Nick Sirianni reveals some more about Eagles’ new DC Sean Desai
PHOENIX In the month since he hired Sean Desai, Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni has been getting to know his new defensive coordinator more and more.
The one thing he doesnt have to spend too much time on is learning what kind of players Desai wants and needs for his defense.
As far as the player profile, theres a lot of similarities because its a similar defense, head coach Nick Sirianni said. Thats one of the reasons obviously Sean was the best guy for the job but also there wasnt going to be a lot of change as far as the base part of the defense. Theres going to be slightly different things that were going to do.
The player profile, the traits that were looking for are similar. But not everybody thinks exactly the same so theres going to be tweaks here and there.
While Jonathan Gannon wasnt the most popular guy in Philly during his two years as the Eagles defensive coordinator, a lot of what he did falls in line with what Sirianni wants his defense to be.
And a lot of that falls in line with what we expect from Desai with some minor but potentially important differences.
With a truncated offseason, that continuity between defensive schemes has made it easier in free agency and will make it easier in the draft as the Eagles continue to build the defense with the same types of players they had under Gannon.
Eagles general manager Howie Roseman echoed Siriannis sentiment.
I think a lot of the things that Sean wants to do are things that JG wants to do, Roseman said. I think theres a lot of carryover from those positions. I dont think its dramatic.
In the month since we learned the Eagles were hiring Desai, what have Siriannis impressions of him been?
Sirianni has been extremely impressed by Desais organizational skills. He said Desai has a process for everything and he likes that about him.
Desai, 39, spent last season with the Seahawks under Pete Carroll as an associate head coach and defensive assistant. But most of Desais coaching experience was with the Bears. He spent nine seasons in Chicago, eventually ascending to the role of defensive coordinator in 2021.
For many of those seasons in Chicago, Desai worked under longtime defensive coach Vic Fangio. The Eagles were already using a ton of those Fangio staples under Gannon in 2022. Thats what, at least in theory, makes this such a seamless transition.
Of course, the Eagles lost several key free agents on that side of the ball and might not have the overall talent in 2023 that they had in 2022.
Thats where Desai really comes in.
Were just getting on the same page with my vision for the defense, Sirianni said. Obviously, I hired him to do a job but still have to give him the visions that I have for certain situations and different things that I want to see out of the defense. So getting on the same page, its been fun doing that. Hes done a great job so far.
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