Eagles look to bridge Nick Sirianni, Jalen Hurts divide
PHILADELPHIA -- The NovaCare Complex auditorium was packed. Philadelphia Eagles coaches, support staffers and even general manager Howie Roseman gathered alongside players, who were together for spring workouts.
With all eyes fixed on Nick Sirianni, who stood in front of the team, the beleaguered head coach decided to get -- as one team source in attendance said -- "super honest."
Sirianni's message was clear: Last year was on me, on my shoulders. I didn't get it done.
"He took full responsibility, that he felt he let the team down and didn't do a good enough job of empowering the players," the team source said. "It was passionate and from the heart."
For a coach seen as boisterous, emotional and, at times, brash, this was Sirianni at his vulnerable best. His goal was to show accountability, according to a team source, and stress the need for others to do the same if the Eagles were to correct what went wrong and move forward.
"It was a breath of fresh air," a second team source said of the moment. "It showed leadership."
The aftermath of last season's collapse all but required a response from Sirianni.
After the Eagles followed up a Super Bowl berth with a 10-1 start, the wheels quickly came off. They lost five of their last six regular-season games. Defenses reined in quarterback Jalen Hurts, who was in the first year of a landmark $255 million contract. Grumbling and sideline spats intensified, and the defending NFC champions were eliminated in the wild-card round by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
"Even when we were 10-1, everyone was walking around like their dog died," a team source said. "All year, instead of having fun playing, it was like, 'Oh my gosh, we lost the Super Bowl.'"
Things were off, including between the head coach and quarterback. ESPN spoke with several sources who detailed a prolonged strain between Hurts and Sirianni during the 2023 campaign, with one source with direct knowledge of the dynamic describing the relationship as "fractured" and unhealthy last season. At the root of the divide: a disconnect in offensive visions, with what a team source described as a lack of full respect for Sirianni's X's and O's chops.
With the 2024 season on the horizon, there is hope new offensive coordinator Kellen Moore can "bridge the gap between the two" as one source close to Hurts put it. Both Hurts and Sirianni made efforts to take accountability and mend fences this offseason, but their next stress test will have Sirianni coaching for his job and Hurts fighting to reclaim MVP form on a team desperate to return to the Super Bowl.
IT TOOK JUST one awkward non-answer from Hurts to cast fresh doubt on whether a wound was fully healed after the turmoil of the 2023 season.
Addressing the media on the final day of minicamp in early June, Hurts was asked about Sirianni:
What have you noticed about Nick being open-minded to change up the offense like he has? What does that say about him?
Hurts, who learned how to de-thorn even the most pointed queries during his time at Alabama under Nick Saban, offered a response that could be seen as a match to kindling.
"Um," he said, followed by a pause and a short closed-mouth laugh. "I mean, that's a great question. I don't know that I know the answer to it."
That was enough to kick up six weeks of speculation during the run-up to training camp: Is the Hurts-Sirianni relationship in a bad place? If so, what does it mean for the 2024 season?
Although both have a thirst for competition and greatness, Hurts is considered more reserved, sometimes internalizing conflict -- while Sirianni's style is to be direct with conflict, according to a team source. That dynamic presents challenges when the two interact, team sources say.
"There was never a moment last year where they were operating in a healthy relationship," one source with direct knowledge of the situation said.
A separate team source wouldn't go that far, citing two people trying to navigate a challenging season, but noted that there were tense moments between the two. Sirianni and Hurts declined interview requests from ESPN for this story via a team spokesperson.
Following Philly's Super Bowl run at the end of the 2022 season, offensive coordinator Shane Steichen left to coach the Indianapolis Colts. He was replaced by quarterbacks coach Brian Johnson, whose relationship with Hurts dates back more than two decades. Hurts' father, Averion, was a coach at Robert E. Lee High School in Baytown, Texas, in the early 2000s when Johnson played there.
On the surface, it seemed Johnson's promotion would be seamless. But it quickly became apparent Johnson and Hurts were on a different page than Sirianni, who wanted to keep his scheme largely the same under the premise of "ifit ain't broke, don't fix it." Hurts, now a bona fide franchise quarterback, was looking for greater authority over the offense, according to two sources close to him. He and Johnson wanted the system to evolve and become more layered, team sources said.
"When Brian got [promoted], I think he thought, 'I could do the thing that I've wanted to do,'" a team source said. "That didn't fly as much with Nick."
Sirianni's history with Johnson was not as extensive as it was with Steichen, who coached alongside Sirianni for two seasons with the Los Angeles Chargers.
Following the Super Bowl run, Sirianni dug in. He got more hands-on last season and took more control, including holding private meetings with Hurts, a team source said. While head coach-quarterback meetings are not uncommon and something Sirianni had done before, the source believed, in this case they muddled the staff's ability to convey one consistent message to the quarterback.
The Hurts-Sirianni dynamic does not work as well when it's one-to-one, a team source said, requiring a third party to be prominently involved for the offense to run at a high level. "Nick can press on you," a source close to Sirianni said.
Johnson was the playcaller, but Sirianni would make his presence felt, sometimes overruling Johnson in real time, as he did on a critical third-and-long play against the Washington Commanders in Week 4, when Johnson wanted to pass and Sirianni dialed up a run, which didn't pan out. The line was blurred enough that some offensive players didn't know for sure who was calling the plays, a team source told ESPN in January.
The Eagles' run-pass option attack was a staple under trusted offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland. And the Eagles had good enough personnel to overcome schematic challenges, at least for a while. But as multiple rival coaches pointed out, the Eagles essentially "rolled the ball out" and expected to win when it came to their scheme, to which defenses adjusted. As offenses leaguewide rely increasingly on motions and shifts before the snap to misdirect opponents, the 2023 Eagles posted a 10.9% pre-snap motion rate, last in the league and 11% lower than the league average. Despite the 10-1 start, the Eagles' 42-19 loss to San Francisco on Dec. 3 was the beginning of a trend. Philadelphia scored fewer than 20 points in five of their last seven games, including playoffs.
Eagles coaches tried to find common ground. During the season, Sirianni and Johnson held a meeting with Hurts and urged him to open up more to teammates, according to a team source. "I just think they sensed the vibe was off overall," the source said. The source noted that Hurts did make efforts to speak up, either with teammates or requests for tweaks within the offense. "It's not his personality to make demands," the source said. The Eagles kept winning, albeit in shaky fashion.
Johnson got stuck in what team sources describe as an awkward spot trying to please a multitude of people in the building with conflicting viewpoints, most notably Hurts and Sirianni. The result was a watered-down version of Johnson, who was regarded around the league as a head coach in waiting. "He lost his identity," a close observer said.
A LOSS AT the Seattle Seahawks in mid-December on "Monday Night Football" -- the Eagles' third straight -- was the beginning of the end. Down 20-17 with 13 seconds left and in possession of the ball near midfield, the Eagles needed an intermediate gain to get in field goal range. Instead, Hurts attempted a downfield throw to receiver A.J. Brown that was intercepted by defensive back Julian Love.
Sirianni took heat, which only intensified when he said part of the thinking was that they were hoping to draw a pass interference call -- a bizarre explanation that drew even more criticism. But it proved to be cover for his QB and receiver. Brown revealed he and Hurts "improvised" and "went on our own" on the play.
While sources with knowledge of the situation say it did not happen all the time, it was a prime example of Hurts deviating from the script.
"What was taught was not necessarily what was relayed in the moment," a team source said. "He wanted to add to it, like, 'It's not quite enough, let me add to this.'"
"Jalen doesn't give Nick enough credit," the source added. "A lot of what we do well does stem from Nick."
One team source described it as Hurts trying to play "hero ball." Another put it this way: "He was trying to prove he was worth $250 million every throw."
Even the lone win during that slide -- a 33-25 home victory over the New York Giants on Christmas Day -- did little to lift team spirit. As the locker room opened to reporters, Hurts and receiver DeVonta Smith were locked in a serious discussion near the receiver stalls, with Hurts doing most of the talking. "Yeah, we got 11 wins. I'm not happy," Smith told reporters. "It needs to be better for what I want to do, what everybody else in here wants to do, what we want to be. We're nowhere near that, so no, I'm not happy."
Brown declined to speak with the media, offering: "I was taught that if I have nothing good to say about something, to not say anything at all."
Having been raised by a football coach, showing respect and deference toward his coaches is high atop the priority list for Hurts, a source close to him said, but there's no greater pull than his will to win.
Hurts' desired direction for the offense did not materialize over the course of the 2023 season, which became a source of disappointment. He believed the Eagles were overly reliant on vertical routes and not utilizing short-to-intermediate throws, particularly over the middle of the field where Brown has thrived in his career, a source close to Hurts said. His hope was things would change as the Eagles began to lose games, but the change never came.
Counteracting the way defenses were attacking them proved problematic, particularly when it came to the blitz. Hurts' numbers against extra rushers dropped almost across the board from the season prior. Most notably, he threw the most interceptions in the league against the blitz in 2023 (8) and went from ninth to 30th in touchdown rate (2.7%).
No team turned up the heat more than the Giants. Hurts was blitzed on 68% of his dropbacks in Week 16 against New York and 63% in the rematch Week 18 -- the two highest blitz rates against Hurts in his career. He went 5-of-11 (46%) for 41 yards with an interception against the blitz while posting a season-low QBR of 5.3 in a dispiriting 27-10 loss to the Giants in Week 18. Making matters worse, Hurts dislocated the middle finger on his throwing hand when his hand hit the helmet of a rushing linebacker Bobby Okereke.
With the playoffs approaching and the hunt for improvement unending, Hurts made an unusual move. He called former Giants defensive coordinator Wink Martindale, who had parted ways with New York following Week 18.
"I've been doing this for 40 years," said Martindale, now the defensive coordinator at the University of Michigan, "and it's the first time I've had an opposing quarterback call me up. I thought it was pretty cool that the guy called. It shows you what kind of pro he really is. He's just looking at every angle that he can to get better."
The phone call lasted about half an hour, Martindale told ESPN. They discussed weaknesses in Philadelphia's protection and how New York tried to game-plan him.
"It was very effective and he knew it, and he just wanted to know why we did certain things that we did. Then he went to work on that," Martindale said.
But things were too far gone for the Eagles by that point. They were dismantled 32-9 by the Bucs on Jan. 15 in the wild-card round.
"They weren't committed to the run," Martindale said of the Eagles' offense down the stretch. "They weren't committed to the quarterback runs. They were trying to throw the ball a little but too much on early downs, which put them behind the sticks. That's when defenses can go to work."
The collapse now complete, questions about Sirianni's job security hit full throat.
"Do you want Nick back?" a reporter asked Hurts.
"I didn't know he was going anywhere," Hurts responded.
More than a week went by before it was made clear Sirianni would return as coach. During that time, the front office discussed hiring legendary coach Bill Belichick. They ultimately decided to stick by Sirianni, who has a 34-17 record as head coach and has led the Eagles to three playoff appearances in as many seasons. By the time he addressed the media on Jan. 24, both of his coordinators had been fired. And after shaping the scheme over his first three seasons, Sirianni, sitting next to Roseman at their delayed end-of-year news conference, made it known that his new OC would be "in charge" of the offense moving forward.
SIRIANNI HAS BEEN bold in his attempts to fix it all, multiple team sources said.
In hiring former Dallas Cowboys and Chargers offensive coordinator Kellen Moore, Sirianni has assumed "much more" of a hands-off approach to the offense and given Hurts more space.
Interactions between Sirianni and Hurts during practice this spring and summer have appeared limited. While Moore shepherds the offense -- a walkie-talkie in hand to call in the plays to the quarterback -- Sirianni bounces from station to station.
In one training camp practice in late July, Sirianni spent time with players on offense, defense and special teams. He walked and talked with defensive coordinator Vic Fangio, spent time with quarterbacks coach Doug Nussmeier and passing game coordinator Kevin Patullo and observed some team drills alongside Roseman. His presence was felt the most during situational team drills; Sirianni grabbed his bullhorn, as he's done in the past, and shouted out the down and distance.
There was only one observed moment between Sirianni and Hurts -- a high-five initiated by Sirianni as the two passed by one another when Hurts was on his way to the huddle.
There have been other outward displays that suggest the relationship is in a better place, including on Monday when Hurts and Sirianni drove around the field on a golf cart together, both smiling as they took a lap in front of the media and some fans before heading out of sight.
"I think we're in a great place," Hurts said at the start of training camp. "I think any time you have any frustration, any time you have any adversity that you have to overcome, it's supposed to test you. It's a matter of being on the same page. If we were on the same page, we maybe would have accomplished the things we would have [last season], and we didn't, and that's a learning experience."
Team sources say while Sirianni attends meetings with the entire offense, he's not a fixture in the quarterback room and relies more heavily on Moore to handle the operation than he did with Johnson.
He has prioritized team leadership and camaraderie, meeting frequently with different groups of players, casually or formally.
"He's been poking his head into the rooms," Brown said. "He kind of makes the young guys uncomfortable when he comes into the wide receiver room ... because he's just holding everybody accountable. It's new. Our guys only see the wide receiver coach most of the time. When you see the head coach come in there, they're just like, 'Uh-oh.' They sit up straight and everything. It's kind of funny."
These are changes that one source close to Sirianni said happened organically, as part of the coach's self-reflection.
"Last year it was, Nick was going to do what Nick was going to do," said a team source about the Eagles' offense. "It looks like he's trying to change that."
Multiple sources believe Hurts "absolutely" tuned out Sirianni at points last season, and that Hurts, as a leader, will need to improve on a habit of shutting people out when frustrated.
"Quarterbacks need to feel coaches are superior or else they're running everything," a team source said.
With Moore, the line of delineation has been clearer to this point, according to a team source. Moore flatly corrects Hurts when he misses a read or goes to the wrong place with the ball, the source said. That, coupled with Moore's confidence in what he's teaching and the detail of his presentation -- notably, the increase in pre-snap motion and answers for the blitz -- has helped lead to buy-in among the players, including Hurts.
The rush of fame and fortune following the Super Bowl run proved challenging for Hurts, who was 24 years old at the time, a source close to him said. The source added that Hurts is now in "redemption mode," with multiple sources describing a motivated player who has been focused on self-improvement this offseason.
The boom-bust potential of this season is massive. Roseman has assembled arguably the best skill position group in team history led by Hurts, Brown, Smith and offseason splash signing Saquon Barkley. The Eagles invested in the defensive backfield, a major area of weakness in 2023, both in free agency and the draft. That, coupled with the hires of Moore and Fangio, could steer Philadelphia back to the top of the NFC.
A major question following last season's tailspin, however, is how the team will react when adversity hits, and how Sirianni will navigate it. Some close observers of the coaching landscape already have Philadelphia circled as an opening barring a strong showing by the team in 2024. Sirianni and Roseman have a good relationship and work closely together, but there's little question as to which is on stronger footing when it comes to job security.
As it is across the NFL, a coach's fate is largely tied to the quarterback.
Though less frequent than when Sirianni was deeply involved in the offense, the interactions between Hurts and his head coach have been markedly more positive this offseason, team sources say.
"Do I think they will go to dinner together? Hell no," a team source said. "But it can be a good working professional relationship, and I don't think it's hatred."
