After Much Hand Wringing, Meeting, Planning, The Philadelphia Eagles Decide Their Future

The Philadelphia Eagles have tentatively set a Wednesday press conference for head coach Nick Sirianni and general manager Howie Roseman to address issues about the past season and their vision for the future.

Until then, Sirianni will remain busy interviewing defensive coordinator candidates after he fired Sean Desai over the weekend and is allowing Matt Patricia to move on following the expiration of his contract.

Among the candidates set to interview for the vacant defensive coordinator job are former Commanders head coach Ron Rivera and former Jaguars defensive coordinator Mike Caldwell.

PHOENIX, AZ - FEBRUARY 06: Philadelphia Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni speaks to the media during the NFL Super Bowl LVII Opening Night on Monday, February 6th, 2023 at Footprint Center in Phoenix, AZ (Photo by Adam Bow/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Nick Sirianni Coming Back For Year 4

So, let's see, would the Eagles set a presser for their coach and general manager to discuss the future if they weren't part of that future? Would the coach be looking to hire a defensive coordinator if he were getting fired?

(Thinking face emoji).

The Eagles are standing pat with Sirianni as coach and Roseman as their executive VP and general manager. The club hasn't announced as much. But they've obviously admitted as much by their actions.

And this is consequential because up until the weekend, there were questions about the job status of Sirianni and even Roseman to a lesser degree. All you had to do was read the local Philly paper or listen to local sports talk radio.

All this after Sirianni met last week with club owner Jeffrey Lurie and shared his plan for moving forward in 2024 and improving the team that lost seven of its final eight games.

Sirianni shared his thoughts on his coaching staff and plans to upgrade the group, particularly at the coordinator position. But more importantly, Sirianni needed to give Lurie confidence the obvious problems the team suffered in its losing skid and unsatisfactory playoff performance would be addressed so as to not be repeated.

It obviously worked.

TAMPA, FL - JANUARY 15: Philadelphia Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie looks on from the field prior to an NFL Wild Card playoff football game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Raymond James Stadium on January 15, 2024 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Perry Knotts/Getty Images)

Eagles Owner Jeffrey Lurie Has A Successful Coach

The fact Sirianni had to basically go to Lurie and fight for the right to stay employed is curious if one considers the entire scope of his work.

He has taken the team to the playoffs all three years he's been the coach.

The Eagles lost Super Bowl 57 to the Kansas City Chiefs by a field goal after winning 14 games during the regular season and bulldozing the Giants and the 49ers in the NFC playoffs. And the club started this season 10-1, giving them the NFL's best record through Thanksgiving week.

The Eagles also beat Kansas City last season in a regular-season rematch of the Super Bowl and also won six of the eight games they played against eventual playoff teams.

Sirianni has compiled a 34-17 record in his three seasons for a .667 winning percentage. That's the best winning percentage of any of the Philly's 25 head coach with at least one season under his belt.

TAMPA, FL - JANUARY 15: Tampa Bay Buccaneers Running Back Rachaad White (1) carries the ball as the Eagles defense attempts to slow him down during the NFC Wild Card game between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on January 15, 2024 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Cliff Welch/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Lurie Wanted Some Changes And He'll Get That

That stuff is all good. But Lurie has a history of looking past previous success and making decisions on what he believes will determine the future direction of his franchise.

Consider that the Eagles won the Super Bowl under coach Doug Pederson in the 2017 season.

And three seasons later -- following the 2020 season -- Lurie fired Pederson. The coach had winning seasons in two of those three seasons but struggled to a 4-11-1 record in 2020.

It should be noted, Lurie moved on from Pederson to Sirianni and that has worked out so far.

But the owner obviously now expects changes, at minimum, at the defensive coordinator level. The Eagles struggled in that area all year long, allowing an average of 25.2 points per game, which was the NFL's third-worst mark.

Sirianni actually removed Desai's play-calling duties in favor of Patricia during the season but that didn't solve the issues to any significant standard. The Eagles gave up at least 30 points in four of their final seven regular-season games and did so again in their playoff loss to the Bucs.

TAMPA, FL - JANUARY 15: Fletcher Cox #91 of the Philadelphia Eagles walks off of the field after an NFL Wild Card playoff football game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Raymond James Stadium on January 15, 2024 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Perry Knotts/Getty Images)

Eagles Players Were On Sirianni's Side

Eagles players last week gave Sirianni a solid public endorsement to remain the head coach -- even after the Tampa Bay playoff loss that ended their season.

"I didn't know he was going anywhere," quarterback Jalen Hurts said when asked about Sirianni's status after a season-ending loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. "I have a ton of confidence in everyone in this building. Just a matter of us going out there and playing clean football, and that's been something we have not done."

Defensive tackle Fletcher Cox was way more animated and spirited in his remarks on the topic.

"Come on, man, We don't need to talk about that. He's a winner. He's a winning head coach," Cox told a group of reporters this week. "Do we have some issues? Yeah, but every team, every winning organization, everybody goes through it. But we don't look at firing.

"Obviously won 10-plus games two years in a row. That's took this organization to three playoff appearances three years in a row. Have some respect.

"He's a good leader for this team. Does a good job. Did we come up short? Yeah. Did things happen this year? Yeah. But we don't look at or I don't discuss, this man's got a family. I don't discuss anything about that."

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