Perception Vs. Reality In Eagles' OC Search

PHILADELPHIA - The Eagles generally operate under a cloud of secrecy, perhaps a stubborn nod to the idea of competitive advantage that runs deep in Nick Sirianni’s DNA as a football coach.

A public example of that is Philadelphia being one of the lone holdouts regarding transparency in coaching searches, refusing to confirm interviews after they’ve taken place.

In other words, you won’t be seeing any of this in the Eagles’ offensive coordinator search:

we’ve completed an interview with Brian Callahan for offensive coordinator pic.twitter.com/yMP0sZRpIy
— Los Angeles Chargers (@chargers) January 16, 2026

The names you will be seeing, like former Atlanta OC Zac Robinson, will come from the league’s information brokers being handed the information, usually from agents who want their client’s name out to the public.

Everything about the Eagles organization is approached with a CIA-level of plausible deniability, with GM Howie Roseman serving as the South Philadelphia station chief.

Take Roseman’s answer earlier this week when discussing personnel at his season-ending presser.

“I think that anything that I'm assessing, I'm going over with Coach, and I think those conversations on how we need to improve-- I don't think that it gives us any edge to talk about that publicly because obviously we're getting to an offseason mode where we're trying to acquire players,” he explained. “We'll go through a deep evaluation.”

It can be an advantage to keep things close to the vest, but there are also unintended consequences to that approach.

Take the OC search.

Turn on any Philadelphia media outlet and you might hear a different explanation of what’s going on, one with the conviction only a UI (that’s spy lingo for “Useful Idiot”) operates with.

At times, however, the misinformation harms the Eagles far more than it helps.

Sirianni spoke like he was running the OC search on Thursday because, ostensibly, he is.

“You're looking to continue to evolve as an offense, and I'm looking to bring in the guy that's going to best help us do that,” Sirianni said.

Yet, something as simple as explaining that Sirianni reports to owner Jeffrey Lurie, not Roseman, often falls on deaf ears because perception has overtaken reality.

Obviously, any important coaching search for the Eagles is layered, and ultimately, Lurie can steer things in any direction he desires.

The four members of the organization involved the most are Sirianni, Roseman, Lurie, and his son Julian, with others, like assistant GM Alec Halaby, involved in what’s always championed as a collaborative approach.

Ironically, the last time Roseman was reported as the man behind bringing Vic Fangio and Kellen Moore for Sirianni, the GM was asked by Eagles On SI about the process, and he explained it the best he ever has.

Roseman began by noting how Sirianni helps with the GM’s wheelhouse of personnel.

“You know, I think through our process of looking at our [2024] first-round pick, I feel like myself, our scouts, we had great information on him [CB Quinyon Mitchell],” Roseman said. “Obviously, he went to Toledo. Nick’s college roommate is the head coach (now UConn coach Jason Candle) at Toledo. When Nick came to me and he said, ‘Hey, I got this information on Q,’ it made me feel much better about the selection that we already felt good about.”

Then Roseman shifted to the coaching staff.

"That's the same process for when we do coaches. Nick will come and say, ‘These are the guys I'm thinking about. Do you have any relationship? Do you know these guys?’” Roseman explained. “Obviously, I've been in the league a long time and had prior relationships with both of those guys [Fangio and Moore]. It makes him feel better about the decision he's making.”

“... That's how good organizations make decisions,” Roseman surmised. “At the end of the day, I'm responsible for the players that I bring in here: draft, free agency. And he's responsible for his coaching staff, but we work together.

“That's the whole part of being a team."

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