Waiting

Another day, but still no update. Or maybe the lack of an update actually is an update. The Eagles would make an announcement if Nick Sirianni was getting fired. Not saying anything hints that Sirianni will return as coach. That doesn’t make it a lock of course, but it feels like we’re heading in that direction.

The meeting, or meetings, was going to be a chance for Sirianni to explain how to fix the Eagles. Maybe Jeffrey Lurie liked what he heard and we’re now in the process of seeing what changes will be made.

It is also possible that Lurie is thinking about Sirianni’s comments and hasn’t made a decision. We’ll find out soon enough.

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. @MikeGarafolo just dropped the name Jim Bob Cooter as a potential OC for #Eagles. Can say Nick Sirianni likes him. Was a consultant here in 2021, moved on to become Doug Peterson’s passing game coordinator in 2022 & Shane Steichen’s OC in 2023. Difference here is calling plays

— John McMullen (@JFMcMullen) January 20, 2024

Interesting idea. JBC worked with Sirianni in Kansas City in 2012 and then in Philly in 2021 so they have a relationship. JBC worked for Jim Caldwell in Indy and in Detroit and had success in both spots. JBC worked for Doug Pederson and Shane Steichen. That’s a lot of smart guys to work under.

JBC ran the Lions offense when they finished 7th in the league in scoring in 2017.

2021 – PHI – 12th in points
2022 – JAX – 10th in points
2023 – IND – 10th in points

JBC didn’t call plays for those offenses, but was part of the braintrust and helped them to function at a high level.

My argument against JBC would be wanting someone with a different offensive background. You can definitely argue that Sirianni needs to go outside of his circle of coaches to find someone with new ideas.

This is all just a rumor at this point so don’t get too fired up one way or the other.

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No word on defensive coaches the Eagles might be interested in.

Do you want a former head coach like Brandon Staley or Ron Rivera?

Do you want a super-aggressive DC like Wink Martindale?

There are interesting guys like Shane Bowen, Ryan Nielsen and Ejiro Evero.

There are also a lot of interesting coaches in college. Jim Leonhard is a guy I liked a lot last year. Former NFL safety who spent a lot of time playing for Rob Ryan. Ran the defense for Wisconsin from 2017-2022. Showed the ability to develop players and also to run a creative, effective scheme.

Some other names to keep an eye on.

In no particular order, this is the list of possible DC candidates I keep during the year that is not exclusive to the Eagles, but just to try and be ready to know what’s what when the carousel starts. Some of them obviously may not be possible if they’re retained, but still… pic.twitter.com/GUanG9GrKO

— Honest NFL (@TheHonestNFL) January 18, 2024

Sirianni preaches takeaways and limiting explosive plays.

I think the key is finding someone who matches the roster building philosophy. Howie Roseman wants to focus on the DL. So hire a DC who knows how to get the most out of a good DL. I also want a DC who knows how to put together a creative gameplan. Jonathan Gannon struggled with this. Sean Desai showed some potential. This is where having someone with experience would make sense.

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It was frustrating to watch the Packers blow a lead and let the Niners steal their way into the NFC title game. Let’s hope the Lions win on Sunday and then next week. There was bad coaching from both sides in that game. No idea why Matt LaFleur didn’t use his timeouts at the end of the game.

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