Nick Sirianni looking for an offensive coordinator to help Eagles offense ‘evolve’
Sirianni wants to “find the best guy that fits the Philadelphia Eagles.” But is the best guy the one who will bring his own offense?
You say you want an evolution?
At his end-of-year news conference on Thursday afternoon with Howie Roseman, Nick Sirianni explained his decision to remove Kevin Patullo from the offensive coordinator position, pointing to a need for the Eagles offense to “evolve.”
The highest-paid offense in the NFL was stagnant for the majority of the 2025 season. A midseason spark in Weeks 7 and 8 — highlighted by under-center runs and play-action passes — was fleeting. The shotgun-heavy offense, while often capable of protecting the football and scoring in the red zone, was seldom explosive in the open field.
Patullo’s offense finished the season 19th in the NFL in scoring, 24th in total yards, and 13th in expected points added per play, which measures the average points added by the offense on each play. The next offensive coordinator has room for growth with a bevy of talent.
“I think it’s important to continue to evolve as an offense and that we go out and do what’s best for this football team,” Sirianni said. “Everything I do and every decision I have to make, I have to do that — just like Howie does, just like Mr. [Jeffrey] Lurie does — with the intent of [it] being the best thing for the football team."
Sirianni said he removed Patullo from his post in the best interest of the team, but he didn’t outright fire the 44-year-old coach. For now, Patullo remains on staff. Sirianni said he will “see how it plays out,” acknowledging that Patullo will likely have opportunities elsewhere.
Patullo was a first-time offensive coordinator and a first-time offensive NFL play-caller. Will the pendulum swing in the other direction regarding the next offensive coordinator’s résumé? According to The Athletic, the Eagles have seasoned play-callers Brian Daboll and Mike McDaniel at the top of their candidates list.
What is Sirianni’s criteria for an offensive coordinator hire this time around? Again, he used a familiar word to sum up his broad aspiration.
“You’re looking to continue to evolve as an offense,” Sirianni said. “And I’m looking to bring in a guy that’s going to best help us do that.”
» READ MORE: Can QB whisperers Josh McCown or Cam Turner salvage Jalen Hurts as the Eagles’ new OC?
Later, he expanded on his criteria, without giving too much of an ideal candidate profile away.
“You always want someone that has a great vision and great conviction of things that they believe in and what they want to do,” Sirianni said. “You always want to have somebody that has the players on their mind first, and we’ll be able to attract a lot of good candidates because of the players that Howie’s assembled to be on our football team.
“You want somebody that has great vision, great conviction in what they do, is able to coach fundamentals well, to help the players get better. Because I believe in that. That can connect with guys. Because I believe in that. That has the mental toughness, because I believe in that.”
Ultimately, Sirianni said he wants to “find the best guy that fits the Philadelphia Eagles.” But is the best guy the one who will bring his own offense? Or is the best guy the one who will infuse his ideas within Sirianni’s scheme?
In 2024, when the Eagles hired Kellen Moore as their new offensive coordinator, Sirianni emphasized that they would “mesh” their systems. They would continue to do the “good things,” Sirianni said, that had become staples of Eagles offenses past, all while incorporating “new ideas.”
On Thursday, four days removed from the wild-card loss to the San Francisco 49ers, Sirianni wasn’t ready to discuss his precise degree of involvement in the 2026 Eagles offense.
» READ MORE: After embarrassing Kevin Patullo pile-on, Eagles must make Mike McDaniel their main OC target
“It’s way early,” Sirianni said. “Those decisions don’t have to be made for a long time, and as the head coach, you always have to [have] oversight of everything. And again, this year, obviously, I did. I got involved more in the offense as the end of the season came, because that’s what I needed to do as the head football coach there.”
While Sirianni will make the final decision on the next offensive coordinator, he won’t be the only person with input. He said he plans to use a variety of “resources” to inform his choice, including feedback from Jalen Hurts, among other prominent figures in the organization.
Hurts, the 27-year-old franchise quarterback, will enter his sixth season as the starter with his seventh play-caller. Two of his offensive coordinators, Moore and Shane Steichen, departed for head coaching gigs after brief stints in the role. In the past, Hurts has expressed a desire for consistency at the position, but he acknowledged on Monday the changes didn’t stop him from winning a Super Bowl last season.
Regardless, the Eagles aren’t necessarily in search of a Vic Fangio-esque candidate as their next offensive coordinator — someone who has no intentions of moving on to a head-coaching job — according to Roseman.
“It’s a great compliment when guys get head coaching jobs from here, because it means we’re having tremendous success,” Roseman said. “So as much as you’d like to have continuity, and I’d like to have guys here for a long period of time, we want to win. We have an urgency to win right now. And if that comes with the ramifications that we lose good people because they’ve earned head coaching jobs, we’ll live with that.”
» READ MORE: Who will be the Eagles’ next offensive coordinator? Start with these eight names.
There is no one way to be an offensive coordinator, Sirianni said. Everyone has different philosophies and visions for what it takes for an offense to be successful.
But there is only one acceptable outcome for an evolved Eagles offense and its new coordinator moving forward.
“It’s about finding the guy that best fits us, that gives us the best chance to get back to the top of the mountain where we ultimately want to go,” Sirianni said.