Eagles Make First Coach Firing of the Offseason
All eyes are on how the Philadelphia Eagles respond to their epic collapse to end the 2023 season. The heat is on the entire coaching staff for wasting the talent of an incredibly stacked roster, leaving no one's job safe during offseason evaluations.
In a likely bid to keep himself safe, head coach Nick Sirianni has decided to part ways with one of his top assistants.
NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reported Sunday night defensive coordination Sean Desai has been fired. Rapoport notes this decision has come from Sirianni, who's putting his staff under the microscope to show ownership he should stay at the helm.
This news comes as no surprise at all. Philadelphia's defense did a 180 with Desai as the initial leader of this unit, going from strength during their Super Bowl to actual liability despite having many of the same guys returning.
The defense faltering down the stretch played a huge role in the Eagles' dreadful end to the season. With this group unable to get key stops, Philly went to lose six of its last seven matchups, including the Wild Card Round upset at the hands of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
While Desai got the can now, he was already a dead man walking after Sirianni elected to give defensive play-calling duties to assistant Matt Patricia in Week 15 instead. That switch, however, didn't lead to any different results. In fact, there's an argument this unit was even worse, and players admitted the sudden change was hard to adjust to so late in the campaign.
Unfortunately for the Eagles, Desai might not be the only coordinator departing this offseason. Offensive lead Brian Johnson was just as bad as Desai in 2023. There's also rumors Johnson and quarterback Jalen Hurts aren't on the same page, which could result in the former's exit.
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