Nick Sirianni is his fifth offensive coordinator in six seasons in Philadelphia, this time hiring Sean Mannion to lead his offense.
Mannion has received a huge raise. Three seasons ago, in 2023, he was a quarterback on the practice squad at Minnesota, then Seattle. He spent two seasons under Matt LaFleur in Green Bay, first as an offensive assistant and last year as a quarterback. Now he’s in charge of setting up and calling a whole new offense in Philly.
Earlier this offseason, Sirianni noted that he wasn’t concerned at all about Mannion’s inexperience.
“I’m not worried about his inexperience at all because he’s already worked his way up,” Sirianni said, via NBC Sports Philadelphia. “And I know he’s going to pull himself up to be as ready as he can be that day. And he’s got people there and coaches there with him, like coach (Josh) Grizzard, Parks (Frazier), myself, who have done this and been in this position. He’s got a lot of people to help bounce ideas off of.”
The Super Bowl-winning coach said Mannion “grooms up,” making it easy to trust that things will work out.
“This guy loves football and he loves to win,” Sirianni said. “I mean, I’ve really enjoyed being around him and just his desire. Sometimes we think ‘man he’s talented’ about everybody, ‘man he’s just got it.’ But it doesn’t happen without, whether it’s a player, whether it’s Sean, it doesn’t happen without just that obsession to get better. And Sean has that obsession to get better, that obsession for his craft, which is why he’s excelled in this profession. And I’m really looking forward to continue to work with him.”
The Eagles have been boom or bust in the OC place. Shane Steichen joined Sirriani in Year 1 and moved on to the head coaching gig after Year 2. Since then, the situation has been simple. Brian Johnson blasted. Kellen Moore was hired by New Orleans after one Super Bowl season. And Kevin Patullo cratered last season. Now it’s Mannion’s turn to take his first hit of the game and call.
Despite the glowing comments from coaches and players alike, it’s impossible to know how Mannion will perform until the fire is actually lit. Training camp will be a testing ground not only for players learning the new offense, but also for Mannion, as Sirianni plans to keep the new OC on his toes.
“My job is to make sure I put him in as many situations as I possibly can to help him go through it,” Sirianni said. “And you can change the way training camp goes. I’ve done some other things in OTAs, as far as putting him in those situations in some situations that I might have told Kellen. [Moore] um, or maybe I would have said Shane [Steichen] about “Hey Shane, we’re going to go 3rd and 12 from minus-3 today. Make sure you’re ready.’ And sometimes you tell him, and sometimes what we’ve been doing is kind of a pop test. So he has to have a call sheet ready and go from there.”
If Sirianni didn’t hire Mannion, someone probably would have in this cycle or the next. The search for the next offensive mind never ends. The question always remains: When the time comes, is this new playcaller ready for the spotlight?