Nick Sirianni got a lot of questions on Eagles' quarterback situation and didn't have many answers
Martin FrankThere were several questions for new Eagles coach Nick Sirianni about the tenuous quarterback situation with a reportedly unhappy Carson Wentz and Jalen Hurts, who replaced Wentz for the final 4½ games.
But if you were looking for clarity, there really wasn't any coming from Sirianni's opening press conference Friday that lasted for a little less than an hour. Roughly half of that time consisted of opening statements by Eagles chairman and CEO Jeffrey Lurie (he took no questions), and then Sirianni.
Instead, there were some nervous responses, along with plenty of dodging back and forth between the Eagles have two "top-notch quarterbacks, and a lot of teams don’t have any," to, "What we need to do is evaluate the entire roster."
Sirianni wouldn't even guarantee that Wentz will be on the team this season, when he was asked that very question.
"I can’t answer that," Sirianni said. "Again, we're evaluating everything. There’s a lot of things to go through evaluating everything."
It's easy to conclude, then, that the Eagles aren't necessarily sold on Wentz as the starting quarterback this coming season, and that they wouldn't be opposed to going with Hurts, or even drafting someone else.
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If the mandate for a new coach was to resuscitate Wentz, coming off by far the worst season of his career, then the coach likely would have come out and said that Wentz will be the starter.
But Sirianni's background indicates that's not necessarily the case.
As the Indianapolis Colts' offensive coordinator, Sirianni worked with Andrew Luck as the starting quarterback in 2018, Jacoby Brissett in 2019 and Philip Rivers this season.
"Those three teams looked different," Sirianni said. "I think that’s the sign of a good coach – you’re going to change based off of your personnel."
Then he added this: "I think it’s the same thing we went through in Indianapolis. We have to figure out a way to win with each quarterback and ... each offensive lineman, and each running back, and each receiver and each defensive lineman, and each safety, and each corner."
In other words, there can be a system if Wentz is the starting quarterback, and there can be a system if it's Hurts.
But Sirianni wasn't going there, either, just yet.
He was asked if there's going to be a competition for the job, and if there's a timetable for naming a quarterback.
"Again, that’s something we have to look at and evaluate," Sirianni said. "I’m not ready to say that either way yet (about a competition).
"As far as the starter, haven’t really thought about that ... That hasn’t even crossed my mind. Again, just trying to evaluate the players on our team and get the staff together."
Wentz was reportedly unhappy with the way he was handled last season by former coach Doug Pederson, and there were rumblings that he was expected to seek a trade.
Sirianni said he spoke to both Wentz and Hurts in the week since he was hired, but wouldn't detail those conversations.
If Wentz was hoping to get that commitment from Sirianni from the start, it's likely that hasn't happened. So if Wentz was unhappy before, he's probably still unhappy.
Here are some other takeaways from Sirianni's opening press conference:
Thirtysomething, redux
Sirianni, who's 39, hired Shane Steichen, who's 35, as his offensive coordinator. He also hired Jonathan Gannon, who's 37, as his defensive coordinator.
In addition, quarterbacks coach Brian Johnson is 33.
There are still other spots to be filled, and maybe a senior adviser on offense and/or defense will be added.
For now, Sirianni went with familiarity over experience. Steichen was with him with the Chargers from 2014 until 2018. Steichen spent the last 1½ seasons as the Chargers' offensive coordinator. Gannon was the Colts' defensive backs coach the last three seasons and has never been a defensive coordinator.
On Gannon: "You can almost say he’s been on an interview with me for three years. I think that his football IQ is off the charts. When I want to know something about a defense, for the last three years, he’s the first one I went to."
On Steichen: I’ve known Shane for four years ... The way we think about the game is so similar, that’s going to be an easy transition for us. It’s like we’re starting on Day 15 instead of Day 1."
Pederson, at least, brought in Jim Schwartz, a longtime defensive coordinator and former head coach, to completely run the defense. So, this will be a big change.
Sirianni calling plays
Sirianni has never called plays in the NFL, yet he intends to have those duties with the Eagles. It was the same way with Pederson when he was hired in 2016.
The difference is that Pederson was an NFL quarterback for 10 seasons and called plays in the second halves of games during his final season as the Chiefs' offensive coordinator in 2015.
Then again, Frank Reich had never called plays before becoming the Colts head coach in 2018. So it can work.
When asked why that makes him qualified to do it with the Eagles, Sirianni said: "So, there’s a collaboration between myself, Frank and the entire offensive staff for every portion of that game plan (with the Colts).
"When you call plays in the NFL, it’s a collaboration of everybody. The hard work of how you call plays goes into that Monday through Saturday."
So, who has final say?
It was an interesting response when Sirianni was asked about having final say on the roster.
Sirianni immediately said that general manager Howie Roseman will have final say over the 53-man roster. That wasn't a surprise. It was that way durinder Pederson's five seasons, and it was clear that wasn't going to change as long as Roseman was remaining as GM.
But Sirianni seemed unsure about who has control over the game-day roster, saying: "I believe I have the say over the 47 (players) on game day of what we need to go through the game, and get into the game, and the pieces that we need."
That seemed to be a source of contention for Pederson at the end. Then again, Sirianni is a first-time head coach, so it's likely that he's OK with that.
The process
Lurie spent his 15-minute opening statement talking about the interview process going from an initial list of 25 candidates down to the 10 they interviewed.
It took about 8 minutes before Lurie mentioned Sirianni's name. Before that, Lurie bid farewell to longtime running backs coach Duce Staley, who took the same job with the Detroit Lions, saying that it's best for Staley to get a viewpoint from another organization before becoming a head coach.
Then Lurie went from the "emotional intelligence" criteria when he hired Pederson to saying that he found Sirianni to be someone "who literally cares every single day."
"The first step I think in being a great coach in modern football today, modern sports today, is to care very much about the players and coaches you work with," Lurie said. "If you care, you can earn trust. If you earn trust, you can motivate. If you motivate, you can teach."
Sirianni will have a lot of teaching to do.
Contact Martin Frank at mfrank@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter @Mfranknfl.