Eagles' Nick Sirianni discusses replacing both coordinators: '[We] have great options in-house'

Sirianni says they will explore all options to replace both coordinators

In the last week, the Philadelphia Eagles lost the Super Bowl as well as their defensive coordinator and offensive coordinator. Defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon got the head coaching job with the Arizona Cardinals, while offensive coordinator Shane Steichen will be the new Indianapolis Colts head coach.

With both coordinators moving on, the Eagles become the first team in nearly 30 years to lose their offensive and defensive leaders after making it to the Super Bowl. The last team that it happened to was the San Francisco 49ers in 1994.

Gannon and Steichen helped the Eagles earn the top seed in the NFC and advance to Super Bowl LVII. Losing one coordinator can be difficult, but losing two after such a successful season means the team will have two major roles to fill.

Head coach Nick Sirianni addressed both coordinators leaving for head coaching jobs and noted that the team still has great coaches on its staff. He said they "have great options in-house" and "will look at every option."

He explained that Gannon and Steichen were as good as they were not only because of their own talents, but because of the coaches at all levels below them.

"From our position coaches to our coordinators all the way to our quality control coaches and assistant position coaches, I want them involved in everything and I try to give them things that helped me throughout my career and that's my job as head coach," Sirianni said (via NFL.com). "With that, Shane and Jonathan were successful not only because Shane and Jonathan are good football coaches but also because they have good assistants, and they have good people working with them. So I feel like we have a lot of good in-house options, which is always going to be where start because that's just always been how I've learned of grooming the people that you have and when this day happens you're ready to go."

While he says the Eagles already have qualified candidates, he admitted they will look outside of Philadelphia to ensure they set the team up for success. 

"But we won't stop just there. We will look at every option to make sure we're getting the best people in here to help our team. We're going to do what's best for the Philadelphia Eagles," Sirianni said.

As the head coach, Sirianni did not call the offensive plays, leaving that job for Steichen. Whomever the team picks next, he plans on following that same game plan. 

"It helps me manage the game better, in my opinion," Sirianni said, explaining why he does not take on the play-calling duties. "It helps me interact with the players more on the sideline and it helps me be able to discuss something with somebody upstairs. To get the defensive headset on when the offense is up and vice versa. Yes, that will be my intent, to let the next offensive coordinator call the game."

When looking for his next defensive coordinator, Sirianni says there are some "non-negotiables" when it comes to what the next person up plans to do with the squad that was top five in the league in 2022.

"There's core thought processes that I have on defense. Do I like a lot of the things that we're doing on there? Yes, I do," Sirianni said. "I really believe in the turnover differential, I really believe in that explosive-play differential, and so there's things of that nature of that defense that I like, and then there's going to be things situationally that are non-negotiables, I guess to say, with me whether it's third-and-long, tight red zone, two-minute, four-minute defense backed up, I'm going to naturally have things that I'm going to require the next defensive coordinator do, but I also know that I'm hiring somebody to do their job to the best of their abilities -- that's why I'm hiring them."

Even if the team finds someone at the same level as Gannon, the team will look different and Sirianni accepts that it will not be exactly the same.

"It's all going to look a little bit different, no matter if you bring Jonathan's twin brother in -- which he doesn't have -- but if you brought him in, it's still going to look a little different when that guy calls it as opposed to coach Gannon. So there's going to be little changes, differences, but again, I guess my long way of answering that is, I'm not opposed to changing, but I'm going to do what's best for the Eagles."

As far as a timeline, Sirianni wants "to get it done as soon as we can but not be in a rush," adding, "We need to be diligent because we need to be diligent."