Eagles' Offensive Staff Want to be Top-of-the-Line Tailors
PHILADELPHIA - One thing Nick Sirianni was able to help Frank Reich do in Indianapolis was build offenses around three distinctly different quarterbacks.
Circumstance forced the unexpected move from Andrew Luck to Jacoby Brissett and the desire to make a run as a playoff contender in 2020 resulted in a shift toward veteran Philip Rivers for the last season of his career.
Through it all, the Colts were at least competent offensively despite any obvious commonalities between the guys pulling the trigger on the field.
Now that Sirianni is the head coach in Philadelphia, a consistent theme has been being malleable to the talent at your disposal. Both of Sirianni's top lieutenants, defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon and offensive chief Shane Steichen, echoed that sentiment on Thursday.
Steichen is essentially what Sirianni was to Reich in Indy and what Reich was to Doug Pederson with the Eagles.
The former OC with the Chargers, who worked with Sirianni previously in Southern California, will run the day-to-day offensive meetings and help build the game plan before Sirianni serves as the play-caller on game days.
For now, it's a feeling-out process for everyone especially with the further limitations on offseason work which will now include no mandatory minicamp, team drills, or even 7-on-7 work in OTAs.
It's truly become a classroom in the spring now, something that's probably not optimal for a new coaching staff. That said, one of the reasons the Eagles shifted to a younger staff is to find a group more willing to embrace the current environment.
Old-school football people (full disclosure: count me among them) often lament the limitations of the modern generation of the game but the new school that isn't as tethered to old ways is often more willing to accept any restriction and make the best of it.
The real on-field work will start in late July so Steichen and the Eagles' staff is doing everything it can to optimize the time it does have with the players.
“I think when you go into a new situation, new team, you’ve got to find out about your players, you really do,” said Steichen. “I think you go through that process virtually, but then when you really get them on the grass like we have been the last couple days and see their movements and their skills and see what these guys do well, you want to put them in position to make plays."
Players often have to adapt and evolve to be successful but that's probably even more important for coaches.
"They have to be who they are,” Steichen said of the players. “You’re not going to change them personality-wise. These guys are who they are, and you’ve got to adapt to that. You can teach them and grow with them in their personalities, but I think you’ve got to let them be who they are and let them go play.”
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Sirianni and Steichen are like any other offensive coaches in that they are not going to advertise the game plans or play-calling plans but they both seem genuine when revealing that everything is a work in progress.
“I think through time, through these next couple weeks and into training camp, that offense is going to be molded," Steichen explained.
And the goal is to be top-of-the-line clothiers by tailoring like magicians.
"We’re going to tailor that to these players,” Steichen insisted.
That starts with the quarterback and despite a reluctance to anoint a young signal-caller like Jalen Hurts, the Eagles are moving forward with the idea that the second-year player will be under center in Atlanta Week 1.
“Jalen has done a nice job, obviously, the last couple days we’ve had him on the grass, but he’s done a nice job throughout the process, especially on the Zoom [meetings]," said Steichen. "He works at it. He does a lot of good things on the grass like I said, and obviously, he brings a good skill set that you can do multiple things with him, so we’re excited about him.”
Both right tackle Lane Johnson and running back Miles Sanders foreshadowed more focus on the screen game, perhaps in an effort to make things a little easier for a QB with four career starts and a directive to improve a less-than-stellar completion percentage. Steichen added play-action into the mix as well.
“Anytime you can get the ball out of the quarterback’s hands quickly and create explosive plays in the screen game, that’s big,” the OC said. “And obviously the play-action game is big, too."
That said, Steichen insisted things will be fluid from week to week.
Maybe the Washington Football Team's dominant front will require a more conservative approach than say a rebuilding defense in Dallas that still needs to find playmakers.
“When you go into games, things are going to be different week in and week out," Steichen assessed. "It’s your opponent. Who are you playing? What do they do on defense? What are the coverage techniques? What fronts they are playing?
"Your scheme each week can be multiple by who you’re playing.”
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 and please follow him on Twitter: @kracze.
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