Amid growing indications that the Philadelphia Eagles plan to retain Nick Sirianni as their coach even after their season came undone in the late stages, the remaking of Sirianni’s staff could include a role for former Washington Commanders coach Ron Rivera.
Rivera is expected to be a candidate for the Eagles’ defensive coordinator job, two people familiar with the NFL hiring process said Monday. One of those people said Rivera interviewed for the position Monday.
The Commanders fired Rivera following a 4-13 season. He is a former defensive coordinator for the Chicago Bears and the Chargers, then based in San Diego. Rivera called the Commanders’ defensive plays beginning in November, after he fired coordinator Jack Del Rio, and near the end of his tenure in Washington, he hinted that he might want a coordinator-type role going forward.
Advertisement
“Getting back and doing the defensive coordinator stuff was a thrill, it really was,” he said before the Commanders’ Week 18 game.
Rivera has had discussions within the league related to prospective defensive coordinator jobs, one of those people with knowledge of the NFL hiring process said. Rivera has ties to the Eagles organization; he was the team’s linebackers coach from 1999 to 2003, working for Coach Andy Reid.
The Eagles reportedly are firing Sean Desai as their defensive coordinator. Sirianni made senior defensive assistant Matt Patricia the team’s defensive play caller in the season’s late stages in what amounted to a demotion for Desai. Patricia, the former coach of the Detroit Lions, reportedly is not expected to remain with the Eagles.
The Eagles did not respond to a request for comment about Rivera’s candidacy or Sirianni’s status. Sirianni reportedly met last week with Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie. Philadelphia is poised to retain Sirianni with changes to his coaching staff, one of the people familiar with the leaguewide hiring process said. It is not clear whether the Eagles will retain Brian Johnson as their offensive coordinator.
Advertisement
The team scheduled a season-ending news conference for Wednesday with Sirianni and General Manager Howie Roseman. The maneuvering with Sirianni’s staff and the scheduling of that news conference added to the signals that the Eagles are retaining Sirianni on the heels of a season in which they started 10-1 but lost five of their final six regular season games, then fell to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the opening round of the NFC playoffs at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa.
The Dallas Cowboys likewise decided last week not to dismiss Mike McCarthy as their coach following their first-round playoff defeat to the Green Bay Packers. The decisions by the Cowboys and Eagles to stand pat leave the NFL with eight teams making coaching changes this offseason, barring any other firings.
The Eagles reached the Super Bowl last year in Sirianni’s second season as their coach. But they lost that game to the Kansas City Chiefs.
Lurie appears poised to opt against launching the same sort of organizational reset that he and Roseman oversaw after Lurie dismissed the franchise’s Super Bowl-winning former coach, Doug Pederson, following the 2020 season.
Advertisement
Despite that move with Pederson, Lurie does not have a reputation within the league for being impatient or impulsive. He once stuck with Reid as the team’s coach through many playoff disappointments. And now he seems likely to stick with Sirianni following their conversations.
Sirianni lost both his coordinators to head coaching jobs last offseason. The Indianapolis Colts hired offensive coordinator Shane Steichen, and the Arizona Cardinals hired defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon. Sirianni promoted Johnson from quarterbacks coach to offensive coordinator. He went outside the organization to bring in Desai, then a Seattle Seahawks assistant, as the defensive coordinator.
Sirianni made a bold in-season change to his coaching staff when he handed the defensive play-calling duties last month to Patricia. But that move backfired as the team’s defensive performance, if anything, worsened. The Eagles allowed 29 second-half points in a Dec. 31 loss to the Cardinals and missed tackles repeatedly during their playoff defeat to the Buccaneers.
In three seasons under Sirianni, the Eagles have a regular season record of 34-17, have made the playoffs three times and reached the Super Bowl last season before falling to the Chiefs, 38-35.
Advertisement
The Eagles hired Sirianni, then a relatively low-profile offensive coordinator for the Colts, after Lurie decided to oust Pederson following a 2020 season in which the team went 4-11-1. The Eagles traded Carson Wentz to the Colts the same offseason to officially entrust the starting quarterback job to Hurts. Sirianni and Hurts combined to get the Eagles rapidly back to top-contender status.
Six NFL teams are searching for new head coaches: the Carolina Panthers, Los Angeles Chargers, Atlanta Falcons, Commanders, Seahawks and Tennessee Titans.
The New England Patriots parted ways with Bill Belichick but utilized the succession plan written into linebackers coach Jerod Mayo’s contract to move quickly to promote him to coach the following day. The Las Vegas Raiders hired Antonio Pierce, who had served as their interim coach for the final nine games of the season.
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7uK3SoaCnn6Sku7G70q1lnKedZMCxu9GtqmhqYGeBcHyQaGlrZ6Kku26%2ByK%2Bcq5ldmq6ouMSsZJ2bXai2s7XAp6WiZw%3D%3D