Eagles Can't Hide From Bleak Coaching Staff Reality for Much Longer

Nick Sirianni says the Eagles won’t change coaches just to change them. Fair enough. But that’s only delaying the inevitable with Sean Mannion, Chris Kuper, and Ryan Mahaffey.

Jul 30, 2026; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia Eagles offensive coordinator Sean Mannion during training camp at Jefferson Health Training Complex. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

PHILADELPHIA - Nick Sirianni says the Eagles won’t change coaches just to change them. Fair enough. But that feels like it's only delaying the inevitable with Sean Mannion, Chris Kuper, and Ryan Mahaffey.

After another flat loss that pushed the Eagles to 2-7 and a seven-game skid into the team’s bye week, Sirianni was asked about potential staff moves. The head coach repeated a version of the same line he’s used before: everything is on the table, but you don’t just change for the sake of changing because the record looks bad. 

Sirianni’s premise is that you look at what’s real, you need conviction, and you don’t react to outside noise. He has publicly stuck with Mannion as the play-caller and has defended Kuper in strong terms, saying the new offensive line coach is coaching hard, teaching fundamentals, and giving players tools even if the results on game days haven't show nit.

Mahaffey, the run-game coordinator and tight ends coach Mannion brought over from Green Bay, has largely stayed out of the direct spotlight, but he is part of the same rebuilt offensive group that replaced Kevin Patullo and, more significantly, the long-tenured Jeff Stoutland.

The problem is that the “real” is hard to isolate right now. Attrition has muddied every evaluation. Jalen Hurts is out for the year with blood clots. Lane Johnson retired. The offensive line has dealt with injuries, scheme changes, and the sudden absence of the coach who had been its constant. Saquon Barkley has played through multiple ailments while DeVonta Smith and Dontayvion Wicks have missed time at receiver.

The quarterback situation behind Hurts has already flipped from Andy Dalton to Tanner McKee to the Joe Milton experience.

A trouble trio

Center Jake Majors and OL coach Chris Kuper at a 2026 OTA practice. | John McMullen/Eagles On SI

Through it all, the offense keeps failing to generate sustained drives, protect the quarterback, or establish the run. That makes it reasonable to question the scheme, the teaching, and the coordination between Mannion’s calls, Kuper’s line work, and Mahaffey’s run-game plan. 

It is also fair to note that the sample is incomplete and chaotic. Injuries and personnel losses make it easier to argue that the coaches haven’t had a clean look—and harder to argue that the current setup is producing anything worth preserving.

Sirianni insists he is results-aware. The results, however, are that the offense has looked disconnected and underwhelming for most of the season under a first-year coordinator.

Claiming you care about results while continuing to operate as if this particular group is the right one creates an obvious tension. 

Running it back with Mannion, Kuper, and Mahaffey next season feels increasingly untenable. The body of work, even with the caveats of attrition, has not justified another year of the same voices installing and calling the offense.

That does not mean midseason changes would fix anything. Firing or reassigning coaches now, with the season already lost and the roster battered, is unlikely to produce better football over the remaining schedule. 

New voices would still be working with the same depleted personnel, limited practice time, and a quarterback situation that is not ideal. 

The practical reality is that you play out the string. You gather whatever additional data you can, you keep the locker room from fracturing further if possible, and you accept that the meaningful decisions—on the offensive coordinator, the line coach, the run-game coordinator, and potentially the head coach himself—belong to the offseason, when there is time to search, hire, and install properly.

Sirianni’s reluctance to change for change’s sake is understandable on its face. But if the evaluation is truly results-driven, the current offensive staff is on thin ice. 

While attrition makes the grade incomplete; it does not erase the results. The Eagles can finish the year with the group they have. The harder question is whether they should start the next one with it. The evidence so far suggests they should not.

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