What Sirianni's staff tells us about Lurie and Roseman originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
These are Nick Sirianni’s guys, and that means they’re not Howie Roseman’s guys or Jeff Lurie’s guys. And that’s definitely good news.
Sirianni’s two most important hires are guys he’s coached with in the past. Defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon spent the last three years with Sirianni in Indy and offensive coordinator Shane Steichen was with him for four years with the Chargers.
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And defensive line coach Tracy Rocker coached with Gannon with the Titans, which means not only is Sirianni bringing in his own guys … his own guys are bringing in their own guys.
This is huge.
Because the Eagles need a head coach that Lurie and Roseman trust enough to build the staff that he wants.
Not the staff they want.
And that hasn’t been the case around here lately.
It’s not easy sorting through all this because there’s a lot we don’t know. But I’m pretty confident Lurie and Roseman never wanted to hire coaches for Pederson. They just didn’t always have the faith in him to put together the best possible staff on his own.
Pederson has a lot of strengths. Motivating players. Designing offenses. Coaching quarterbacks. Calling plays (usually). Hiring coaches is not one of them, and I’m guessing he would tell you it’s something he’s just not that interested in.
It’s presumably why he kept nine of Chip Kelly’s assistant coaches when he took over in 2016. It was just easier than going out and finding his own. And some of them were really good coaches. Chip’s old staff played a huge role in the Eagles’ Super Bowl championship and really formed the nucleus of Pederson’s staff during his five years here.
But looking back now, keeping an unprecedented nine of his predecessor’s assistants is a pretty strong indication that building a staff of his own wasn't one of his top priorities when he got the job.
Doug obviously nailed the Frank Reich hire, which ironically led indirectly to his replacement. But those hits were sporadic.
He never struck me as the kind of guy who kept a detailed book of dozens of potential assistant coaches. And maybe the fact that he only worked under one head coach – Andy Reid here, Andy Reid in K.C. – limited his ability to network.
So you can understand Lurie and Roseman’s reaction when Pederson offered up his thoughts for the Eagles’ 2021 staff: Press Taylor promoted to offensive coordinator, Matt Burke promoted to defensive coordinator and Andrew Breiner promoted to QBs.
They believed the staff needed new blood, new vision. And Pederson was simply suggesting retreads from the 4-11-1 staff.
Lurie and Roseman have every right to ask him to bring in some new guys, and Pederson had every right to say no, and in a way you can’t blame him for not wanting to be told what to do. Even though, honestly, what Lurie and Roseman were asking made sense.
All of which has a lot to do with why Doug’s not here anymore.
But Lurie and Roseman never wanted to simply hire the new coach’s staff. They wanted a new coach who came in here with a specific vision for his staff that aligned with theirs.
So every Eagles fan should be happy Lurie and Roseman stayed out of the way enough for Sirianni to hire coordinators from his own past, not guys who were foisted on him by a meddling owner and GM.
This isn’t to say Lurie and Roseman never get in the way. They do and they have and it’s not healthy. And you can’t blame a Super Bowl-winning coach for being offended by it. Even if they were right some of the time.
But so far at least, Lurie and Roseman seem to trust Sirianni enough to let him build a staff his way. With his people. Without interference.
And a few days into the Sirianni coaching tenure, that’s a really encouraging sign.
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