In five years as the Eagles’ head coach, Nick Sirianni has had his offensive coordinator on the field with him during the games. For the first time in Sirianni’s tenure, the man calling the plays on offense will be upstairs.
“We want to think through every situation to make sure that we’re giving ourselves the best opportunity for us to win the game and be at our best,” Sirianni told reporters on Friday regarding the decision to have Sean Mannion be in the booth. “Also understanding that there is no right way to do it or wrong way to do it. There’s many different ways to do it. I think we can get caught up so much, it’s like, ‘This is the only way to do it.’ You have conviction in what you believe, but there’s many different things that can work and have worked. It’s just about making the best decision, what’s best for your football team and for you to do your job the best. That’s how we went about it.”
Sirianni was then asked how it will affect him to not have the offensive coordinator by his side during games.
“I don’t think at all,” Sirianni said. “I mean, obviously, there’s communication still, right? We’re talking on the headset and everything like that. I would say it’s the amount of conversations that happen that have to be face-to-face, I think, are very minimal. I don’t think that’s — you’re being able to communicate and that’s something that we stress on our players of how important communication is. We have to lead that as coaches as well. I don’t think that affects us at all.”
The balance continues to be seeing the full field for every play and having the ability to talk directly to the players without using a phone. And there is no magic to it. Nevertheless, it will be a different game-day experience for Sirianni, and for players like quarterback Jalen Hurts.
The first test of the new approach comes on Sunday, when the Eagles host the Commanders.