Eagles’ Coach and Quarterback Relationship Under Scrutiny
The Philadelphia Eagles’ 2023 season was marked by a tumultuous relationship between head coach Nick Sirianni and franchise quarterback Jalen Hurts. Despite a strong start, the team imploded late in the season, losing five of their last six regular-season games and getting eliminated in the wild-card round of the playoffs.
According to ESPN’s Tim McManus and Jeremy Fowler, Sirianni’s hands-on nature with the offense led to mixed messages between him and offensive coordinator Brian Johnson. This caused Johnson to shelve his own plans for the offense to make both Sirianni and Hurts happy. However, Hurts wasn’t happy, and may not have been for most of the season.
One factor was the enormous $255 million contract extension Hurts signed prior to the 2023 season. A team source reportedly summed up the situation to ESPN, saying, "He was trying to prove he was worth $250 million every throw." This mindset can lead to failure, and it’s no surprise that Hurts got desperate to make things work.
In his quest to fix what ailed him and the Eagles, Hurts reportedly called defensive coordinator Wink Martindale, who had recently parted ways with the New York Giants. Martindale was surprised but impressed by Hurts’ willingness to do something so unorthodox. Whatever Hurts took from that call didn’t appear to help him or the Eagles when the playoffs started, as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers wiped the floor with them in the wild-card round.
Despite the disaster that was the end of the 2023 season, the tone and attitude at training camp have already reportedly improved. Sirianni has been much more hands-off with new offensive coordinator Kellen Moore and getting more involved in other areas as a CEO coach should. He has also reportedly prioritized "team leadership and camaraderie, meeting frequently with different groups of players, casually or formally."
Will it work? Will it last? We won’t really know until they face the Green Bay Packers in Brazil on September 6 to open their season. At the very least, it needs to work well enough to prevent Hurts from getting so desperate that he calls someone like ex-Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett for advice.
