If Eagles don't nail this hire, next year's search could be for a new head coach

If Eagles don't nail this hire, next year's search could be for a new head coach originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

This year it's Kevin Patullo. If the Eagles don't get this right, next year it could very well be Nick Sirianni.

This is such a crucial hire, not just for the team but for the head coach as well. Because if they hire the wrong person, the search a year from now could be for a new head coach.

It's that important.

We saw this year how much the wrong offensive coordinator and play caller can derail a season that began with such high expectations. It started out bad and just kept getting worse until the disastrous playoff loss to the 49ers.

The first thing that's baffling is why Sirianni thought Patullo was the right guy for the job in the first place. They worked together since 2018, three years with the Colts, four years here, so by the time he promoted him to replace Kellen Moore a year ago they had spent seven years alongside each other. How you can miss so badly and not understand the limitations of a colleague you've been around for so long is alarming.

What's just as concerning as Patullo's inability to get the most out of the vast talent on the offensive side of the football is Sirianni's inability to make a difference. This is an offensive head coach with two Super Bowl appearances and a championship and one of the highest won-loss records in NFL history on his resume.

Why couldn't he help? We know Sirianni's strength is culture building and getting guys to buy in and work hard and practice hard and play hard and just create a winning atmosphere in the locker room, and he's very good at that. But he's also a guy who's coached offensive football in the NFL for a decade and a half, and he just stood by and watched as his team struggled week after week to move the ball and score points.

There was talk about how he got more involved late in the season, but scoring 31 points against the Raiders and 29 in Washington isn't enough. This team's last six games against playoff teams they scored 17, 10, 15, 19, 13 and 19 points and only because of Vic Fangio's defense were they able to win two of those games - the Packers and Bills.

You can have the greatest culture in the history of the universe, but if you can't convert a 3rd-and-5 it doesn't matter.

I know people have had enough of Sirianni right now, and I understand their frustration. B ut Jeff Lurie isn't going to fire a coach who won a Super Bowl 11 months ago. And he shouldn't.

But if they don't nail this hire and this offense and this team underachieves again in 2026 then the Sirianni Watch is on. Because there's too much talent in that locker room for this team to average 20 points a game and score one or fewer 2nd-half touchdowns in 12 of 18 games.

Whoever replaces Patullo will be Sirianni's fifth offensive coordinator in six years and Jalen Hurts' seventh play caller since 2020. Shane Steichen and Kellen Moore were huge hits and Brian Johnson and Patullo were huge misses.

It's safe to assume that after the Patullo disaster this will be more of an organizational hire than a Sirianni hire. Even winning a Super Bowl you lose a bit of equity when the season goes the way this one just did. Either way, Sirianni has to be better in 2026 or it's fair to wonder if he's back in 2027.

The Eagles were preseason favorites to get back to the Super Bowl and win it, so 11 wins and a home wild-card exit over a banged-up 49ers team that didn't have half the talent the Eagles had is unacceptable. The expectations will be huge again in 2026 because of that roster and the franchise's track record - their 59 wins since 2021 are 2nd-most in the NFL, one fewer than the Bills, who haven't come close to a Super Bowl.

Lurie is a patient guy and generally errs on the side of caution. He kept Andy Reid around one year too long because of what he meant to the franchise. But I don't think Sirianni gets many more chances. This team is loaded with young talent on defense and the offense still has stars at every level and two straight underachieving seasons won't be acceptable. When you have an offensive coach whose offense looks like this, it's fair to wonder about his future.

The new offensive coordinator has to be someone who can come in with his own system and scheme separate from Sirianni's way of thinking and truly understand how to get the most out of Jalen Hurts and the rest of the talent he's inheriting.

And the best thing Sirianni can do is stay away and let him do his thing. Because Sirianni's job just might depend on it.