PHILADELPHIA -- Coach Nick Sirianni said in Thursday's joint season-ending news conference with general manager Howie Roseman that the Philadelphia Eagles are "doing everything we can to win now" in their upcoming search for a new offensive coordinator.
Sirianni announced his decision to make a change at offensive coordinator from Kevin Patullo in a team-issued statement Wednesday. He told reporters the Eagles "didn't reach our goals" in a 2025 season that featured the least efficient offensive system of his tenure. Philadelphia (11-6) was eliminated by the San Francisco 49ers in Sunday's NFC wild-card game. He confirmed Patullo could remain on staff at a lower position but said he is "going to have other opportunities, and obviously I always want what's best for Kevin and for his family."
"We'll see how it plays out," he said.
The Eagles have already begun reaching out to coordinator candidates. Former Miami Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel and former New York Giants coach Brian Daboll are at the top of the list, according to The Athletic's Dianna Russini. The caliber of this cycle's candidates underlines Roseman's and Sirianni's belief that a talent-laden roster is again poised for Super Bowl contention.
"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.
Sirianni, an offensive-minded coach, has now removed both of the offensive coordinators he internally promoted after just one season: Patullo in 2025 and Brian Johnson in 2023. The two OCs who left for head-coaching jobs -- Shane Steichen and Kellen Moore -- had play calling experience apart from working with Sirianni. That the two least efficient offenses of the Sirianni era were after internal promotions and after he became more involved in the game plans raises questions of how involved he ought to be in the 2026 offense.
When asked whether he will again be involved with the offense or if the next coordinator will run the offense, Sirianni replied, "We're not there yet as far as that goes." He has long said his offensive staff functions as a collaboration. He also said this after Moore joined the Eagles in 2024. Unlike McDaniel and Daboll, Moore had not previously been a head coach. If the Eagles were to hire a former head coach whose experience involved autonomy, it is fair to question how much the collaborative dynamic would change.
It is also fair to question how much say an established candidate would have in the overall offensive staff. Four offensive coaches have remained with Sirianni since he was hired: run game coordinator and offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland; wide receivers coach Aaron Moorehead; running backs coach Jemal Singleton; and tight ends coach Jason Michael. Sirianni said they "have had a lot of success together," but he realizes "we all have our fingerprints on the offense from last year."
His vague responses to his involvement in the 2026 offense and the shape of its offensive staff underline their flexibility in the hiring search. Thursday's news conference carried a familiar reluctance. His delegation of the offensive controls to Moore invited questions and criticism of Sirianni's function as a head coach. Owner Jeffrey Lurie made it clear before the 2024 season that he hired Sirianni for reasons "beyond the ability to call plays," and Roseman seemed to attempt to cut off any future criticism if Sirianni were to once again delegate sovereignty over the offense.
"He's shown that when we bring people in that he's open to do whatever is best for this football team," Roseman said. "And that's all he cares about is winning. And so anything that he's answering here obviously it's dependent on who we bring in. But when he's brought in people he's given them the flexibility to put their own spin on things."
Emphasizing Sirianni's flexibility was interesting. Those same words have been said for many years about quarterback Jalen Hurts. To place Sirianni under the same banner ties him to the team's overall success in a similar way. Roseman then listed the things he believed Sirianni was "elite" at:
Those are not qualities the Eagles take for granted. With Sirianni on staff, Roseman said, "We're starting with a huge advantage." The Eagles hired defensive coordinator Vic Fangio in 2024, and his side of the field has contributed elite play in two straight seasons. Next, the Eagles are searching for their elite offensive play caller.
Hurts is entering the second season of his five-year, $255 million extension. As the franchise quarterback, Hurts was asked during Monday's locker room clean-out how much say he wanted to have in the direction of the 2026 offense. He said, "I think overall my mind is always open," and that he'd "definitely be available" for "whatever level of inquiry" the Eagles would ask of him.
When asked how much say Hurts would have in the OC search, Sirianni's long-winded response boiled down to one phrase: "You'd be foolish not to use all your resources."
Sirianni also said he's going to talk to Hurts, Lurie, Roseman, running back Saquon Barkley, wide receiver A.J. Brown, right tackle Lane Johnson -- "whoever it may be" -- but "at the end of the day, the coaching hires fall on my shoulders."
Sirianni said the Eagles are casting a wide net for "the best guy that fits the Philadelphia Eagles," which is notable in relation to Hurts. Hurts spoke often about the team's lack of a consistent identity in 2025. His adaptations under Patullo explain how the season was Hurts’ most challenging yet. The Eagles saw defenses attack them differently in response to their Super Bowl success in 2024, and Patullo’s increased usage of under-center snaps, variations of motion and route concepts did not supply enough solutions and at times did not play to Hurts’ strengths.
He wouldn't offer specifics about what he was looking for in a candidate's plans for Hurts.
"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."
One thing was clear: The Eagles remain confident in Hurts as their starting quarterback.
"We have won a lot of games with Jalen as our quarterback," Roseman said."We won a world championship with him as an MVP in that game.And so I think obviously he's done tremendous job as our starting quarterback."
Added Sirianni: "All I've ever felt from Jalen and all I ever know from Jalen is that the man will do anything he can do to win football games.And he pushes himself to do new things.He pushes himself to excel at the things that he has already done so well.And he's proven to everybody year in year out that all he cares about is winning and all he cares about is being able to hold that trophy up at the end of the year."
Can a new coordinator salvage the Eagles' relationship with Brown? The three-time All-Pro wide receiver made his frustrations over the offense clear throughout the 2025 season. Brown ended the year with weeks of media silence, declining to speak to reporters in Sunday's post-game locker room access and being absent on clean-out day. Hurts instead fielded a question about whether he wanted Brown to return with the Eagles in 2026.
"A.J. and I have talked," Hurts said."We're in a great place."
Roseman did not provide a clear answer when asked if the Eagles are open to trading Brown this offseason, or if that is a non-starter.
"It is hard to find great players in the NFL," Roseman said."And A.J. is a great player.I think from my perspective that's what we're going out and looking for when we go out here in free agency and the draft is trying to find great players who love football.And he's that guy."
Hurts has long spoken about the impact the coordinator carousel has had on his career and how he's yearned for continuity. Sirianni's role as a CEO-style coach suggests the Eagles must deal with a high volume of coordinator turnover so long as he is employed.
Are Roseman and Sirianni trying to find a way to create stability? Do candidates who'd be content with being a coordinator, like Fangio, get a closer look?
Roseman and Sirianni were more focused on the immediate impact of the team's upcoming hire.
"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,"Roseman said."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."
Such success would leave the Eagles in the same spot as last offseason. Sirianni would therefore be in another position when he'd be weighing promoting internally or looking for external options. Given that his two internal promotions were one-and-done coordinators, is he looking to add more coordinator-ready candidates at lower staff positions, or do anything that would create more development opportunities?
"Of course,you want to be able to do that and elevate when you can and when you think it's the right fit,"Sirianni said."But I don’t think ... you have to do that every time.I know we have.But it doesn’t have to work out that way.Right?And every season is just a little different of a situation and where you think if a guy can elevate and go into the spot，or if you don’t think that，then you may have to go outside to do that.”
Again，the Eagles are focusing on winning now。
“And of course，my job as a coach，and I take this very seriously，是 try develop coaches much I can help reach goals，就像我想做球员我们团队，”Sirianni说。“所以你’ll try develop，you’ll try do不同事情。但我们win-now模式，我们有win-now团队所有伟大球员我们有。所以，一切都会考虑，‘我们如何赢得2026赛季？’”