What’s Going on With Eagles’ QB Jalen Hurts and Scot Loeffler?

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This offseason, Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts delivered a subtle message by posting an Instagram photo of himself alongside Scot Loeffler in the midst of offseason work at Temple designed to sharpen technique and mechanics.
Loeffler, of course, is the one-and-done quarterbacks coach the Eagles chose not to retain after a disappointing 2025 season despite the veteran coach's experience coaching the position.
Instead of moving forward with Loeffler the Eagles shook up the coaching staff after a disappointing finish by bringing in Sean Mannion to replace Kevin Patullo as offensive coordinator, and two other finalists for their OC job: Josh Grizzard as the passing game coordinator, and Jerrod Johnson as a senior offensive assistant/special projects.
Parks Frazier, who had been the PGC, was moved to quarterbacks coach to replace Loeffler, a mentor that Hurts obviously valued after he left Bowling Green as the head coach to work with Hurts, the Super Bowl LIX MVP.
A recent report from Toledo Blade columnist David Briggs revealed Loeffler publicly praising Hurts as "super coachable," and a "championship-type guy.”
There’s two ways to evaluate what’s not common behavior in the NFL: a high-profile starting QB continuing to work with a coach who was just essentially fired.
Perhaps, there is no ill will with the Eagles and Loeffler and the veteran coach was just the odd man out in a setup in which Mannion, a former NFL QB, is expected to be very hands on with Hurts.
The New Offense

Meanwhile, Philadelphia had to offer a somewhat high profile position to land Grizzard, the OC in Tampa last season, while Frazier and Johnson are Nick Sirianni favorites dating back to their days together in Indianapolis.
It wouldn’t be crazy to speculate the Eagles, who specialize in winning outside the margins, are using a trusted confidant as an extension to the coaching staff during the dark time employed coaches can not work with their players.
Although not permitted by league rules If Loeffler’s up for a wink-wink setup why not?
On the other hand there is a clearer path where the whole situation turns dark. Think of it as a proxy war in a broader Eagles power struggle.
On one side stands Sirianni’s coaching staff, pushing a motion-heavy, more diversified scheme with new concepts designed to evolve beyond Hurts' comfort level.
On the other is the quarterback himself, leveraging trusted personal relationships to maintain control over his own development and the team's offensive identity, which, although ugly at times, has been successful.
Loeffler serves as the perfect proxy for Hurts— a coach the organization fired, yet one the intentional QB1 clearly values enough to highlight publicly.
Whispers around the league and within the organization have grown louder with Hurts this offseason. A high-profile ESPN report detailed the QB’s reluctance to embrace certain changes, including more under center work, increased pre-snap motions and shifts, and a greater commitment to new ideas that weren't immediately successful.
Sources described Hurts going rogue on occasion and pushing back against schematic adjustments that stray too far from what made him successful.
Using that background Loeffler's recent comments could be the counter offensive to the ESPN narrative, a wronged-colleague directly rebutting anonymous criticisms of Hurts' work with on-the-record platitudes.
Ultimately, whether Hurts’ work with Loeffler represents offseason diligence or return fire in a clandestine battle for power may only be revealed once the pads come on and we see the 2026 Eagles offense.

John McMullen is a veteran reporter who has covered the NFL for over two decades. The current NFL insider for JAKIB Media, John is the former NFL Editor for The Sports Network where his syndicated column was featured in over 200 outlets including the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, and Miami Herald. He was also the national NFL columnist for Today's Pigskin as well as FanRag Sports. McMullen has covered the Eagles on a daily basis since 2016, first for ESPN South Jersey and now for Eagles Today on SI.com's FanNation. You can listen to John, alongside legendary sports-talk host Jody McDonald every morning from 8-10 on ‘Birds 365,” streaming live on YouTube.com. John is also the host of his own show "Extending the Play" on AM1490 in South Jersey and part of 6ABC.com's live postgame show after every Eagles game. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen
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