SAN JOSE, Calif. — When Sean Mannion was a quarterback with the Minnesota Vikings, his position room would play a game called “Stumpy.”
The objective was to be the last one to be stumped when then-position coach Andrew Janocko asked each quarterback the specifics of certain plays in Minnesota’s offensive playbook. Mannion might have been a journeyman backup in the NFL, but he had the recall of a Hall of Famer, his former coaches said.
“He was always the champion of that game,” Janocko said.
Mannion was hired as the Eagles’ offensive coordinator last week. He may have only two years of coaching experience, but Klint Kubiak and Janocko, who coached him with the Vikings and are now on staff with the Seahawks at Super Bowl LX, believe the 33-year-old is ready for the job.
Kubiak was Mannion’s first quarterbacks coach in Minnesota in 2019 and 2020. When he was promoted to offensive coordinator a year later, Janocko succeeded him. In September 2021, Kubiak said Mannion was one of the smartest players “he’d ever been around” and that he was like “an extra coach” on the field.
“I still feel the same way about that,” Kubiak told The Inquirer on Monday. “Sean’s a really bright guy. He’s extremely hardworking. He just understands football at a whole other level. He was trained by [Los Angeles Rams coach] Sean McVay early. He had really great coaching at Oregon State.
“He was our backup quarterback. He was always the guy bringing things up in the game-planning process that helped us make plays better, or get rid of bad plays. He just understands the whole picture.”
Kubiak and Janocko, who called the Mannion hire “a home run,” may be biased. But if Eagles coach Nick Sirianni hadn’t tabbed him to be Kevin Patullo’s replacement, it’s possible that Kubiak, who is slated to become the Las Vegas Raiders’ head coach after Sunday’s game vs. the New England Patriots, would have recruited Mannion from the Green Bay Packers.
“We always knew that someday when Sean was done playing, we would all want to hire him on our coaching staff,” Kubiak said.
Mannion likely wouldn’t have called plays in Las Vegas. But he will in Philadelphia, despite having never done it before.
“Everyone’s got to start somewhere,” said Kubiak, who’s been an offensive coordinator with three teams. “You learn on the job. When you’re the quarterback, all you do is call plays all day. You get it from the coach, but sometimes the coach screws it up, and you’ve got to fix it. It’s not your fault, but it is your problem.
“Sean will have no problem calling plays.”
Janocko, like Mannion, has never called plays. He’s the heir apparent to Kubiak in Seattle. He’s also an ex-quarterback. He said there are always growing pains for first-time play callers. But Mannion’s mind, he said, will give him an advantage over opposing defensive coordinators.
“The way he diagnoses and processes information, his internal memory is ridiculous,” Janocko said. “You could ask him things on the call sheet that maybe we hadn’t talked about since Wednesday, and he would know the little minutiae about it.
“Just his general understanding of coverages and what the defense was trying to do, in his mind he was always one step ahead. So I just see that translation to play caller going through the roof.”
Kubiak and Janocko said they can’t predict how Mannion’s offense will look. The Eagles clearly wanted to bring in someone who has had experience with the Kyle Shanahan system. Mannion spent two seasons with McVay and several others with Shanahan acolytes. But he was exposed to other schemes, too.
West Coast guy
Mannion was born in San Jose and played football at Foothill High School in nearby Pleasanton. He was a four-year starter in college for Oregon State before the Rams selected him in the third round of the 2015 draft.
He spent his rookie season in St. Louis but moved back to the West Coast when the Rams relocated to Los Angeles. Janocko, who was born in Clearfield, Pa., and played at Pittsburgh, said he teased Mannion about their geographical differences.
“Me being an East Coast guy and him being from the West Coast, I’d always rib him that he was going to open his own co-op,” Janocko said. “I’ll be interested to see how he does in Philly getting a cheesesteak.”
Kubiak said Mannion’s authenticity is one of his best traits. He said he’s built up thick skin from playing quarterback when his “back’s against the wall.” Philly’s different, of course. There might not be a job with as much scrutiny as Eagles offensive coordinator.
Shane Steichen, Kellen Moore, and Frank Reich were successful enough to become head coaches. Patullo, Brian Johnson, and Mike Groh suffered a far worse fate. Kubiak said Mannion can’t mentally shoulder all the burden.
Mannion is expected to make some changes to the offensive staff. Josh Grizzard has already been hired as pass game coordinator. Offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland is expected to stay, although he may no longer also be run game coordinator.
“Any time you’re in that role, you don’t do it by yourself. It’s all about having a great staff with you,” Kubiak said. “They have one of the best offensive line coaches in the NFL. They brought [Grizzard] from Tampa with him. Nick is an offensive coach.
“Great staffs do it together. One guy has his name on the job, but when I’m calling a game, there’s five other assistants talking to me on each play.”
