PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA - DECEMBER 25: Head coach Nick Sirianni and Jalen Hurts #1 of the Philadelphia Eagles watch a field goal attempt during the second quarter against the New York Giants at Lincoln Financial Field on December 25, 2023 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
All off-season, and honestly near the end of the season, we knew there was something wrong between Nick Sirianni and Jalen Hurts. The Sirianni-Hurts drama overpowered off-season conversations, with little else going on in the Eagles world. We knew some of the story, but not the full story. Well now, thanks to a great ESPN story from Tim McManus and Jeremy Fowler, we know the full story, and it is a doozy.
If you have not checked it out, definitely read the full thing here. It is long, 10 pages long, but it is well worth your time. It is the clearest answer we have gotten yet about why the Eagles fell apart late In the season. It paints a full picture of how a Coach-Qb relationship became so fractured.
The summary is that there was a huge difference of opinion on how the offense should be run between the two men. Sirianni refused to change the offense, and Hurts went off script leading to more problems, like what happened at the end of the Seahawks game. Both men came away looking equally responsible for what was a disastrous 7 weeks.
Is The Sirianni-Hurts Drama In The Past?
(Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
We know what the problem was? But is it over with? Will the same issues creep up at the first sign of drama this season?
On Hurts’ end, he got what he wanted. The offense was changed, and he got a bit more power to change things at the line of scrimmage. So I am sure he is completely fine with things now. He might still hold a slight grudge over his long-time friend and mentor Brian Johnson getting the boot. But as long as he is okay with what Kellen Moore is doing, things on his end should be all good.
The question is about Nick Sirianni. He lost the battle. They stripped him of offensive play design. He is still the head coach, but he no longer has the final say of how the offense is run.
So far he has played the good soldier and handled losing play design powers well. Maybe that is genuine. He took accountability behind the scenes after the season according to the ESPN article. And when he talked to the media after the article dropped, he gave a surprisingly poignant statement.
“It starts with the humility to say I messed this up. I need to be better… If I am not accountable to the things I mess up, how am I going to expect them to be accountable for the things they mess up?”
Nick Sirianni is not known for being great in press conference. In fact his press conferences are usually full of long winded responses that don’t say anything. But that was actually a great answer. If he means it, it is a great sign.
(Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)
So hopefully it is in the past. But we really won’t know until something breaks, and we see how they handle adversity. Last season they were 10-1. It was not pretty, but they were winning. But the 1st time they hit adversity, everything fell apart. They went from a team that could beat the Chiefs, Dolphins, Bills, and Cowboys, to a team that couldn’t beat the Cardinals.
Saying the right things in training camp is easy. Nothing is going wrong yet. You judge a person by how they act when adversity strikes. Both Hurts and Sirianni handled it horribly last season. But people can grow. Hopefully, they both learned from their mistakes. As of now, it seems like they have.
Hopefully, that remains the case the first time things get tough this season. At some point, things are going to get tough. Every team has their speed bumps. That is when we separate great teams from good teams, and it is when we will learn if Hurts and Sirianni grew from this or not.
They don’t need to be friends. Teams have won Super Bowls when their coach and QB did not particularly like each other. They do need to be professionals though. Last year they were not professional. They let their pettiness boil over and impact the entire team. That can’t happen again.
Tim McManus did join The Best Show Ever later in the day, and explained how having Kellen Moore in charge of the offense could reduce some friction between Hurts and Sirianni.
Will the Sirianni-Hurts drama carry over into this season. @Tim_McManus told @975BestShowEver that having Moore in charge of the offense could take some friction out of their relationship.
"The move they made to have Moore in the middle as the guy who is in charge of things… pic.twitter.com/tUddW86dD9
The Tim McManus article ended on a positive note, and I will share the same quote they finished their article with here.
“Do I think they will go to dinner together? Hell no,” a team source said. “But it can be a good working professional relationship, and I don’t think it’s hatred.”
That is the best news to come out of the article. Hopefully it holds true.
Dylan MacKinnon is The Digital Content Coordinator For 97.5 The Fanatic. he has been an Eagles, Flyers, Sixers, and Flyers fan his whole life. He graduated from Rutgers University with a Bachelors in Journalism. Dylan has worked at the Fanatic since 2016, starting as an Intern, moving to the Street team, and eventually was hired as an Associate Producer before settling into his current role in the Digital Department. You may hear him referred to on-air as "The D-Train."
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