Jan 7, 2024; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; Philadelphia Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni with teammates New York Giants head coach Brian Daboll (right) before the game at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports
The Eagles announced Tuesday that Kevin Patullo will not return as offensive coordinator in 2026. That means they'll be looking for their fifth offensive coordinator in as many seasons.
What would be attractive about this job? Two of the men to hold the title in the last four years — Shane Steichen and Kellen Moore — ultimately parlayed it into head coaching gigs. Additionally, talent remains with Jalen Hurts, Saquon Barkley, DeVonta Smith and Jordan Mailata, among others.
As for what might turn some candidates off about this job, two of the last three offensive coordinators — Brian Johnson and now Patullo — were fired after just one season. It's also unclear exactly how much autonomy the offensive coordinator will have to implement his own system and bring in some of his preferred assistants, even though the OC will ultimately be the one praised or blamed for the results.
From here, this feels like a job that's going to have to go to someone who has called plays before. It's not great to put yourself into that box when doing a search, because surely there are excellent candidates that will thrive when given the shot to call plays for the first time. That shot likely won't come with the 2026 Eagles.
With all that acknowledged, here are a few candidates to be the next offensive coordinator of the Eagles.
Things didn't go great for Daboll in New York, where he went 20-40-1 as head coach, and was fired in November. However, there are some reasons to be intrigued by him as an offensive coordinator.
Daboll did guide the Giants to a 9-7-1 record in 2022, with New York ultimately upsetting the Minnesota Vikings in the Wild Card Round of the postseason, before getting throttled by the Eagles a week later. Obviously, that team included Barkley, one of the key pieces he would have at his disposal in Philly.
Secondly, the reason that Daboll got his first head-coaching opportunity was that he did such a tremendous job as the Buffalo Bills' offensive coordinator from 2018-2021, a period in which he helped to develop Josh Allen from super raw prospect to one of the game's elite quarterbacks.
Daboll's overall resume is super impressive, as he's worked under Bill Belichick and Nick Saban, among others. But for the purposes here, the most notable thing on his resume might be that he was the offensive coordinator for the Chiefs in 2012 under Romeo Crennel. Who coached the receivers that year for Kansas City? Sirianni, so there is a past relationship.
Perhaps the other encouraging thing about Daboll is that his first head coaching job ended poorly enough that it's probably going to take him more than one year to become a hot name for that role again. So even if it seems likely the 50-year-old will get a second head coaching job in the future, it might come after two or three seasons as an offensive coordinator, as opposed to one.
If all things were equal and you were just picking the best offensive mind, McDaniel — who comes from the Kyle Shanahan coaching tree and did have some really successful moments in four seasons as head coach of the Miami Dolphins — would probably be it.
All things are not equal, though.
Not only has McDaniel interviewed to be the offensive coordinator of the Detroit Lions — which is probably the most coveted OC job this offseason — but he's also interviewed for head coaching vacancies with the Atlanta Falcons and Cleveland Browns.
There's one world where McDaniel isn't an option because he's immediately hired to be a head coach again. Even if that doesn't happen, the 42-year-old is going to have a ton of leverage in picking his next job. Are the Eagles willing to give him the space to install his offense, knowing that in a year there's a good chance he departs for a head coaching job?
Even though he and the Washington Commanders recently "parted ways," Kingsburgy has interviewed to be John Harbaugh's successor as the head coach of the Baltimore Ravens.
There are varying perspectives on Kingsbury, who was a hot head coaching candidate at this time a year ago after he helped the Jayden Daniels and the Commanders reach the NFC Championship Game. A year later, though, the Commanders didn't want him back. There were some impressive moments during his four years as the head coach of Kyler Murray and the Arizona Cardinals from 2019-2022, but he wound up finishing with a 28-37-1 record. Prior to that, he had a 35-40 record as head coach at Texas Tech from 2013-2018, a portion of which he had Patrick Mahomes as his quarterback for.
Kingsbury did interview to be the Eagles' offensive coordinator two offseasons ago, but the Eagles ended up going with Moore instead. Will the stars align differently than they did two years ago?
The ship has probably sailed on Reich in the NFL, but it's at least worth a phone call.
Among other positions held on his resume, Reich was the offensive coordinator for the Eagles when they won their first Super Bowl title in 2017. He also was the head coach of the Indianapolis Colts from 2018-2022, with Sirianni serving as his OC for the first three years on the job. Prior to that, the two were together on the staff of Mike McCoy for the then-San Diego Chargers from 2013-2015.
Reich served as the interim head coach for the Stanford Cardinal this past year, but has now transitioned into a role as a senior advisor. It would be interesting to know if the 64-year-old would at all be intrigued by this position.
The younger brother of Green Bay Packers' head coach Matt LaFleur, the 38-year-old is currently the offensive coordinator of the Los Angeles Rams under Sean McVay. However, McVay calls plays, so it would be a promotion coming to the Eagles, where LaFleur would be the play caller.
LaFleur was previously the offensive coordinator (and play caller) of the New York Jets under Robert Saleh from 2021-2022, which didn't go great. Then again, it's hard to know how much stock to put into that when he was employed by such a dysfunctional organization.
Saleh may get a second opportunity to be a head coach this offseason. Why wouldn't LaFleur — who has now worked under both Shanahan and McVay — get another crack to call plays?
It would be a hell of a story for Stefanski — who graduated from St. Joe's Prep and is the son of former Sixers' general manager Ed Stefanski — to come to the Eagles as their offensive coordinator. It remains to be seen how feasible that would actually be.
Stefanski was recently dismissed after six years as head coach of the Cleveland Browns. A 45-56 record doesn't stand out, but it's not actually terrible when you consider how disastrous of a franchise that the Browns have been since reentering the NFL in 1999. After all, Stefanski won Coach of the Year in both 2020 and 2023.
The thing is, Stefanski interviewed to be the Dolphins head coach Tuesday, and seems to be a candidate for just about every head coaching vacancy other than the Browns. He may be above being an offensive coordinator at this point.
