The Philadelphia Eagles completed their stunning late season collapse on Monday night when they were eliminated from the playoffs thanks to a 32-9 loss at the hands of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. As a result, the Eagles will now head into an offseason filled with question marks, and the biggest question mark of them all may be the future of head coach Nick Sirianni.
Philadelphia made it to the Super Bowl just last season with Sirianni leading the way, but he also led this Eagles team that had championship aspirations to losses in six of their final seven games. There have been rumblings of tension within the Eagles locker room, which makes Sirianni's seemingly secure job status something worth keeping a close eye on.
Philly's general manager (Howie Roseman) and team owner (Jeffrey Lurie) have a history of making aggressive decisions when it comes to their coaches, and they could make another one soon by firing Sirianni. In the event the Eagles move on from their head coach, here are the top three options that are available to replace him this offseason.
Ben Johnson
A big issue for the Eagles down the stretch of their season was the lack of production they received from their offense. A unit that features star talent with Jalen Hurts, A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith, D'Andre Swift, and Dallas Goedert struggled to consistently pick up first downs, and in many instances, these guys would go long stretches without touching the ball. That simply cannot happen.
One of the hottest rising head coach candidates in the NFL right now is Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson. Detroit has turned into an offensive powerhouse by sticking to what they are good at. Johnson's offense relies heavily on getting their best players the ball, and it's worked like a charm to this point, as the Lions just broke their lengthy playoff drought in the Wild Card round, and they will be favored to advance to the Championship round after drawing a matchup with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the Divisional round.
The issues within the Eagles locker room could create a situation where Philly would prefer to hire a more experienced head coach, but from an X's and O's perspective, Johnson would surely be able to help revitalize the Eagles offense in 2024. This would be a bit of a risky move to swap Johnson for Sirianni, but all cards are on the table right now, and this certainly could end up happening if Sirianni gets canned.
Bill Belichick
There are a lot of big names on the head coaching market right now, but Bill Belichick is easily the biggest of the bunch. Belichick and the New England Patriots agreed to part ways after a historic 24-season run, and considering how he interviewed with the Atlanta Falcons already, it's clear he wants to keep on coaching. Why not swap Sirianni out with the greatest coach of all time?
Belichick's tenure with the Pats didn't come to a great end, but he largely short changed himself with his roster building moves as a general manager. Belichick still somehow turned New England's defense into one of the best units in 2023, and with the aforementioned weapons on offense, there's no doubt he could do a lot more damage than he did with Mac Jones and Bailey Zappe this season.
A big reason for Belichick's success in New England was the culture he instilled in his team, and that is arguably Philadelphia's biggest need right now. They have a ton of big roster decisions to make, but even then, they are going to need guys suiting up that want to play for their team. Belichick kept the Pats competing all the way down to the wire, and if he can do that, he should be able to motivate a talented Eagles team to try to get back on track in their quest to win a Super Bowl.
Mike Vrabel
The biggest concern with Belichick when it comes to potentially hiring him as the new head coach is whether or not he is going to want to make roster moves as his new team's GM. That isn't a concern with Mike Vrabel, though, and when you take everything into consideration, he would be the home run pick to replace Sirianni if he gets fired.
Vrabel was recently fired by the Tennessee Titans, and while his tenure with them came to a rough end, he was largely done in by the front office gutting his roster. Vrabel is a defensive-minded coach who could help fix the plethora of issues on that side of the ball, and he also leans heavily on his star players on offense to do most of the heavy lifting.
Beyond that, Vrabel knows how to relate to his players in a way that a more old-school coach like Belichick has seemingly struggled to do in recent seasons. Getting the locker room back on the same page is crucial, and there was never any sign that Vrabel's players didn't want to win for him during his time with the Titans. Passing on a big name like Belichick may be hard, but it's clear that Vrabel would be the best candidate to replace Sirianni if he gets run out of town.
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