The Eagles fired Sean Desai. What does this mean for Nick Sirianni and the coaching staff changes?

Sean Desai lost his job responsibilities last month. He lost his job this weekend. 

Desai was fired by Eagles coach Nick Sirianni, according to a league source. Desai was not expected to return after he was stripped of coordinator responsibilities, so his exit is not a surprise. But this move is notable considering Sirianni’s involvement, the opening it creates, and the first sign of green smoke from the NovaCare Complex this week. 

Here are five thoughts about the move:

1. The biggest takeaway is that Sirianni made the move, per a source, suggesting that Sirianni is the one reconfiguring the staff and that he’ll return next season. The Eagles have not made anything official, and perhaps they feel they don’t need to announce the news that somebody is staying. But it’s notable that Sirianni has not yet spoken publicly since Monday night while speculation about his future lingered last week and through the weekend. This would be a cryptic way to note his return, but it’s another sign suggesting Sirianni is returning.

Of course, an Eagles historian could point out that Jim Schwartz’s exit (purportedly on his terms) was announced before Doug Pederson’s dismissal in 2021. The Pederson and Sirianni situations are different, both with the state of the rosters and the life cycle of their tenures in Philadelphia. It certainly seems as if Sirianni is staying, but there’s still much to learn about what’s happening with the Eagles. It would be disingenuous for the organization to act as if there’s nothing to see here; the time to do that would have been in the 48 hours after the game. 

2. Assuming Sirianni remains head coach, the Eagles can now formally interview candidates to fill the defensive coordinator role. In the clumsy late-season coordinator change, the Eagles never actually adjusted titles. So as long as Desai filled the defensive coordinator role, they couldn’t bring in candidates to interview. There’s no overstating how significant this hire will be for Sirianni and the Eagles. They finished No. 29 in DVOA and badly need to fix that group, and the defensive coordinator should have autonomy under Sirianni. My guess is there are more staff changes on defense, so the coordinator could also help put together a group of assistants.

When Jonathan Gannon left in February, it was after the Super Bowl and many of the top candidates were off the board. (Had the Eagles known Gannon was leaving two weeks earlier, they could have tried to keep Vic Fangio from signing a contract in Miami.) The timing is more favorable for the Eagles to go big-name hunting. Bo Wulf will have a breakdown of potential candidates this week, and we went over buckets of coordinator types in Friday’s podcast:

The Eagles have personnel issues they must fix on defense, especially in the back seven. There’s attractive talent on the defensive line that must be developed and/or unlocked, and the Eagles have three picks in the first two rounds. There will be opportunities to add to the group.

My strong view is that they shouldn’t chase schemes. The scheme should be a factor in considering a candidate, but they should find the best defensive coordinator and let him design what fits the talent in the building. Hire a coach, not a scheme. 

3. Desai is now free to go elsewhere, which would have been a sensible way to go about it when the Eagles made the change in coordinator responsibilities last month. They instead tried keeping him and having him contribute to the defensive gameplans. So there was Desai at practice and in the booth during games, and it seemed almost unseemly on the organization’s part. The fact that the defense was even worse during the final four games and postseason might make Desai look better now than he did in Week 15 when the change was made. The best the Eagles played was with Desai, including the Miami and Kansas City games. 

Desai has been one-and-done in two coordinator stints, so it might be hard to reach that level. But he’s a smart coach who extracted more out of the talent than Matt Patricia did and showed an impressive high-water mark with a flawed roster.

Also of note: NFL Network reported Matt Patricia will pursue other opportunities with an expiring contract this year. That should not be a surprise.

4. Not to belabor a point that’s been made, but that coordinator change was a disastrous in-season decision that should require an organizational debriefing to determine how they could be so misguided. It seemed knee-jerk at the time after challenging games against San Francisco and Dallas, and it was odder to think that the seeds of the change came earlier. But to play as they did in four games under Patricia that should have been advantageous for the defense — Seattle with a backup quarterback, the Giants twice, and Arizona  — shows that the decision backfired. And the feedback from players reveals how convoluted it was even for them. 

“Trying to find two identities. It’s tough,” Darius Slay said. “It’s like having two marriages. You know how hard two marriages would be? …One might want her feet rubbed, one might want her shoulders rubbed. That’s crazy.”

Further, they should reexamine the conditions that led to hiring a defensive coordinator that they felt needed replacing after 13 games. The Eagles were No. 3 in DVOA in 2022 with a franchise-record 70 sacks. Dennard Wilson, who was a respected assistant in the locker room with strong credentials, interviewed to replace Gannon. The Eagles did not hire him. Wilson is now in Baltimore working with the NFL’s top defense, and he’ll be a coordinator candidate again during the next few weeks. He already interviewed with the Giants. Part of their analysis requires an honest understanding of why they bypassed continuity on defense while preserving it on offense, and why they didn’t think Wilson should take over.

5. So what’s next for the Eagles if Sirianni is back and the defensive coordinator job is open? A top priority is figuring out what’s happening with the offense. Brian Johnson interviewed with Atlanta, Carolina, and Tennessee. These were virtual interviews, with the next stage being in-person interviews. We’ll see if Johnson gets second meetings with those teams. 

Johnson’s status will be a major factor, and if he doesn’t get one of those jobs, the Eagles still have a decision about an offense that regressed and appeared less creative in 2023. It’s true that the offense is Sirianni’s even if Johnson is calling the plays, so the high-level discussions presumably include how to evaluate Johnson within that understanding. Then again, Shane Steichen operated within a similar structure. Johnson is a smart, ascending coach — there’s a reason he has these interviews — and the Eagles presumably will factor in the league’s view of him. But the offense needs better results.

NFL Network reported that Jim Bob Cooter, a former Eagles assistant who is currently the Colts offensive coordinator, could be an option if Johnson leaves. Cooter could only come with play-calling duties attached to the role because it would otherwise be a lateral move. The Eagles could also look to add a senior offensive assistant. At the least, I’d expect staff changes on that side of the ball. 

Stay tuned — it will be a busy week at the NovaCare Complex, which is fitting because last week was quieter than usual for the days after the season.