Eagles hire Nick Sirianni: What that means for Dallas Cowboys
Three of four NFC East teams made a change at head coach last season — including the Dallas Cowboys. Dallas hired Super Bowl-winning head coach Mike McCarthy, the Washington Football Team selected former Carolina Panthers head coach Ron Rivera to be their man, and the New York Giants settled on former New England Patriots special […]
Three of four NFC East teams made a change at head coach last season — including the Dallas Cowboys.
Dallas hired Super Bowl-winning head coach Mike McCarthy, the Washington Football Team selected former Carolina Panthers head coach Ron Rivera to be their man, and the New York Giants settled on former New England Patriots special teams coach Joe Judge to run the show.
That, of course, meant that Philadelphia Eagles' Doug Pederson, who was hired in 2016, was the longest-tenured head coach in the division. Pederson led the Eagles to a Super Bowl title in 2018, and it appeared that he would be leading the organization for the foreseeable future.
However, things can quickly change in the NFL.
We were once again reminded of that fact when the Eagles fired Pederson, effectively choosing quarterback Carson Wentz over the man that coached the team to its first Super Bowl title in the franchise history. The decision was a little bit of a surprise due to Pederson's success in the City of Brotherly Love, but the Eagles seem to be in a big mess right now.
The team has a quarterback controversy brewing between Wentz and 2020 second-round quarterback Jalen Hurts, who finished the year as the starting quarterback before being benched in the second half of the season finale against Washington. Wentz's struggles have been well-documented, while Hurts flashed some potential but also struggled after the film exposed his tendencies.
Eagles to hire former Colts assistant.
The Eagles' job has been mentioned as one of the worst openings in this year's cycle, thanks to the uncertainty at the quarterback position, an aging roster, and the lack of cap space to retool the roster.
Philadelphia showed some level of interest in a number of different candidates to replace Pederson — including the likes of Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy, newly-hired New York Jets coach Robert Saleh, newly-hired Los Angeles Chargers coach Brandon Staley, and even Cowboys offensive coordinator Kellen Moore.
In the end, the Eagles chose to hire Indianapolis Colts offensive coordinator Nick Sirianni. Ian Rapoport reported the news on Twitter:
As Rapoport noted above, former Eagles offensive coordinator and current Colts head coach Frank Reich put in a strong recommendation for Sirianni. Reich, of course, was the offensive coordinator during Carson Wentz's best season as a pro — the same season in which Philadelphia won the Super Bowl with Nick Foles starting at quarterback.
Beyond Reich's input, Sirianni himself has proven to be a good coach in the National Football League. He was on Andy Reid's staff with the Kansas City Chiefs from 2009 to 2012 as a quality coach before being promoted to wide receivers coach in his final season in K.C. He then moved on to the Chargers staff from 2013 to 2017.
Sirianni worked under Reich as quarterbacks coach with the Chargers when Reich was calling plays in San Diego from 2014 to 2015, so the two clearly have an established relationship.
What this means for the Cowboys.
Whenever a division rival hires a new coach, it is relevant to the Dallas Cowboys. The Eagles were a mess in 2020, and their immediate future does not look to be much brighter.
An aging roster and a quarterback problem are two primary factors why some viewed the Eagles job as one of the worst in the league and provide hurdles for Sirianni to be successful in Philadelphia.
The Colts' offense ranked in the top-15 in offense during two of Sirianni's three seasons as offensive coordinator — ranking as a high as 10th in 2018. That happened to be Andrew Luck's final season in the NFL, which had to have helped.
Philadelphia is obviously hoping that Sirianni's ties to both Andy Reid and Frank Reich help his transition from coordinator to head coach. Both Reid and Reich are considered to be two of the better offensive coaches in the league. The Eagles need to fix Carson Wentz, and they must believe that the 39-year-old has the best ability to do just that.
This also means that the Philadelphia Eagles are not hiring Dallas Cowboys offensive coordinator Kellen Moore. As we pointed out recently, that move would have had the potential to hurt the Cowboys while also potentially improve their own team — killing two birds with one stone, so to speak.
It is hard to gauge what kind of success Nick Sirianni will have as an NFL head coach given his lack of experience leading a team and only having three seasons worth of coordinating an offense under his belt. His tenure in Philadelphia will likely be tied to the success — or lack thereof — of Carson Wentz.
As for Dallas, the Cowboys will head into the 2021 season with their offensive coordinator remaining in the fold and the best quarterback in the division behind center. That is great news.
Featured image via Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports
