People are still trying to figure out what led to the Philadelphia Eagles’ bizarre collapse down the stretch in 2023 and a new claim has emerged involving coach Nick Sirianni.
Derrick Gunn, a longtime Eagles reporter, claimed on X Wednesday that head of security Dom DiSandro getting banned from the sideline had a significant impact on the team. DiSandro helped control Sirianni’s emotions on the sideline, according to Gunn. Without his presence, the head coach became embroiled in “numerous arguments” with both players and coaches during games.
DiSandro, known as “Big Dom” among Eagles faithful, was ejected from a Dec. 3 game for getting involved in a physical confrontation with San Francisco 49ers linebacker Dre Greenlaw. DiSandro was subsequently banned from the sideline for the remainder of the regular season, a period that saw the Eagles go 1-4. Sirianni publicly admitted that he felt he hurt the team by being too “tense” on the sideline during a 33-25 victory over the New York Giants – the team’s lone win during that stretch – three weeks after DiSandro’s ban. That may actually add some credence to this claim.
On the other hand, DiSandro’s ban only applied to the regular season and the Eagles still looked flat and lifeless in their playoff loss to Tampa Bay. The Eagles also took defensive play-calling duties from Sean Desai and gave them to Matt Patricia following their Week 14 loss, which did not appear to help the players at all.
This is not the first claim to emerge about significant internal issues plaguing the Eagles. It is, however, a bit more specific than another rumor that was strongly disputed by a reporter recently.
More must-reads: