Shane Steichen Confirms He Will Be Eagles' Play-Caller
PHILADELPHIA - The Eagles have a highly-collaborative play-calling approach but offensive coordinator Shane Steichen will be the one doing the heavy-lifting on a down-to-down basis in 2022.
Steichen actually took over those duties about midway through last season and head coach Nick Sirianni liked the way things went as he was allowed to become more of a CEO coach who could better oversee the entire team.
"I think last year we were a new staff, and we were evolving as an offense, so as the season got going on, I ended up taking over more of the play calling mid-season," Steichen confirmed Friday at the NovaCare Complex.
Steichen quickly reminded reporters, however, that Sirianni will continue to have a heavy input into what is being called.
"Nick has a stamp on every single thing we do," he said. "So, in the meeting rooms he has a stamp on everything we do, every play that's on that call sheet, he makes sure it's justified, boom, and we're good to go.
"So going forward, I'll be calling the plays next year, and we'll go from there."
The Eagles began 2021 with a bit of a convoluted approach with Sirianni relaying the plays to Steichen who then made the communication with Jalen Hurts.
Sirianni wanted Steichen's voice in Hurts' ears at all times and realized the better way to do things was to make sure things were clearly defined in the game plan and with pre-drive adjustments while letting Steichen take the wheel.
That will now continue moving forward.
"I'll be calling the plays, but it is a complete group effort," Steichen said. "It's a complete group effort from the top down. It starts with Nick as the head coach. He does a hell of a job game planning. Then we go from there.
"On game day, he's the head coach, and if he wants something called, he'll tell me, and I'll get it called."
Philadelphia had most of its offensive success after Steichen took over the play-calling last season and the team went from pass-heavy to run-heavy but that's more reliant on personnel and who players are performing.
The actual mechanics of the system Sirianni and Steichen have built haven't changed all that much.
"We have a system," he said. "We have an opener. We go through the third downs. We go through everything we do, week in and week out, so we're prepared for the game, so once the game starts, we're kind of on the same page.
"Then in between series just like every team probably does around the league, you talk through the next series of plays, ‘Hey, here's what we're going to go with, boom, boom, boom, be ready for this in this situation,’ just so all the coaches are on the same page."
-John McMullen contributes Eagles coverage for SI.com's Eagles Today and is the NFL Insider for JAKIB Sports. You can listen to John, alongside legendary sports-talker Jody McDonald, every morning from 8-10 on ‘Birds 365,” streaming live on YouTube.com and JAKIBSports.com. You can reach John at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen
