Why Nick Sirianni’s future with Eagles is in jeopardy after playoff loss

Philadelphia Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni could be gone following the team’s 32-9 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the NFC Wild Card round.

Following a 10-1 start, the Eagles finished 11-7, including the playoffs, to conclude the 2023 campaign. Just a year removed from being a few plays away from a Super Bowl title, ESPN’s Sal Paolantonio broke down what could constitute “major changes” in the Eagles organization.

Heck, he said when he talked to Eagles tackle Lane Johnson, the players understood what could be coming.

“The answer to your question is the mood in the locker room,” Paolantonio said on Get Up. “After the game, I was one of the last reporters. I stayed until the last player left the locker room and talked to a lot of them. And it’s clear they understand that major changes are coming.”

Johnson’s comments were telling about the direction of the team.

“It’s very embarrassing when you go from 10-1 to losing six or seven or whatever we did,” Johnson said postgame. “And you know we’ve done all the press conferences, we’ve done all the explaining tried to get it corrected. “There’s probably gonna be some changes. It’s frustrating. And hopefully, as long as I’m playing I don’t have to be part of something like this again. So that’s my plan.”

As Sal Pal explained regarding the team, including Sirianni, he relayed comments from Johnson: “no one is safe.”

Nick Sirianni’s future with Eagles in question

Paolantonio mentioned the pattern with Eagles’ coaches lately. After a long tenure from Andy Reid, Chip Kelly and Doug Pederson were fired after three and five seasons, respectively.

Heck, Pederson won Super Bowl LII just six years ago. But Sirianni’s fate could be sealed based on recent history.

“Well, you know, we’re reporters. We’re not in the speculation business, but we’re in the reporting business,” Paolantonio said. “So here’s what we know and here are the facts. The bottom line is that Jeffrey Lurie, the owner of the team, stood by Andy Reid for a very long time and then he pulled the plug quickly on Chip Kelly, and quickly on Doug Peterson when things went south and he didn’t like the direction of the football team.

“So you have that to the offensive coordinator and the defensive coordinator jobs are definitely on the chopping block. It’s clear they have to make changes in both of those areas.” 

The question is now, can Sirianni be the man to fix the mess around him? That’s questionable.

“So are you going to let Nick Sirianni, who’s in the fourth year of a five year contract, either navigate or be the steward of a rebuilding that is so vast,” Paolantonio said. “That is the question confronting this football team and the ownership of this football team, and what they’ll do is they’ll take their time.

“And Louis Riddick has been in this building, he understands what they do and how they do things, and they’ll try to figure out what to do with the head coach, but there are a lot of options for them out there.”

As far as options, Sal Pal mentioned potential replacements for Sirianni.

“There’s Mike Vrabel, there’s Bill Belichick and the drumbeat as you mentioned, listen, I’ve lived and worked in Philadelphia for almost 40 years,” Paolantonio said. “The fans matter in Philadelphia, and this team has lost the fans, the organization has lost the fans, the fans are important. 

“This Eagles organization is always looking to what the fans are thinking, they’re always polling their season ticket holders and the fans matter and they have lost the fans … The guys who are the opinion shapers in Philadelphia, they have lost those guys and it’s gonna be hard to get them back.”