Eagles Reportedly Fire Sean Desai
Sean Desai has been shown the door.
According to a report from Ian Rapoport of NFL Network that was confirmed by Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer, Nick Sirianni fired Sean Desai following the Eagles’ historic late-season collapse that resulted in a fall from a 10-1 start to an 11-6 finish, entering the playoffs as the number 5 seed, and losing to the NFC South Champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the wild card round.
Desai had play calling responsibilities stripped after the Eagles lost two straight games to the San Francisco 49ers and the Dallas Cowboys. Though he wasn’t calling plays and did not have final say on defensive matters according to Sirianni, he did retain the title of defensive coordinator for the remainder of the season.
“[I] didn’t feel like we were playing and coaching well enough on defense,” Sirianni said at the time, “so I made an adjustment. It was my decision and that’s what I did.”
That Sirianni did the firing is significant. Rumors of Sirianni’s looming firing were running rampant at the season’s end. This would have been historic, as Sirianni is the only Eagles coach to secure playoff appearances in each of his first three seasons with the team. If Sirianni’s involvement in Desai’s firing is true, this is a strong indicator that Sirianni will return for the 2024 season.
Desai’s firing does not bode well for Senior Defensive Assistant Matt Patricia, who took over play calling from Desai. The Eagles under Patricia dropped four of their last five, including the wild card round game, and there has been rampant speculation that Patricia will be fired too.
The Eagles offense also came under intense scrutiny after running a blasé and inconsistent offensive scheme, a fact publicly exposed by 49ers Running Back Christian McCaffrey during the Eagles’ matchup against the Seahawks when he correctly called one of the plays the Eagles ran before they ran it. Though Sirianni designs the offense according to a comment by Eagles Insider Dave Spadaro on the r/eagles subreddit, Offensive Coordinator Brian Johnson called the plays.
“This is Nick’s offense, with input from the coaching staff,” Spadaro said. “They put together the game plan during the week and then Brian knows where to go, what bed of options to call, in certain situations.”
Johnson has been under consideration for several head coaching jobs with other teams, according to various reports. The Eagles likely will not make a decision on Johnson until after those positions are known.
No official announcement has been made by the Eagles on these changes. A request for comment sent outside of working hours was not immediately returned, and neither Sirianni nor other Eagles executives have met with the media since the Eagles’ playoff loss to the Buccaneers. According to NFL media access policies, the Eagles have to hold a news conference with some combination of the head coach, general manager, and other top executives within one week of the end of the season. If Sirianni holds the press conference, it could be considered a tacit confirmation that he will return.
