Iggles Blitz

by Tommy Lawlor

Eagles Notebook – Nick the Bum

Posted July 27th, 2026 | No Comments »

Nick Sirianni feels unique. You have great offensive-minded coaches like Sean McVay and Kyle Shanahan. There are defensive gurus like Mike Macdonald and DeMeco Ryans. There aren’t many coaches who are the CEO and focus on other stuff.

I stumbled across this video on Bum Phillips the other day. It goes back to 1975, but a lot of what Bum said reminded me of Sirianni.

Bum turned the Oilers into consistent winners, but they never were able to win it all. They couldn’t get by the Steelers and Raiders between 1978-1980 (those teams won the Super Bowl). They got good at the wrong time and couldn’t get by great teams. Bum was a defensive guru. He was one of the guys who brought the 3-4 to the NFL so he was an important part of NFL history. You usually expect defensive guys to be tough, driven coaches. Bum took a different approach and it worked well for him. It is interesting that 50 years later Sirianni has some of the same ideas and they work well with this generation of players.

The difference with Sirianni is that he had enough talent to work with to get to the big game twice and win it once. You don’t win on just talent or just scheme or just philosophy. You need the right combination of ingredients. And good timing doesn’t hurt.

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DeVonta Smith is poised to have a big year for the Eagles. He’s been really good over the first five years of his career, averaging 82-1067-7. And that was sharing the ball with a workhorse like AJ Brown. Smitty should be a star this season. We know he can get the job done on deep balls.

It should be fun to see Smith handle the role of featured receiver. He did that in college and won the Heisman Trophy. He can be a star.

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Yahoo has the Eagles ranked as the #9 team heading into the season.

At this time last year, the Eagles looked like a potential dynasty. The roster was as deep and talented as any in recent memory. While last season wasn’t what Philadelphia wanted, 11 wins and a division title isn’t a bad floor. Drama is just part of the Eagles’ everyday existence, even when they’re the best team in the NFL. Last season’s noise doesn’t mean the Eagles can’t bounce right back with a better offensive scheme. Any team with Jalen Hurts, Saquon Barkley, DeVonta Smith, Jordan Mailata, Lane Johnson, Jalen Carter, Jordan Davis, Jonathan Greenard, Zack Baun, Quinyon Mitchell, Cooper DeJean and some others can be the best team in the NFL.

The Eagles had the second-youngest roster in the NFL last season so it’s not like they should be declining. It’s possible that Hurts finds that being under center, using the cheat code of motion and play action more often, leads to a career year. Smith might explode now that he doesn’t have to share targets with A.J. Brown. The defense can be among the NFL’s best, as it was two seasons ago. Carter might be a dark horse NFL Defensive Player of the Year candidate. Let’s not forget how good the Eagles were two seasons ago. They can reach that height again.

The write-up had some odd comments, but was solid overall. And having the Eagles ninth is reasonable.

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This is a great pic.

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Jimmy Bama posted a piece on the 30 things he’ll be watching at Eagles Training Camp. I thought this was interesting.

9) Are we sleeping on Hollywood Brown as a significant contributor?

Like Wicks above, we published a film review of Brown’s game.

Brown ran a 4.27 40 time at his pro day in 2019, and is a player known for his speed, however, he has averaged just 11.6 yards per catch over his career. Still, the Eagles view him as a down-the-field threat.

After watching all of his targets in 2025, I concluded that Brown’s average yards per catch were affected by a Chiefs offense that has become increasingly dink and dunk over the last few years, as opposing defenses have sought to keep everything underneath and make them drive the field. Brown made a lot of catches immediately after the snap near the line of scrimmage, which obviously hurt those numbers. It certainly didn’t help when the Chiefs lost Patrick Mahomes with a torn ACL at the end of their miserable season, and Brown was trying to catch passes from Gardner Minshew, Chris Oladokun, and Shane Buechele.

But Brown did also have seven receptions of 20+ yards and three receptions of 40+ yards. So I don’t necessarily believe the Eagles are wrong to view him as a deep threat, despite his unimpressive yards per catch average.

I should note here that I did not watch his targets in prior seasons, so I can’t speak on his relatively low yards per target averages with other teams.

It does make sense that offenses tried to get the ball in Brown’s hands quickly after the snap. He isn’t going to break many tackles, but one thing that showed up consistently on his tape is the ability to make the first guy miss immediately after he makes a catch, even when he doesn’t get much separation. He is also a sideline toe-tap master with reliable hands.

In the past the Eagles have taken fliers on sub-4.3 speed guys like Parris Campbell and John Ross. However, unlike those guys, Brown is a legitimate NFL wide receiver, and his speed really showed up during spring practices. He might be getting slept on a bit, in my opinion.

We have really focused on Smith, Makai Lemon and Dontayvion Wicks at WR. It is possible we’re overlooking Brown and he could be more of a key contributor than expected. I know people have real concerns about the loss of AJ Brown, but I am impressed with the overall group of receivers and their fit in the new offense. I’m cautiously optimistic about this group.

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Did you know Terry Bradshaw did some punting when he first got to the NFL?

The Eagles tackling in that video is awful.

The uniforms are interesting.

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This is…unusual.

Will be interesting when we find out the details. Not ideal to lose a position coach on the eve of TC.

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