Sean McDermott’s firing could make Eagles’ pursuit of Mike McDaniel, Brian Daboll for OC much harder
Both have a chance to replace McDermott in a primo job, and McDermott has a great shot to take one of the seven other vacant head coaching slots.
In the past week, the Eagles have made it known to sources around the league that hiring former Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel as their new offensive coordinator is their No. 1 offseason priority. That includes fired Giants coach Brian Daboll, who is expected to interview for the position this week. Virtually no amount of money, literally no amount of autonomy, and no fear of conflict would deter the team from signing McDaniel, a respected offensive innovator.
McDaniel and Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio endured a rocky year together in 2023, when Fangio worked for McDaniel as his defensive coordinator in Miami, and their split, while couched as a mutual parting of the ways, was not without acrimony.
At any rate, league sources indicate that even though Fangio’s work the last two seasons has been integral and possibly unmatched around the league, if the Eagles were somehow able to hire McDaniel, they would not be deterred by any possible discomfort from Fangio.
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Of course, the actual hiring of McDaniel in Philadelphia would be an unexpected coup for Birds. Right now, he’s a hotter commodity than Venezuelan oil.
He got even hotter Monday morning.
The Bills fired head coach Sean McDermott on Monday. McDaniel is sure to be a candidate for that job. So will Daboll, who worked with superstar quarterback Josh Allen as the Bills’ offensive coordinator from 2018-21. Now, there is a chance that McDermott and McDaniel simply switch cities. Regardless, McDermott immediately becomes the top head coaching candidate in the league.
There’s also a chance McDermott blocks McDaniel from a head coaching position, which pushes him back into the OC market, to the Eagles’ benefit.
The merry-go-round ever swirls.
Stay tuned.
One thing is certain: McDermott’s firing immediately makes the Eagles’ quest for their top two candidates much less likely to succeed.
McDaniel already has interviewed for head coaching vacancies in Tennessee, Baltimore, and Cleveland, was scheduled to interview in Las Vegas on Monday, and is expected to be interviewed a second time by the Browns this week. He interviewed with Atlanta, too, but the Falcons have already hired Kevin Stefanski, whom the Browns just fired.
» READ MORE: Who are the Eagles looking at for their next offensive coordinator? Here are some of the candidates.
A report last week indicated that McDaniel would consider taking one of the premier offensive coordinator positions in favor of a bad situation as a head coach.
To that end, McDaniel has interviewed with the Lions and Buccaneers. The former offers a plug-and-play chance for success. The latter offers a head coach in Todd Bowles whose future beyond next season is unsure, and the Bucs are as fervent pursuers of McDaniel as the Eagle.
After he leaves Las Vegas — or, if he leaves Las Vegas, which owns the No. 1 overall pick and would be an enticing rebuild — McDaniel is expected to interview for the Chargers’ vacant OC job. There, McDaniel would coach Justin Herbert, who, like Lamar Jackson in Baltimore and Allen in Buffalo, are more enticing options than the QBs on the other teams.
And yes, that includes Jalen Hurts.
However, in Philadelphia, McDaniel would have the best offensive roster of any of the other stops. That is, unless you believe: Right tackle Lane Johnson is too old, left guard Landon Dickerson never will be healthy, Hurts will never develop past his current skill set, and A.J. Brown and Saquon Barkley, both 28, have lost a step.
League sources say the Eagles have not yet convinced McDaniel to interview, which offers a glimpse into how he considers the Philly job. That said, don’t expect money to be an obstacle. Sources say that, for McDaniel, the position could be worth as much as the $6 million annual salary the Raiders gave Chip Kelly, who then was fired just 11 games into 2025, his first of three seasons under contract. At the end of the season head coach Pete Carroll also was fired, which created the current vacancy.
The Eagles have already interviewed former Falcons OC Zac Robinson, Colts OC Jim Bob Cooter (who does not call plays and therefore can leave), and former Eagles backup QB Mike Kafka, who was Daboll’s offensive coordinator with the Giants. They are expected to interview fired Bucs OC Josh Grizzard on Monday, and have expressed interest in Falcons passing game coordinator Bobby Slowik, fired Commanders OC Kliff Kingsbury, and Ole Miss OC Charlie Weis Jr.
They’re wise to cast their net wide, because, as of Monday morning, it looked like no amount of money or power will be enough to land their two biggest fish.