Coaching Update

After last season’s epic meltdown, Nick Sirianni had to fight to keep his job in the offseason. He made changes to his coaching staff and even his role. Let’s take a look at how the changes are working so far.

Kellen Moore was hired to be the offensive coordinator. He was tasked with taking control of the offense and making changes that Sirianni hadn’t. Doug Farrar wrote an article on things the Eagles needed to do to fix the offense. I think Moore is doing a lot of those things. One example:

Beating the blitz will be a priority for Jalen Hurts

One way opponents “figured Jalen Hurts out” in 2023 was an increase in blitzes, especially aggressive blitzes out of Cover-0. Hurts faced by far the most snaps against six or more pass-rushers last season with Cover-0 behind them – 32 dropbacks, and just 10 completions in 29 attempts for 56 yards, 37 air yards, no touchdowns, two interceptions, and a passer rating of 14.6. Only C.J. Stroud had a lower passer rating against Cover-0 blitzes last season. One reason defenses were comfortable doing this is that Hurts is not yet a comfortable “replacement-read” quarterback. He’s not always primed to take advantage of the gaps in coverage left by blitzes. Hurts had just 11 dropbacks against Cover-0 blitzes in 2022, so this is a recent thing, and it will continue until and unless Hurts learns to work around it.

“There’s a lot of different things we can do,” Moore said in May when asked about giving Hurts answers against any kind of pressure. “Just making sure it’s clean, effective. As you build it, you’ve got to continue to evolve so that one week maybe your answer is a certain play, then maybe the next week you’ve got to make the adjustment off of that.

“That’s, I think, the continuous evolution through the season. There’s going to be different challenges each and every week. We’re going to walk into a room and deal with the blitz protection, and we’re going to look at it, and there’s going to be a couple challenges each and every week. That’s what these defenses do. They’re really good. They scheme you up. They give you a lot of challenges.

“So you’re continuing to find, okay, what’s the next tool that we can use? What’s the next tool that we can use? While still keeping it clean for the quarterback so he knows exactly what he needs, and he can handle it accordingly.”

That would be an obvious improvement over what we saw in 2023.

The Eagles have done some blitzing in camp, but we won’t really know if this is fixed until the regular season when opposing teams get creative and aggressive.

We do know that Moore has made schematic changes. Pre-snap motion is a regular part of the Eagles offense this summer. They use some jet motion and have even handed the ball to the guy in motion a few times.

We know receivers are moving around and not lining up in the same spot over and over.

Avonte Maddox says he notices Eagles WRs lining up in different spots more often. He said he’s seen more DeVonta Smith (in the slot) than he’s used to seeing.

— Brandon Lee Gowton (@BrandonGowton) July 29, 2024

A small thing like that makes it harder on the defense. They aren’t getting static looks so they have to be prepared for different things.

We’re seeing other changes.

Seeing a lot more play action rollout with Jalen Hurts in the red zone than we’re used to seeing.#Eagles

— Brandon Lee Gowton (@BrandonGowton) July 30, 2024

This is all very encouraging. More important than anything else, Jalen Hurts is playing well. The scheme and wrinkles don’t matter if he struggles. Hurts has had a strong showing so far in camp. He has embraced the new offense and Moore is getting the best out of him. That is critical to the offense getting back to being the explosive group it was in the past.

*****

Vic Fangio’s scheme isn’t all that different from the scheme used the previous few seasons. The difference with him will be how the scheme is run. We won’t get a good feel for that until games actually start.

I am encouraged by a few things. First, he is a tough, demanding coach. Fangio isn’t here to make everyone feel loved and special. He is in Philly to fix a broken defense and to get his guys to go kick some ass. Fangio gives honest answers to the media and says tough things behind closed doors.

#Eagles DC Vic Fangio NOT afraid to call guys out

“He’ll just call you out. Call you out one-on-one. Call you out in front of the team, tell you that it’s not good enough, or it’s piss poor. He call you out by your name. Name, number whatever”

-Eagles LB Devin White on Fangio pic.twitter.com/EolBtz5egw

— Jeff Skversky (@JeffSkversky) July 25, 2024

The players are embracing the tough love style. As White points out, Fangio will praise. He’s not just ripping guys. But he isn’t afraid to call players out and let them know when they aren’t getting the job done. The defense was way too soft last year. Fangio won’t let that happen again.

Vic Fangio with a very honest answer about Bryce Huff’s ability to play the run and be an every down player

Says he has the ability to do it but as of now he has work to do against the run: pic.twitter.com/rf8OBb53Pk

— Eliot Shorr-Parks (@EliotShorrParks) July 25, 2024

I cannot imagine Jonathan Gannon saying something like that. Fangio isn’t ripping Huff. He’s talking about the need to develop a skill and to get better. That’s reality. There is nothing wrong with pointing out something like that. Gannon used to talk about how he had enough talent to get the job done. Anyone looking at the depth chart in 2021 knew that wasn’t true. It just made him sound delusional. Fangio isn’t going to play that game. He’s going to be honest about what guys can and can’t do.

I’m interested in the personnel side of things. Fangio seems to really like athletic players. He pushed for the Eagles to draft Jalyx Hunt and so far that seems like a good move. The scouts did the homework on Hunt, but Fangio advocated for him during the draft.

Fangio is using Quinyon Mitchell in the slot to get different looks and to see if guys can handle different roles. Mitchell is a gifted athlete and seems comfortable playing inside.

Fangio has had Zack Baun playing ILB. We all thought he was here as an edge rusher. Fangio sees something he likes and is going to try to make that work. Baun has had a good spring and summer and could help fix the LB spot.

Overall, it feels like the guys on defense are responding well to Fangio and his scheme/style. There aren’t a lot of underachievers so far this summer.

*****

It is too early to really tell how Sirianni is doing in his role as the CEO type of coach. He has turned over the offense to Moore. We can see the schematic changes and Sirianni has talked about how different it is for him not being in the QB room on a daily basis. Sirianni seems to have accepted the change. He had the Eagles at the top of the football world in 2022. Last year was humbling. I think Sirianni was willing to make changes so that he could keep his job, but also because he’s so competitive and wants to get back to the top.

For now, it sure feels like the changes are working. Hopefully that leads to a much more enjoyable season.

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