lie to you. I’ve never heard of Nick Sirianni before today. I might have heard his name during a broadcast, but it certainly didn’t register with me. Does that mean this is a dumb move? Not at all.

The Eagles are looking for the right guy, not the right name. There is nothing wrong with talking to lesser known assistant coaches. A lot of big name hires fail. Why not talk to different coaches and see if you can find The Guy.

Sirianni was with KC for several years and worked under Charlie Weis and Brian Daboll. He would have learned the Perkins-Erhardt (Patriots/90’s Steelers) offense from them. Sirianni then went to the Chargers and worked under Frank Reich. He stayed after Reich left until 2018 when Reich made him the Colts offensive coordinator.

I like his background. I like the fact he was a WRs coach for several years. Many of the best OCs started off as receivers coaches. I need to do a lot more research, but I’m certainly intrigued by Sirianni.

Report: Eagles to interview Cowboys ST coordinator John Fassel for vacant HC job https://t.co/cmQR0Uxnpb

— Jimmy Kempski (@JimmyKempski) January 19, 2021

Fassel is a guy I do know. He was a terrific STs coach with the Rams before coming over to Dallas this year. He is a creative, aggressive coach who gets good results.

The big issue is whether he would make a good head coach. STs coaches are used to dealing with the whole team, but not having an expertise in offense or defense hurts them. They must hire outstanding coordinators. Fassel might have some really interesting ideas, but he would need to have compelling names for his coaching staff.

#Eagles slated to interview Saints DC Dennis Allen tomorrow, per @JasonLaCanfora. Jeffrey Lurie is clearly taking advantage of opportunity to meet with array of coaches, and that only one of other team has a HC opening.

But don’t want to wait forever as staff needs to be hired.

— Jeff McLane (@Jeff_McLane) January 19, 2021

Dennis Allen is a smart coaching candidate to interview. An example of a guy who took a gig too young and paid for it… #Eagles

— Mike Kaye (@mike_e_kaye) January 19, 2021

Allen was a hot shot assistant who was a major failure as head coach of the Raiders (8-28) in a little more than two seasons. It would be ironic if the Eagles hired a coach whose best record was 4-12 to fix a team that just went 4-11-1.

Allen has been the Saints DC since 2015. They started off as one of the worst units in the league, but they’ve gotten better each year. This season the Saints were fourth in yards allowed and fifth in points allowed. They run a complex scheme and Allen has been able to mix young and veteran players into his unit.

He is a 4-3 coach who likes to blitz and be creative. Allen would need to fix the Eagles secondary, but the front four would be a good match for him. Allen has seen some good offensive assistants in his time with the Saints. It would be interesting to see who he would want to run his offense. As always with DCs, that would be the key. Greg Knapp and Greg Olson were uninspired choices when he was with the Raiders from 2012-2014.

Eagles reportedly interviewing Cowboys OC Kellen Moore today: https://t.co/1VjDBhx8I1

— Brandon Lee Gowton (@BrandonGowton) January 19, 2021

Moore is a coach on the rise. He is terrific with X’s and O’s. The question is whether he’s ready to run an NFL team. That’s why you talk to him. Try to find out more about him and decide if he’s still a few years away or is a coaching star in the making.

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A lot of people are frustrated by the Eagles. Jokes fly left and right about how unprepared the team is. They must be desperate if they are talking to this many guys. Right?

Jeff Lurie told us he wasn’t in a hurry to hire a coach when he had his press conference. He said on the record that the search could go into February. I’m not sure why so many people are surprised.

As for talking to under the radar candidates, that is smart. There are 32 NFL teams. They tend to think a lot alike and there are a handful of coaches who are candidates every year. Why focus on them? Go talk to some young coaches and see if you can find a hidden gem. Even if you don’t find your coach, you might pick up a good nugget in the interview process. NFL teams love to steal ideas from each other.

I have no problem with the Eagles looking high and low.

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But wait, what happened to Josh McDaniels? Good question.

We know the Eagles had a long interview with him. Jeff McLane reported the team was making calls around the league to do more background on him.

There were reports that the interview went well and McDaniels was the favorite. This isn’t factual, per se. It might be true, but we don’t have definitive proof. No one has come out and point blank said that to us.

Is McDaniels agent leaking info to the media to create buzz?

Are the Eagles still looking around to help their negotiations with McDaniels?

Am I asking too many questions?

We’ll just have to wait and see. I think the Eagles are legitimately interested, but if they were completely sold, I think they would have pulled the trigger and made a deal. You don’t delay on hiring a coach you really want. There is a reason behind what they’re doing.

McDaniels might be the front runner for now, but he’s not a slam dunk choice so the team continues to look around.

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