[ad_1]
Three years after the Eagles lost Super Bowl offensive coordinator Frank Reich to the Colts, they hired one of his best assistants to be their new head coach.
The Eagles are hiring 39-year-old Colts offensive coordinator Nick Sirianni to replace Doug Pederson, league sources have confirmed to NBC Sports Philadelphia. ESPN first reported the news.
Sirianni has spent the last three years coaching with Reich, who was Pederson’s offensive coordinator in 2016 and 2017.
In 2017, the year before Reich and Sirianni arrived in Indianapolis, the Colts went 4-12 and placed 30th in the NFL on points and 31st on yards under Chuck Pagano and offensive coordinator Rob Chudzinski, the former Browns head coach.
MORE: 5 things to know about Sirianni | Welcome, Nick: Now fix Wentz | Eagles fans react to hiring
In the past three years, the Colts have placed 5th, 16th and 9th in scoring and have reached the playoffs twice. During that three-year span, the Colts rank 8th in the NFL for points.
At 39, Sirianni becomes the Eagles’ second youngest head coach. Dick Vermeil was also 39, but four months younger than Sirianni when the Eagles hired him in 1976. Andy Reid was 40 when he was hired in 1999.
Sirianni is the fourth consecutive offensive head coach Jeff Lurie has hired, following Reid in 1999, Chip Kelly in 2013 and Pederson in 2016, and the seventh in a row with no head coaching experience.
The Eagles fired Pederson on January 11, just three years after the Eagles won the Super Bowl.
Sirianni’s biggest challenge will be trying to help Carson Wentz return to his 2017 form, as he was on track for NFL MVP honors by working with Reich ahead of his late-season knee injury. season against the Rams in Los Angeles.
Although Wentz played well without Reich in 2018 and 2019, he’s 17-21-1 since Reich left for Indianapolis and this last season ranked the worst or second worst in the NFL in virtually every major category. of passes.
Sirianni, who interviewed the Eagles on Tuesday, Jan.19, began his coaching career working with defensive backs in 2004 at his alma mater, the NCAA Division 3 powerhouse, Mount Union of Alliance, Ohio, then spent three years as a receivers coach. at Indiana University (Pa.) before joining the NFL in 2009 when Chiefs head coach Todd Haley hired him as an offensive quality control coach.
When Romeo Crennel replaced Haley in 2012 he promoted Sirianni to wide receivers coach and when Crennel was fired after the 2012 season Sirianni spent five years in various roles with the Chargers under Mike McCoy and Anthony Lynn. From 2013 to 2015, Sirianni worked alongside Reich, who left to join Pederson’s team in 2016.
Sirianni coached quarterbacks for the Chargers – most notably Philip Rivers – in 2014 and 2015 before moving to wide receivers in 2016.
When Reich got the Colts head coach job in 2018 after Josh McDaniels changed his mind, he hired Sirianni as the offensive coordinator.
Sirianni was among 10 candidates interviewed by the Eagles, alongside Panthers offensive coordinator Joe Brady, 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh, Titans offensive coordinator Arthur Smith, Patriots linebacker coach Inside Jerod Mayo, Eagles full back coach Duce Staley, Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, Buccaneers defensive coordinator Todd Bowles, Saints defensive coordinator Dennis Allen and Cowboys offensive coordinator Kellen Moore.
From that group, Saleh was named head coach of the Jets and Smith head coach of the Falcons.
Subscribe to the Eagle Eye podcast:
Apple Podcasts | Google Play | Spotify | Stitcher | Art19 | Watch on youtube
[ad_2]
Source link