By James Tatum
The Philadelphia Eagles entered the 2023 season with high expectations, fresh off a trip to Super
Bowl LVII where they were a few plays away from winning it all. Needless to say, things didn’t go as
planned for the Birds in 2023
The Eagles got off to a soaring 10-1 start, similar to what they did in 2022, only to collapse by
losing 6 of their last 7 games and a wildcard round exit to the 9-8 Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Eagles
were a dysfunctional mess and there were even thoughts about whether or not head coach Nick Sirianni
had lost the locker room in Philadelphia.
The first red flag revealed itself following the Eagles’ 42-19 loss to the eventual NFC Champion
49ers in Week 13. As the season reached its home stretch, it was evident that these were not the Eagles of
last season. Losing coordinators Shane Steichen and Jonathan Gannon proved to be a much taller task
than anyone could have imagined. The Eagles lack of identity on both sides of the football proved to be
problematic and was ultimately the primary reason that they came nowhere close to their goal of making
it back to the Super Bowl this season. That is precisely why offensive coordinator Brian Johnson as well
as defensive coordinator Sean Desai and senior assistant Matt Patricia were let go after a series of end-of-
season meetings and conversations with GM Howie Roseman and owner Jeffery Lurie. The Eagles have
made it clear that they are going in another direction with their coaching staff.
Vic Fangio
On January 27, 2024, the Eagles officially announced that Vic Fangio, who spent this past season
running the Miami Dolphins defense, would be their next defensive coordinator. Fangio brings 20+ years
of coaching experience to an Eagles defense who is in desperate need of a new identity and new direction.
Fangio is highly respected by some of the most brilliant offensive minds coaching in the game
today, including Rams head coach Sean McVay, 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan, and Packers head
coach Matt LeFleur. In an interview back in 2019, John Keim of ESPN interviewed the 3 coaches and
they shared their thoughts about Fangio.
Kyle Shanahan, who will be coaching in Super Bowl LVIII in two weeks explained the versatility
that Fangio provides with his defensive scheme stating that “He does so many different things with his
personnel groups that make it difficult to adjust to regardless of what protection you want to go with.”
Praise coming from some of the NFL’s best coaches has to be a good sign if you are the Eagles.
Fangio and the staff that he is bringing on with him, including former Seahawks defensive coordinator
Clint Hurtt, among others, will have a tall task taking over a defense who ranked 26th in yards allowed,
31st against the pass, and 30th in points allowed in 2023, but with players like Haason Reddick, Jalen
Carter, Josh Sweat, and Jordan Davis, the pieces are there for Fangio to help this unit rebound next
season.
Kellen Moore
The addition of Kellen Moore sparked some controversy due to two stints with the Cowboys and
Chargers not going particularly well. However, Moore, 35 years old, was viewed at one point as one of
the bright young coaches in the game, but what does Moore bring to the Eagles offense?
During his exit press conference in January, Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni stated that the
decision to move on from Brian Johnson was “difficult” but the best thing to do was bringing in
somebody who can provide the Eagles’ offense with some new ideas. Moore’s offensive philosophy is
certainly different from Sirianni’s, so it will be very interesting to see how the dynamic between these two
is going to play out.
The Eagles offense ranked 32nd in motion usage at just 9.3%. Because of this, the Eagles were
stale offensively throughout the course of the season and lacked creativity. For context, the Miami
Dolphins led the league at 65% and their offense was #1 in yardage, #2 in points per game, and #1 in
passing. The Eagles have the playmakers offensively to wreak havoc on opposing defenses but the likes
of AJ Brown, Devonta Smith, and Dallas Goedert were not properly utilized by Nick Sirianni and Brian
Johnson. The Chargers were 8th in terms of motion usage in 2023 so it’s safe to assume this is a dynamic
Moore is going to bring to the Eagles offense. The Eagles have optimism that Moore is the guy who can
revitalize and revamp the Eagles offense in 2024 and return QB Jalen Hurts to his 2022 form after having
a career high 20 turnovers in 2023.
