Eagles Coordinators Could Generate Interest on NFL Coaching Carousel

PHILADELPHIA - The unintended consequence of an unexpected Eagles run to the postseason could be in-demand coordinators.

At least that's the scuttlebutt around the NFL where both Jonathan Gannon and Shane Steichen have been tabbed as potential future head coaches.

With HC interviews set to start soon, a good emptying notebook convo on @GMFB with @TomPelissero ... The 6 names we mentioned:

Packers OC Nathaniel Hackett
Eagles DC Jonathan Gannon
Bills DC Leslie Frazier
Rams DC Raheem Morris
Bengals OC Brian Callahan
Cowboys DC Dan Quinn
— Peter Schrager (@PSchrags) December 27, 2021

The league has also made a tweak to its annual coaching carousel for this hiring cycle, implementing a one-year trial period which allows teams with head-coaching vacancies, or those who inform potential lame ducks that Week 18 is it for them, the opportunity to interview potential candidates from other teams in-season beginning Tuesday morning.

The goal from the league's perspective is to try to eliminate what has been a punishment in the past for qualified candidates from good teams who make deep playoff runs: the natural sense of urgency from those organizations looking to make decisions quickly as perceived "hot" options are removed from the board.

Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni was asked specifically about Gannon earlier this week when his name made the shortlist on NFL Media.

“I think Jonathan would be an awesome head coach,” Sirianni said while weighing if he should add some levity to what can be an awkward attempt to serve the two masters any candidate often faces: ambition vs. loyalty.

“I really wouldn't want to make a joke right there and be like, ‘He'd be terrible,’" Sirianni smiled when discussing his DC. "Because I really want to keep him here because I think so highly of him.

"But I think he would be awesome, again, for the same reasons that I hired him to be the defensive coordinator would be the same reasons I think he would be a really good head coach.”

Gannon was less receptive to anything other than being in the moment when asked about potential opportunities by SI.com's Eagle Maven.

"Honestly I haven't really talked to Nick about that," Gannon said. "In the offseason, we talked about it a little bit but. ... I appreciate the question but guys come on now, we're fighting to get into the dance.

"I always talk to our players about 'be where you're feet are' and what that means is I'm not thinking about the future, I'm not thinking about the past, I'm thinking about Washington so that's my sole focus with that."

The Eagles can clinch a playoff berth on Sunday by beating the WFT coupled with a Minnesota loss at Green Bay and either a San Francisco win at Houston or a New Orleans loss at Carolina.

Steichen expressed a similar sentiment but one that acknowledged the realities of the current system.

"All our focus right now is on Washington and if those opportunities present themselves great, but right now our focus is on Washington," the OC said. "I told the offense last week going into the game 'it ain't about what you want it's about what your willing to do to go get it,' and we got something to get as a football team right now."

Right now only two teams have moved on and are eligible for the head start, Las Vegas and Jacksonville.

The Jags have already asked to interview Byron Leftwich and Todd Bowles, the coordinators of the reigning Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and a host of other candidates, including both Dallas coordinators, Kellen Moore and Dan Quinn, and Indianapolis DC Matt Eberflus.

The Jags also plan to interview former Eagles coach Doug Pederson.

Jaguars also have requested permission to talk to Bucs’ DC Todd Bowles, per source. So Jacksonville is interested in both Bucs’ coordinators. https://t.co/0X0teLCV9A
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) December 28, 2021

That's because success breeds opportunity in NFL coaching circles.

Former Eagles coach and future Hall of Fame mentor Andy Reid is already legendary for his coaching tree and when the Eagles won Super Bowl LII with a head-coaching fruit picked from that tree in Pederson, the organization was quickly raided of offensive coordinator Frank Reich, who became the head coach in Indianapolis and quarterbacks coach John DiFilippo, who got the offensive coordinator job in Minnesota.

This time around, Gannon, 38, has put together a unit that has rebounded after a slow start and is now in the top 10 of nearly every meaningful defensive category.

#Eagles 2021 NFL Defensive Rankings:

Yards/Game . . . 320.2 (5th)
Yards/Play . . . 5.0 (3rd)
Rush Yards/Game . . . 104.6 (9th)
Yards/Rush . . . 3.9 (4th)
Pass Yards/Game . . . 215.6 (9th)
Yards/Attempt . . . 6.2 (6th)
3-and-Out % . . . 35.0% (4th)
Defensive TDs . . . 5 (2nd) pic.twitter.com/TROzq4GKNN
— John Gonoude (@john_gonoude) December 27, 2021

Steichen, meanwhile, has helped Sirianni build an explosive offense around a first-time starting quarterback in Jalen Hurts.

#Eagles Offensive Rankings Since Week 8:

Points/Game . . . 29.9 (2nd)
Yards/Game . . . 380.0 (3rd)
Rush Yards/Game . . . 203.9 (1st)
3rd-Down Efficiency . . . 50.0% (1st)
Scoring Efficiency . . . 51.2% (1st)
Explosive Plays . . . 87 (1st)#FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/lwK8vJTpsl
— John Gonoude (@john_gonoude) December 27, 2021

“Obviously, when people on your staff and people in the building are getting opportunities like that or get mentioned like that, that means you're doing some good things,” Sirianni said. “And so that's the plan. That's what you always want as a coach, for your coaches to get the opportunities because you've been doing well."

A rookie head coach himself Sirianni obviously wants to keep the band together and probably didn't think the potential sharks would be circling so soon but Gannon's "be where you're feet are" sentiment can strike both ways when the phone call comes.

Then you have to serve the two masters.

“The way I would handle it is similar to kind of – I guess I go back to those situations I went through," Sirianni said. "I always wanted to make sure, obviously, that I got my work done for the team that I was currently working for before I did anything to get ready for any head coaching opportunities.”

-John McMullen contributes Eagles coverage for SI.com's EagleMaven and is the NFL Insider for JAKIB Media. You can listen to John, alongside legendary sports-talk host Jody McDonald every morning from 8-10 on ‘Birds 365,” streaming live on both PhillyVoice.com and YouTube. John is also the host of his own show "Extending the Play" on AM1490 in South Jersey. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen

Ed Kracz is the publisher of SI.com’s Eagle Maven and co-host of the Eagles Unfiltered Podcast. Check out the latest Eagles news at www.SI.com/NFL/Eagles or www.eaglemaven.com and please follow him on Twitter: @kracze.