Eagles' OC Search: Kevin Patullo Vs. The Field

PHILADELPHIA - Kellen Moore returned from New Orleans Monday as a Super Bowl champion.

On Tuesday the former Eagles’ offensive coordinator finalized the worst kept secret over the past week in the Big Easy when Moore agreed to become the new head coach of the Saints.

Kellen Moore will be the 19th head coach in franchise history ⚜️

Story: https://t.co/i87IOfxeWa pic.twitter.com/tcnjEYhRd8
— New Orleans Saints (@Saints) February 11, 2025

Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie foreshadowed that very result after the Eagles’ dominating 40-22 win over the Kansas City Chiefs netted the franchise its second Super Bowl championship.

“I do,” Lurie admitted when asked if he expected to lose Moore. “Kellen, very smart coach, was able to adapt our offense week to week, the way it needed to be to win games. And he’s a wonderful person.

“…Unfortunately, we’re going to have to wish him the best with New Orleans.”

Speaking to the nomadic nature of the coaching profession Moore’s move to New Orleans will be his fourth stop in four years from his final season as the OC in Dallas, a one-year sojourn with lame-duck LA Chargers coach Brandon Staley, and his one-for-one performance in Philadelphia where things didn’t go as advertised before Moore proved his mettle as a coach by shifting gears and building a system similar to the one Nick Sirianni has employed since Week 8 of the 2021 season.

In-house, the move signals the start of the search for Moore’s replacement although that work has been going on behind the scenes since it became evident that Moore was the frontrunner for the Saints.

The deepest playoff run possible for the Eagles means the “hot” outside candidates have been picked over making the most likely scenario staying in-house where associate head coach/passing game coordinator and longtime Sirianni consigliere Kevin Patullo.

The scheme police will be out in force to question that decision because the move from Shane Steichen to Brian Johnson in 2023 didn’t work out.

Ironically the Eagles’ offense finished No. 8 in the NFL in both 2023 and 2024 and was far more effective passing the football under Johnson despite Moore being sold as more creative.

The attempt was to evolve the offense in the spring, summer and early season before scaling back at the Week 5 bye to an offense that was very similar to the previous Sirianni incarnations only rebranded.

However, selling any offensive scheme or mindset should be easier coming off a Super Bowl championship.

The other spin with Moore was the fact that he was a veteran play-caller and Patullo has never called plays although the latter has had a front-row seat to Sirianni, Shane Steichen, Johnson, and Moore during his time with the Eagles.

As passing game coordinator Patullo has also worked closely with quarterback Jalen Hurts.

It’s also conceivable that Sirianni values Patullo too much to surrender him to the daily grind of OC, something that would force Patullo to give up some of his administrative duties.

In New Orleans, Patullo verbalized a desire for the job and Sirianni should now have carte blanche to build the staff the way he wants after a Super Bowl championship season.

The Eagles have been prepared for losing Moore and have a list of candidates in mind over a full interview process, one that owner Jeffrey Lurie and Howie Roseman will help with before Sirianni makes a decision.

According to NFL sources, two potential candidates the Eagles would have had interest in made their decisions for 2025.

Nate Scheelhaase, who interviewed with the Eagles last season when the job went to Moore, agreed to return to the Los Angeles Rams, and former Minnesota assistant QBs coach Grant Udinski got the Jacksonville Jaguars OC job.

Others who could be in the mix are LA Chargers passing game coordinator Marcus Brady, who was an Eagles consultant in 2022 and senior offensive assistant in 2023, Vikings QBs coach Josh McCown and Sirianni mentor and 2016-17 Eagles OC Frank Reich, although those names are just speculatory.

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