After 16 days of searching for someone to fill their offensive coordinator vacancy, the Philadelphia Eagles finally found their guy; former Green Bay Packers quarterbacks coach Sean Mannion is the Eagles’ new play-calling OC.
Bleeding Green Nation’s Jonny Page already weighed in with some of his thoughts on this hire. I wanted to share some as well, so, here we go.
- The Eagles clearly didn’t make play-calling experience a requirement for this job. Or much coaching experience at all. Not only has Mannion never called plays; he only began his coaching career in 2024, when he was an offensive assistant (vague responsibilities) before being promoted to a position coach in 2025. Just because Mannion hasn’t called plays before doesn’t mean he can’t be good at it. But it is interesting to see the Eagles make that leap of faith after similarly entrusting Kevin Patullo as a first-time play-caller last year.
- An offensive coordinator candidate having previous experience with Nick Sirianni and/or Jalen Hurts wasn’t necessarily a positive to me. The Eagles don’t need more of the same on offense. They need some new ideas. I like that Mannion doesn’t have previous ties to the Eagles’ head coach or quarterback.
- I do wonder if the 33-year-old Mannion is truly empowered to enact his vision or if there were be significant meddling by Sirianni and/or Hurts. It’s obviously a collaborative effort to some extent but it’ll be interesting to see how just different (or similar) the Eagles’ offense is in 2026. On that note, here are some tendencies to check out:
- The 2026 Eagles will probably not lead the league in hitch routes. Hooray!
- As a pro, Mannion played for these head coaches: Jeff Fisher, Sean McVay, Mike Zimmer, Pete Carroll, and Kevin O’Connell. Mannion played for these offensive coordinators: Rob Boras, Matt LaFleur, Kevin Stefanski, Gary Kubiak, Shane Waldron, Klint Kubiak, and Wes Phillips. Mannion played for these quarterbacks coaches: Chris Weinke, Greg Olson, Zac Taylor, Klint Kubiak, Austin Davis, Andrew Janocko, Dave Canales, and Chris O’Hara. Mannion also played for these notable assistant coaches: Mike Groh (former Eagles OC), Liam Coen (current Jaguars head coach), Jedd Fisch (Howie Roseman’s college roommate), Drew Petzing (current Lions OC), and Grant Udinski (current Jaguars OC). All told, you can see that Mannion has had exposure to a number of the top offensive minds in the NFL. That seems encouraging.
- I like the Eagles taking a chance on upside. At the start of their offensive coordinator search, I was most intrigued by Todd Monken and Mike McDaniel. Once more proven options went off the board, however, I felt like the Eagles should take a big swing. There’s a case to be made that the 2025 Eagles offense could’ve benefited from having, say, Matt Nagy or Jim Bob Cooter at offensive coordinator. Last year’s team needed competency on offense. The 2026 Eagles might have less offensive talent than the 2025 roster. The hope is that the new offensive coaching staff can better help to maximize the players that will be here.
- Speaking of, the 2026 offseason is a big one for Howie Roseman as it relates to re-shaping this offense. Will A.J. Brown be traded? If so, who’s added to help replace him? Is Lane Johnson going to retire? If so, who’s his replacement? Do the Eagles let Dallas Goedert walk in free agency with no obvious successor in place? What’s the plan with Landon Dickerson and Cam Jurgens, just hope that they get healthy and play much better next season? There’s a lot for the Eagles to figure out in order to put Mannion in the best possible position to succeed.
- I wonder if the Eagles will add a more senior offensive coach (or two) to the staff. They’ve already hired Josh Grizzard, who has one season of play-calling experience, to accompany Mannion as the Eagles’ new pass game coordinator. Will they add more? The Eagles reportedly showed interest in Matt Nagy for their offensive coordinator opening and he’s still currently unemployed.
- The possibility of a “too many cooks in the kitchen” dynamic is on my radar. The Eagles struggled with blurred lines of power in 2020 with a disjointed collaborative effort among Doug Pederson/Press Taylor/Rich Scangarello/Marty Mornhinweg. I’m not saying this 2026 setup is identical. Maybe it won’t be an issue. Maybe hiring multiple offensive assistant could be good! But I think it’s something to monitor.
- In case you weren’t aware, Kevin Patullo is currently still employed by the Eagles. That could change. If it doesn’t, that just feels awkward for him and Mannion to deal with. A clean break is probably in the best interests of both Patullo and the Eagles. We’ll see if it happens.
- Will be interesting to see what happens with the Eagles’ position coaches. I’d be surprised if Jeff Stoutland is gone, though he’s reportedly lost his run game coordinator power. I would think Mannion wants to bring in some of “his” guys, just like Kellen Moore did in 2024.