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Tag: Kevin Patullo

  • WIP host worries bad fans are hurting Eagles’ OC search, but national reporter says there’s more to it

    WIP host worries bad fans are hurting Eagles’ OC search, but national reporter says there’s more to it

    It has been nine days since the Eagles removed first-year offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo. Since then, some of the team’s prime candidates have fallen off the board.

    The Athletic’s Dianna Russini first reported that former Giants head coach Brian Daboll, who the Eagles interviewed on Tuesday, is focused on the Bills’ head coaching job. If Daboll does not land in Buffalo, where he served as Josh Allen’s offensive coordinator from 2018 to 2022, he is “expected” to take over as the offensive coordinator for the Tennessee Titans, per Russini.

    Former Miami Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel, another one of the Eagles’ prospective candidates, is now expected to be hired as the Los Angeles Chargers offensive coordinator, per ESPN. Meanwhile, former Cleveland Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski, a Philadelphia-area native and Penn graduate, has been hired to take over head coaching responsibilities for the Atlanta Falcons.

    Resetting the Eagles’ options at offensive coordinator: Declan Doyle, Jim Bob Cooter, and the other remaining names

    The Eagles have recently requested to interview 29-year-old Chicago Bears offensive coordinator Declan Doyle, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter. Doyle joins former Chiefs offensive coordinator and Bears head coach Matt Nagy, who the Eagles interviewed on Wednesday, as a prospective candidate. Additionally, former Commanders offensive coordinator and Cardinals head coach Kliff Kingsbury is still available.

    With some fans growing impatient over the Eagles search and candidates falling off the board every day, local and national media members have been looking to answer: Is the job as valuable as Eagles fans believe? Why have the Eagles not hired a candidate yet? What type of coordinator should they bring in?

    Local talk radio blames bad fan behavior

    In late November, following the Eagles’ 24-15 loss to the Chicago Bears, Patullo’s South Jersey home was vandalized.

    A video of vandals throwing eggs at Patullo’s home went viral on social media, sparking an investigation by the Moorestown Police Department. At the time, Patullo explained that he knew that “part of [his] job is to handle criticism,” but the egging of his home “obviously cross[ed] a line.”

    Reports: Top OC picks Mike McDaniel, Brian Daboll spurn Eagles. Are they ‘dumb,’ ‘stupid,’ or justified? | Marcus Hayes

    Now, 94 WIP host Joe DeCamara is wondering if the that has turned likely candidates away from the Eagles job.

    “Every coordinator in football knows it. Every one. And you know who also knows it? The wives of the candidates,” DeCamara said. “Because when the wives talk to the candidates, the men who are their husbands, it’s ‘OK we’ve got seven openings, maybe there’s four we’re interested in, honey let’s put together pros and cons, let’s put the ledger on a piece of paper.’

    “There’s pros here. Three guys in the last three years have gotten a head coaching job here. Two on offense, one on defense. There’s a lot of success here. A lot on the pro side of the ledger. But don’t kid yourself. Those kids that egged the house, that is a [expletive] setback in hiring a coordinator. The wives know the last guy’s house got egged. That’s tough, man. That’s tough for the dude who’s going to be OC, tough for the wife.”

    ‘Hard decisions’ loom, making job less attractive

    Russini argued on WIP earlier this week that the Eagles’ job may come with too many “hard decisions,” leading to candidates not ranking it first among their available options.

    “I don’t [think the Eagles offensive coordinator job is an attractive job]. I think coordinators that are on this list are aware that navigating Philly is difficult because of the way it’s set up right now — who’s on the team and really what it’s going to look like in the next few months,” Russini said.

    “I think this offseason, of any team right now in the NFL, I think this Eagles group has to probably do the biggest revamp of figuring out what they are. … What is going to come with it are some hard decisions and figuring out who wants to be there and maybe perhaps who they need to bring in.”

    The Eagles have 10 free agents on offense, including tight end Dallas Goedert, wide receiver Jahan Dotson, and tackle Fred Johnson. Additionally, there has been a lot of dialogue around whether the Eagles will bring back star wideout A.J. Brown, who has made his frustration well known throughout the season.

    Chris Long, Brandon Graham want a ‘Vic Fangio’ on offense

    Eagles past and present are also weighing in on the team’s coordinator vacancy.

    On The Rich Eisen Show, former Eagles defensive end and Super Bowl LII champion Chris Long urged his former squad to hire a “cheat code” at offensive coordinator.

    “You need to hire a cheat code offensive coordinator. We talk about this thing a lot — bring somebody out of retirement, or find somebody who’s aged out,” said Long. “Find yourself a [former Saints and Raiders coach] Dennis Allen, because you have one on defense and his name’s Vic Fangio. He’s not getting a head coaching job. He doesn’t want one.”

    Jason Kelce says Broncos QB situation is different than ’17 Eagles; Greg Olsen praises Nick Sirianni on ‘New Heights’

    Long went on to explain that the Eagles should hire a coordinator who will not leave for a head coaching vacancy to assist Hurts’ further development. Famously, Hurts has had nine offensive coordinators in 10 years, a trend dating to his time at Alabama.

    Meanwhile Eagles legend Brandon Graham, who came out of retirement to play for the team this past season, seems to agree.

    “I feel like you got to have someone that’s experienced,” Graham said on his podcast. “I like what someone said about a Vic Fangio [on offense] … You really do have to have that command. Because if A.J. [Brown], and all the guys that [were], you know, disgruntled last year, we got to get everybody believing it. …

    “I think a veteran person, or someone that got respect in the league will just have everybody kind of [have a] change in belief and get a re-energized feeling.”

  • Nick Sirianni looking for an offensive coordinator to help Eagles offense ‘evolve’

    Nick Sirianni looking for an offensive coordinator to help Eagles offense ‘evolve’

    You say you want an evolution?

    At his end-of-year news conference on Thursday afternoon with Howie Roseman, Nick Sirianni explained his decision to remove Kevin Patullo from the offensive coordinator position, pointing to a need for the Eagles offense to “evolve.”

    The highest-paid offense in the NFL was stagnant for the majority of the 2025 season. A midseason spark in Weeks 7 and 8 — highlighted by under-center runs and play-action passes — was fleeting. The shotgun-heavy offense, while often capable of protecting the football and scoring in the red zone, was seldom explosive in the open field.

    Nick Sirianni’s forceful vote of confidence from Howie Roseman, and some A.J. Brown trade talk highlight Eagles press conference

    Patullo’s offense finished the season 19th in the NFL in scoring, 24th in total yards, and 13th in expected points added per play, which measures the average points added by the offense on each play. The next offensive coordinator has room for growth with a bevy of talent.

    “I think it’s important to continue to evolve as an offense and that we go out and do what’s best for this football team,” Sirianni said. “Everything I do and every decision I have to make, I have to do that — just like Howie does, just like Mr. [Jeffrey] Lurie does — with the intent of [it] being the best thing for the football team.”

    Sirianni said he removed Patullo from his post in the best interest of the team, but he didn’t outright fire the 44-year-old coach. For now, Patullo remains on staff. Sirianni said he will “see how it plays out,” acknowledging that Patullo will likely have opportunities elsewhere.

    Patullo was a first-time offensive coordinator and a first-time offensive NFL play-caller. Will the pendulum swing in the other direction regarding the next offensive coordinator’s résumé? According to The Athletic, the Eagles have seasoned play-callers Brian Daboll and Mike McDaniel at the top of their candidates list.

    What is Sirianni’s criteria for an offensive coordinator hire this time around? Again, he used a familiar word to sum up his broad aspiration.

    “You’re looking to continue to evolve as an offense,” Sirianni said. “And I’m looking to bring in a guy that’s going to best help us do that.”

    Can QB whisperers Josh McCown or Cam Turner salvage Jalen Hurts as the Eagles’ new OC?

    Later, he expanded on his criteria, without giving too much of an ideal candidate profile away.

    “You always want someone that has a great vision and great conviction of things that they believe in and what they want to do,” Sirianni said. “You always want to have somebody that has the players on their mind first, and we’ll be able to attract a lot of good candidates because of the players that Howie’s assembled to be on our football team.

    “You want somebody that has great vision, great conviction in what they do, is able to coach fundamentals well, to help the players get better. Because I believe in that. That can connect with guys. Because I believe in that. That has the mental toughness, because I believe in that.”

    Ultimately, Sirianni said he wants to “find the best guy that fits the Philadelphia Eagles.” But is the best guy the one who will bring his own offense? Or is the best guy the one who will infuse his ideas within Sirianni’s scheme?

    In 2024, when the Eagles hired Kellen Moore as their new offensive coordinator, Sirianni emphasized that they would “mesh” their systems. They would continue to do the “good things,” Sirianni said, that had become staples of Eagles offenses past, all while incorporating “new ideas.”

    On Thursday, four days removed from the wild-card loss to the San Francisco 49ers, Sirianni wasn’t ready to discuss his precise degree of involvement in the 2026 Eagles offense.

    After embarrassing Kevin Patullo pile-on, Eagles must make Mike McDaniel their main OC target

    “It’s way early,” Sirianni said. “Those decisions don’t have to be made for a long time, and as the head coach, you always have to [have] oversight of everything. And again, this year, obviously, I did. I got involved more in the offense as the end of the season came, because that’s what I needed to do as the head football coach there.”

    While Sirianni will make the final decision on the next offensive coordinator, he won’t be the only person with input. He said he plans to use a variety of “resources” to inform his choice, including feedback from Jalen Hurts, among other prominent figures in the organization.

    Hurts, the 27-year-old franchise quarterback, will enter his sixth season as the starter with his seventh play-caller. Two of his offensive coordinators, Moore and Shane Steichen, departed for head coaching gigs after brief stints in the role. In the past, Hurts has expressed a desire for consistency at the position, but he acknowledged on Monday the changes didn’t stop him from winning a Super Bowl last season.

    Nick Sirianni, right, says he will seek feedback from Jalen Hurts, among others, in his choice of a new offensive coordinator.

    Regardless, the Eagles aren’t necessarily in search of a Vic Fangio-esque candidate as their next offensive coordinator — someone who has no intentions of moving on to a head-coaching job — according to Roseman.

    “It’s a great compliment when guys get head coaching jobs from here, because it means we’re having tremendous success,” Roseman said. “So as much as you’d like to have continuity, and I’d like to have guys here for a long period of time, we want to win. We have an urgency to win right now. And if that comes with the ramifications that we lose good people because they’ve earned head coaching jobs, we’ll live with that.”

    Who will be the Eagles’ next offensive coordinator? Start with these eight names.

    There is no one way to be an offensive coordinator, Sirianni said. Everyone has different philosophies and visions for what it takes for an offense to be successful.

    But there is only one acceptable outcome for an evolved Eagles offense and its new coordinator moving forward.

    “It’s about finding the guy that best fits us, that gives us the best chance to get back to the top of the mountain where we ultimately want to go,” Sirianni said.

  • Jason Kelce clarifies Kevin Patullo comments, reacts to his removal, says Eagles need a ‘proven’ replacement

    Jason Kelce clarifies Kevin Patullo comments, reacts to his removal, says Eagles need a ‘proven’ replacement

    In the latest episode of New Heights, former Eagles center Jason Kelce laid out his reaction to what he called a “very frustrating game and season” for Philadelphia.

    A shaky 2025 campaign for the Eagles offense ended with Kevin Patullo’s removal as offensive coordinator on Tuesday. Kelce used Wednesday’s podcast episode to clarify some of the comments he made earlier in the week while speaking in his analyst role on Monday Night Football. On the broadcast, he defended Patullo as “a great coach” while anticipating his dismissal.

    Here’s what you missed from this week’s New Heights …

    Replacing Patullo

    Kelce, who spent 13 seasons with the Eagles, played under Patullo after he became the team’s passing game coordinator in 2021. A year after Kelce’s retirement in 2024, Patullo was promoted to offensive coordinator for this season.

    “The expectations [for the offense] should be much higher than what they put out this season,” Kelce said. “I know I made some comments on Monday Night Football, and I do love Kevin Patullo. I’m not trying to absolve him of blame. … The offense wasn’t up to the task this year. It regressed. The main reason it regressed was the run game, and the offensive line’s inability to stay healthy, and to open up holes.”

    Jalen Hurts’ vow, Nick Sirianni’s home life, Saquon’s ‘Whiplash,’ and more from the ‘Hard Knocks’ finale

    While removing Patullo as coordinator was one of the franchise’s first moves after Sunday’s 23-19 playoff loss to the 49ers, Kelce suggested that players should also take accountability for the disappointing finale.

    “It’s one of the highest-paid offenses in the NFL, and they were mediocre across the board,” Kelce said, echoing some of his comments from Monday. “The bottom line is this offense didn’t live up to what it should have. Patullo, as the offensive coordinator, bears responsibility, and so do the players. …

    “I don’t think it’s ever fair to just throw it on one guy. Jalen [Hurts] said it after the game: Right now isn’t the time to put it on any one person.”

    Former Eagles offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo talks with quarterback Jalen Hurts (left) and wide receiver A.J. Brown during Sunday’s wild-card loss to the 49ers.

    Without naming any names, Kelce also recommended that the Eagles look to more experienced coaching candidates to replace Patullo.

    “It would probably behoove the Eagles to bring in somebody with a fresh perspective on where it’s at currently,” Kelce said. “When you’re in it, you’re thinking about how you’ve had success in the past. When you bring in somebody else, we can bring in some fresh ideas and find ways to maximize things.

    “I don’t think it needs to be anything that drastic. We probably want somebody who’s been proven offensively as a successful coach, and he could come in and look at things under a new lens with a lot of similar pieces.”

    The two seasons the Eagles went to the Super Bowl under Nick Sirianni, they had offensive coordinators with experience at the position: Shane Steichen and Kellen Moore, both of whom were hired as head coaches the following year.

    After embarrassing Kevin Patullo pile-on, Eagles must make Mike McDaniel their main OC target | David Murphy

    Credit to the defense

    One of few positive reflections Kelce had on the Eagles’ season was on their sturdy defense, offering praise for defensive coordinator Vic Fangio.

    “Defensively, they played great,” Kelce said. “In [the wild-card] game, they want some plays back, but they overcame so much. If you look at the difference between their pay, I think it’s the lowest-paid defense in the NFL, and their production, it is absolutely insane.

    “Vic Fangio and the entire staff of the defense has done a phenomenal job.”

    Viral 11-year-old Eagles fan Sam Salvo wanted Kevin Patullo flipping burgers. Now he says ‘it worked.’

    ‘No Dumb Questions’

    Also on the podcast, Jason and Travis Kelce announced their upcoming book, No Dumb Questions. It will be the brothers’ first published book, coming out on June 2. They also announced new New Heights merchandise, an Amazon shop called the Kelce Clubhouse, and more.

  • From Lane Johnson’s worth to a fan base’s anger, here’s what we learned about the 2025 Eagles

    From Lane Johnson’s worth to a fan base’s anger, here’s what we learned about the 2025 Eagles

    In the final scene of Burn After Reading, the Coen brothers’ brilliant comedy about government espionage and … divorce, a CIA administrator, played by J.K. Simmons, listens as a subordinate named Palmer lays out a wild sequence of events. To sum it up: Tilda Swinton is married to John Malkovich but has been having an affair with George Clooney, who himself is married but has been dating Frances McDormand, who is friends with both Brad Pitt, who gets shot in the face by Clooney, and Richard Jenkins, who is in love with McDormand but gets hacked to death with an ax by Malkovich, who is left in a coma after getting shot by a CIA agent. At the end of the story, a dumbfounded Simmons finally rolls his eyes and asks, “What did we learn, Palmer?”

    I don’t know about you, but that scene makes me think of the 2025 Eagles.

    So, what did we learn from this season? Here’s what:

    The offensive line has been the key to the Eagles’ success for years. This year, they lost that key.

    The debates around Jalen Hurts, Nick Sirianni, Kevin Patullo, and A.J. Brown — and around what Jalen Hurts, Nick Sirianni, Kevin Patullo, and A.J. Brown might have said to one another on the sideline during the Eagles’ loss Sunday night to the San Francisco 49ers — are all, to a large degree, academic. If the team’s offensive line had played at the level that it did in 2024, or anywhere close to that level, the entire scope of the season, let alone Sunday’s result, would have been different. One statistic clarifies how great the falloff was: Last season, Saquon Barkley averaged 3.8 yards before contact. This season, he averaged 1.4, according to TruMedia.

    Eagles linemen (from left) Tyler Steen, Cam Jurgens, and Landon Dickerson had their ups and downs this season.

    There are obvious explanations for the line’s regression: injuries, general wear and tear, replacing a road-grading guard in Mekhi Becton with a lesser run-blocker in Tyler Steen. Demoting Patullo, as the Eagles did Tuesday, was the predictable and correct move. Still, there’s no getting around the reality that one of the reasons few people complained about Kellen Moore’s play-calling in 2024 is that the 2024 OL could create holes and lanes for Barkley anytime, anywhere. Patullo did not have that luxury, and it’s unlikely the next conductor of the Eagles offense will, either, because …

    The 2025 Eagles played not to lose. In the end, that’s why they did.

    … Lane Johnson has been the franchise’s most important player for a long time, and his future is murky. He turns 36 in May. He didn’t play after mid-November because of a Lisfranc sprain in his right foot. He is a surefire Hall of Famer. Since the Eagles drafted him in 2013, their record with him is 110-57-1, and their record without him is 18-27. The end of a great career is approaching, perhaps not next season but certainly sometime soon, and the franchise has to start making plans to replace him or to mitigate the effect of his absence. One way would be to draft some promising offensive linemen. Another would be …

    … for the Eagles to set themselves up as a defense-first team. That’s where their best young players are, and there are such players at every tier of the unit: Jalen Carter, Jordan Davis, and Moro Ojomo at tackle; Jalyx Hunt and Jihaad Campbell on the edge; Zack Baun and Nakobe Dean (if they can keep him) at linebacker; Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean in the secondary. Plus, well, Vic Fangio. And the Eagles are going to need that defense to be elite, or as close as possible, because …

    … the questions about Jalen Hurts aren’t going away. The biggest of them, ahead of the 2025 season, was whether the Eagles could rely on him more than they once did. In ’24, their running game was so dominant that they could get away with throwing the ball less often than any other team in the NFL and still win the Super Bowl. This season — without Barkley ripping off 6 yards every carry, with Hurts himself running less frequently and without the same explosiveness he had in the past — the offense sputtered and stalled. Given that Hurts will turn 28 in August and has absorbed his share of punishment over his five years as the Eagles’ starter, it’s fair to wonder whether that dynamism with his legs is gone forever.

    Jalen Hurts is tackled by San Francisco’s Keion White and C.J. West during the fourth quarter of the playoff loss on Sunday.

    It’s not that the Eagles can’t win a championship with Hurts. Of course they can. They did. It’s that they have to ask themselves, What conditions do we have to create to ensure that Hurts will be at his best, and can we create them? The Eagles and everyone around them have to set their expectations for Hurts and the entire franchise accordingly, for these last five-plus months proved that …

    … Philly fans are at their worst when their teams don’t meet expectations. Based on the collective outrage since Sunday’s game, you’d never know that the Eagles won a Super Bowl less than a year ago and haven’t had a losing season in five years.

    Eagles fans react during the wild-card playoff loss to San Francisco.

    There seems to be a repulsive sense of entitlement and hair-trigger anger growing within the fan base, symbolized by a Bucks County indoor golf course whose owners allowed customers to drive balls at a projection of Patullo’s face. Patullo already had someone chuck eggs at his house in November, and if that incident could be dismissed as dumb kids doing dumb things, this one had a calculated maliciousness to it, especially considering the way it spread over social media.

    You want to be a jerk in the privacy of your own home? Go for it. But a business or anyone else doing something like this for the likes and the attention is lousy, and it has the potential to snowball into something worse. It doesn’t matter how bad a play-caller Patullo was or wasn’t. Cut out the juvenile crap. The Eagles lost. Grow up and get over it.

  • After embarrassing Kevin Patullo pile-on, Eagles must make Mike McDaniel their main OC target

    After embarrassing Kevin Patullo pile-on, Eagles must make Mike McDaniel their main OC target

    The worst kind of mob is the one that is displacing its aggression. Then again, maybe every mob is that kind of mob. The more unhinged the vitriol, the more concentrated its direction, the more likely it is driven by fears and frustrations that are much more difficult to reconcile than the ones that have bubbled to the surface. The easier the target, the more likely it is the wrong one. Because the fixes are rarely easy.

    Kevin Patullo isn’t the first person to experience the downside of this city’s manic emotional instability when it comes to professional sports. He might be the first one to have his house egged, and he almost certainly is the first one to have his image offered as a target by a golf simulator company. But the general phenomenon is something that we see any time a Philly sports team underperforms expectations to the extent that the Eagles offense did this season. Frustration is a lot easier to process if you can convince yourself that it would not exist but for the gross incompetence of one person. It is even easier when that person has a job that is relatively easy to replace.

    My point here isn’t to shame anybody. Actually, my point is to lobby the Eagles to spend whatever it takes to hire Mike McDaniel as their offensive coordinator. It’s a move that would give them a radical upgrade in play-calling and game-planning expertise and that would give them a fighting chance at reinventing a scheme that has stagnated under Patullo and Nick Sirianni and may be obsolete due to some serious personnel regression. But I also feel a little bit guilty expressing an opinion that legitimizes or adds to the unrestrained and oftentimes unthinking pile-on of poor Patullo that we’ve witnessed here over the last month-plus. It should be possible to criticize and/or question a person’s professional performance without disregarding the person part of it, especially when that person is someone who lives among us in the community and whose kids attend our schools.

    Kevin Patullo out as Eagles offensive coordinator

    I’m not suggesting that everybody, or even most people, have crossed the line into gratuitous abuse/humiliation. It sure feels that way in the aggregate, though. I don’t have a personal relationship with Patullo. If I did, I would certainly apologize to him on the city’s behalf. I actually think most people would do the same if they randomly found themselves talking to him one-on-one, maybe in an airport bar, or at their kid’s CYO game. I suppose that’s another funny characteristic of mobs.

    I wasn’t going to bring up any of this. Mostly because I don’t want a mob to come after me. I know I’ll be accused of saying something I’m not actually saying, a common mob tactic that serves to stake out a defensible rhetorical position and reframe an argument into one that can actually be won. So, although it won’t matter, I will say it again. I agree with a lot of the criticisms of the Eagles’ offense, and that Sirianni’s decision to make a change at offensive coordinator is both warranted and necessary.

    Kevin Patullo (center) talks with quarterback Jalen Hurts on Sunday in what was his final game calling plays for the Eagles.

    That said, Eagles fans and media will be setting themselves up for a self-perpetuating cycle of offseasons like this one if they will not acknowledge the very obvious structural problems that exist well below the play-calling level on this Eagles offense. Even when this unit was at its best, it was trying to score points the same way it did under Patullo this season. The formula is the same as it was under Sirianni or Shane Steichen or Brian Johnson or Kellen Moore. The scheme and the personnel structure are built to stay ahead of the sticks with dominant run-blocking and to fill in the blanks with big plays from their elite talent at wide receiver and running back.

    Listen to what DeVonta Smith said on Sunday when somebody asked him if the Eagles’ scheme needed to change after their season-ending loss to the 49ers.

    “This the scheme that we’ve been in the whole time [since I’ve been here],” the receiver said. “Whatever anybody thinks, nothing changed. It’s the same scheme.”

    Who will be the Eagles’ next offensive coordinator? Start with these eight names.

    Other players and coaches have said it countless times. Nobody seems to want to accept it. Yes, the Eagles have had four offensive coordinators in four seasons. And, yes, the offense was markedly worse this season than it was in the past. But it was the same scheme. It was the same philosophy.

    The biggest difference between the Eagles offense this season and last season? On Sunday against the 49ers, Eagles running backs had eight carries that gained zero or negative yards. They had 20 such carries all last postseason, over four games. Eight on 30 carries against the dilapidated 49ers defense vs. 20 on 108 carries against the Rams, Packers, Chiefs, and Commanders last year.

    Lane Johnson, one of the NFL’s ultimate warriors, is battling a foot injury that kept him from playing Sunday. Landon Dickerson basically shrugged when somebody asked him if he could get his body back to where it was last season. Cam Jurgens was pushed around all afternoon against the 49ers.

    Mike McDaniel spent four seasons as Miami’s head coach and is a highly coveted candidate for several head coaching and offensive coordinator openings.

    The Eagles’ only option is to bring in a fresh set of eyes and a proven track record of inventive run-scheming. They need to reinvent this offense, and McDaniel is the perfect mind to do it. Since he arrived in Miami in 2022, the Dolphins rank sixth in rushing average at 4.5 yards per attempt. He did this while also calling an offense that saw quarterback Tua Tagovailoa throw for 4,624 yards and go 11-6 in 2023.

    There are all kinds of reasons to think it won’t happen. McDaniel is an eccentric personality who has spent the last four seasons with total control. Vic Fangio lasted less than one season as his defensive coordinator. McDaniel already reportedly has an interview scheduled with the Lions, who can offer him a good offensive line, excellent pass-catchers, and a running back that has the Devon Achane mold in Jahmyr Gibbs. That’s if McDaniel doesn’t land one of the remarkable nine head-coaching jobs that are currently open.

    All the more reason for the Eagles to be aggressive. Howie Roseman and Jeffrey Lurie pride themselves on being ahead of the curve. They’d rather be a year early than a year late. Right now, it is getting late early. McDaniel or not, they need a new voice, an inventive mind, and a fresh set of eyes. Anybody else will end up right where Patullo is. And that’s not fair to anybody.

  • Viral 11-year-old Eagles fan Sam Salvo wanted Kevin Patullo flipping burgers. Now he says ‘it worked.’

    Viral 11-year-old Eagles fan Sam Salvo wanted Kevin Patullo flipping burgers. Now he says ‘it worked.’

    When 11-year-old Sam Salvo woke up on Christmas morning, he was surprised with tickets to the Eagles’ wild-card game. When he woke up on Monday morning, after the Eagles’ loss, he was all over the internet, thanks to his viral postgame rant.

    “[When I got the tickets], I didn’t know who they were playing, but I was already excited,” Salvo said. “I thought they were going to win. I was like ready to do a backflip. I was so excited.”

    Salvo remembers the excitement leading up to kickoff. Lincoln Financial Field, covered in Eagles green as fans piled in to watch the Birds take on the San Francisco 49ers, was ready to erupt. The Eagles took a six-point lead into the fourth quarter, but their Super Bowl defense ended early with a 23-19 defeat.

    “It went from everyone being excited to be there, everyone getting ready for a dub,” Salvo said. “Then everyone got pretty sad really quickly. Everyone around me was sad.”

    However, one fan in the crowd said something that resonated with Salvo: Win or lose, we’re the [expletive] Birds.

    Fans, former Eagles react to Kevin Patullo’s ouster with cheers, jokes, and visions of Big Dom calling plays

    So Salvo left the stadium with his head held high, despite the crushing loss, and that’s when an opportunity presented itself. As he and his father walked toward the parking lot, they noticed 6abc reporter Briana Smith conducting interviews.

    “When we were walking past the broadcaster, my dad was like, ‘No, I’m not trying to waste any time here,’” Salvo said. “And then I said, ‘I want to do it.’ So, I did it.”

    The Blue Bell native stepped up to the microphone and let out what has become one of the most viral lines to come out of the Eagles’ playoff loss: I also want Kevin Patullo flipping burgers at the local McDonald’s.

    “Whenever he’s an offensive coordinator,” Salvo told the camera, “it’s like he’s flipping burgers. … One half he’s cooking, and the other half is completely raw.”

    The original post has more than a million likes. For Salvo, the attention was unexpected.

    “Absolutely not [was I expecting it to go viral]. I had no idea,” the sixth grader said. “I was just hyped that I was on the news. Small win. But I never thought that I would expand this far.”

    The video has gained more than 20 million views on Instagram alone — in fact, that’s just the original post, and does not count the tens of millions of views its received on other platforms and in other posts. Naturally, Salvo has become quite the popular kid.

    Who will be the Eagles’ next offensive coordinator? Start with these eight names.

    But the thing Salvo is most excited about is that Patullo has now been removed as the Eagles offensive coordinator.

    “[After the game] I was thinking about how much the offense changed when Kevin Patullo came in,” Salvo said shortly after the news broke Tuesday. “So I just wanted to say anything about him that could get him fired. And it worked.

    “I’m feeling good about it. Now we can hire a new offensive coordinator. If we could get Mike McDaniel as offensive coordinator, I think that would be great.”

    Kevin Patullo lasted just one season as the Eagles offensive coordinator.

    Salvo says he’s been bleeding green ever since his uncle gave him his first jersey … when he was born. Now, he also enjoys watching and analyzing games, listening to New Heights with Travis and Jason Kelce, and tuning into The Pat McAfee Show.

    “He’s always been around grown-ups,” said his mother Zuzana. “So football Sundays have always been a huge thing. The talk and all that stuff has always been a big part of his life. You cannot stop that fire.”

    Salvo’s passion for football is something he hopes to turn into a career down the line, if he doesn’t become a pro tennis player.

    “I will absolutely try and be a football announcer,” Salvo said. “I don’t care if it’s college football, just any football.”

    Jason Kelce defends Kevin Patullo but blasts ‘mediocre’ Eagles; Donovan McNabb points finger at A.J. Brown

    And as far as next steps for the Eagles this offseason, Salvo has a few more opinions on Eagles wide receiver A.J. Brown, whom he also said also needs to go during his viral interview.

    “I’m not going to be mad if he stays, but I need him to show a little bit more effort,” Salvo said. “Because it’s been kind of annoying when we’ve been throwing him deep balls and he’s been showing no effort to even try and catch it.”

    Brown, who had a heated exchange with Nick Sirianni during Sunday’s loss, has dodged the media twice since the end of the season.

    But if anyone can get a reaction, it’s Salvo.

  • Fans, former Eagles react to Kevin Patullo news with cheers, jokes, and visions of Big Dom calling plays

    Fans, former Eagles react to Kevin Patullo news with cheers, jokes, and visions of Big Dom calling plays

    After one season as Eagles offensive coordinator, Kevin Patullo’s play-calling career is officially over in Philadelphia.

    Patullo was the favored target for disgruntled Eagles fans throughout the season, but especially after the team’s wild-card round loss to San Francisco. His home was vandalized in November, a local golf simulator facility let fans hit golf balls at a photo of his face, and of course, he’s been getting flack from fans on social media all season long.

    So it was no surprise that the announcement that the Eagles would find a new offensive coordinator for next season was met with cheers from most of the fans.

    Who will be the Eagles’ next offensive coordinator? Start with these eight names.

    While most fans are celebrating the decision, it appears that Patullo might not be gone entirely.

    Either way, fans didn’t let their celebratory mood stop them from getting a joke off at Patullo’s expense.

    As far as former players, Ike Reese said on 94 WIP that he thought Patullo was being made a scapegoat for the team’s failures this season.

    “Let’s be honest — Kevin Patullo is a first-year offensive coordinator,” Reese said. “He was supposed to take the 29th-ranked passing offense and turn it into what, exactly?”

    The Jalen Hurts roller coaster is about to lose Kevin Patullo. How will the next rider fare?

    Emmanuel Acho, on the other hand, praised the move, and said Patullo’s failure should be the end of coach Nick Sirianni’s attempts to hire from within.

    Some fans agree.

    Even LeSean McCoy, who said earlier this week that he believed some of the problems on offense were due to Jalen Hurts, was thankful to see the team move on.

    Free-agent moves? Stars moving on? Answering all of the Eagles’ biggest offseason questions

    So, who’s next for the Eagles?

    Whoever it is — even if it’s a former coach of a division rival — Philly fans are looking forward to moving on from Patullo.

    Jason Kelce defends Kevin Patullo but blasts ‘mediocre’ Eagles; Donovan McNabb points finger at A.J. Brown
  • Who will be the Eagles’ next offensive coordinator? Start with these eight names.

    Who will be the Eagles’ next offensive coordinator? Start with these eight names.

    Jalen Hurts will begin his sixth season as the Eagles’ starting quarterback in September. He is about to have his seventh play-caller. Kevin Patullo, the 44-year-old, first-time offensive coordinator, was removed from his position on Tuesday in the aftermath of the Eagles’ wild-card exit. Now, Nick Sirianni and the Eagles will be tasked with hiring the team’s next offensive play-caller. The team’s last two internal promotions — Patullo and Brian Johnson — were finished after one season. If the team decides to fill the vacancy with an outside voice, here are eight candidates they could consider:

    Brian Daboll is out of work after a mostly bad tenure with the Giants but is respected in league circles for his offensive mind.

    Brian Daboll

    Could the Eagles tap a division rival’s former head coach as their next offensive coordinator? Daboll, 50, was fired in November in the middle of his fourth season with the New York Giants. He has a history with Hurts, serving as Alabama’s offensive coordinator when Hurts was there in 2017, which culminated in a national championship.

    Daboll has extensive experience as an offensive coordinator at the NFL level, serving in that role with the Cleveland Browns (2009-10), Miami Dolphins (2011), Kansas City Chiefs (2012), and Buffalo Bills (2018-21). With the Bills, he helped develop a young Josh Allen. But could he be bound for another head coaching gig? He is reportedly interviewing with the Tennessee Titans.

    Kliff Kingsbury received high marks for his work with Jayden Daniels in 2024.

    Kliff Kingsbury

    How about another division rival’s former offensive coordinator? The Washington Commanders fired Kingsbury, 46, following their 5-12 season after two seasons in that role. He has worked with various notable quarterbacks, including Patrick Mahomes at Texas Tech, Kyler Murray with the Arizona Cardinals, and Jayden Daniels with the Commanders.

    At the NFL level, Kingsbury called plays as the Cardinals head coach from 2019-22 and with the Commanders. While he came up in the “Air Raid” scheme, his offense in Washington attempted to strike a balance between the run and pass. He is drawing head coaching interest, though, as he interviewed with the Baltimore Ravens on Monday.

    Nate Scheelhaase

    Scheelhaase, 35, is currently serving as the Los Angeles Rams passing game coordinator. It’s just his second season coaching in the NFL, including his 2024 stint as a Rams offensive assistant and passing game specialist, but he has made a quick impact. Scheelhaase has helped coach Sean McVay orchestrate a passing game that led the league in yards in 2025 and ranked 10th in 2024 with Matthew Stafford as its quarterback.

    He doesn’t have NFL play-calling experience. However, he called plays at Iowa State in 2023 as offensive coordinator under new Penn State coach Matt Campbell (Sirianni’s roommate at Mount Union). The Eagles might have to get in line — according to multiple reports, the Las Vegas Raiders and the Cleveland Browns have requested interviews with Scheelhaase regarding their head coaching vacancies.

    Klay Kubiak

    Could the Eagles tap the offensive coordinator for the team that knocked them out of the playoffs this year? Kubiak, 37, doesn’t call plays under San Francisco 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan, so the Eagles could attempt to interview him. Is he ready for that responsibility? Kubiak, the middle son of former Houston Texans and Denver Broncos coach Gary Kubiak, has spent all five seasons of his NFL coaching career with the 49ers. Among his previous titles were offensive passing game specialist (2024) and assistant quarterbacks coach (2022-23).

    Todd Monken had some success with Lamar Jackson before John Harbaugh’s staff was fired earlier this month.

    Todd Monken

    The 59-year-old Monken is the most experienced candidate on this list, as he concluded his 37th season coaching (11 at the pro level) this year. He spent the last three seasons as the Baltimore Ravens’ offensive coordinator under former coach John Harbaugh, working with dual-threat quarterback Lamar Jackson, who won his second NFL MVP award under Monken in 2023, and All-Pro running back Derrick Henry. Monken served in the same role with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2016-18) and the Cleveland Browns (2019).

    But would Monken be willing to part ways with Harbaugh, who is bound to get hired to another head coaching gig this offseason? According to The Athletic, one of the issues that led to Harbaugh’s firing in Baltimore was his unwillingness to oust Monken. Monken has interviewed with the Browns regarding their head coaching gig, too.

    Mike McDaniel was Vic Fangio’s boss in Miami and would be his peer in Philadelphia, under this scenario.

    Mike McDaniel

    Could Vic Fangio reunite with his former head coach? McDaniel, 42, was fired by the Dolphins last week after four seasons as their head coach and offensive play-caller. He is part of the Shanahan coaching tree, having worked with both Mike in Denver and Washington and Kyle in Atlanta and San Francisco, including a stint as the 49ers’ offensive coordinator in 2021. Like Shanahan’s offense, McDaniel’s scheme is known for its emphasis on speed and misdirection. He has expertise in the running game, having spent four seasons as the 49ers’ running game coordinator (2017-20). McDaniel reportedly will interview for head coaching jobs (Browns, Falcons, Titans, and Ravens) and an offensive coordinator position (Detroit Lions), so he is in high demand.

    Doug Nussmeier has experience with the Eagles, but the current Saints offensive coordinator would have to come to Philadelphia in a lateral move.

    Doug Nussmeier

    Could the Eagles turn to a familiar face to fill the vacancy? Nussmeier spent the 2024 Super Bowl-winning season as the Eagles’ quarterbacks coach under Kellen Moore. While the running game was the focal point of the offense, Hurts was efficient as a passer that year, completing a career-best 68.7% of his passes and throwing just five interceptions, his lowest total as the starter.

    When Moore departed for the New Orleans Saints’ head coaching job, he took Nussmeier with him and made him offensive coordinator (with Moore as the play-caller). The 2025 season was Nussmeier’s first with that title in the NFL, but he’s been an offensive coordinator at various college programs, including Fresno State, Washington, Alabama, Michigan, and Florida.

    Frank Reich was a head coach in Indianapolis and Carolina, and also has a winning past in Philly.

    Frank Reich

    The familiar faces don’t end with Nussmeier. Reich, the former Eagles offensive coordinator (2016-17) under Doug Pederson, could be available after spending the 2025 season as Stanford’s interim head coach. With the hiring of new coach Tavita Pritchard, Stanford announced that Reich would stay on as a senior adviser. But could he be lured back to the NFL? He brings six years of NFL head coaching experience with Sirianni and the Indianapolis Colts (2018-22) and the Carolina Panthers (2023). Reich also worked with Sirianni while he was the offensive coordinator of the San Diego Chargers (2014-15) and Sirianni served as quarterbacks coach.

  • Kevin Patullo out as Eagles offensive coordinator

    Kevin Patullo out as Eagles offensive coordinator

    The Eagles fell from eighth in total offense in 2024 to 24th in 2025. Their historic running game from 2024 fell off despite returning 10 of 11 starters. And in the end, it is first-year offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo who will face the consequences.

    The Eagles announced Tuesday that Patullo had been removed as offensive coordinator two days after they were knocked from the NFL playoffs with a 23-19 home defeat to the San Francisco 49ers, a game that was a microcosm of the season for the Eagles and their offense.

    It is possible that Patullo could remain on the staff in another role, according to a source.

    The Eagles managed just six points in the second half against a banged-up and below-average 49ers defense that seemed there for the taking. Their playoff hopes ended and Patullo’s fate was sealed when Jalen Hurts threw an incomplete pass into triple coverage on fourth-and-11 from San Francisco’s 21-yard line with 40 seconds left in the game.

    The Eagles kept things in house when they elevated Patullo, who has been with the team since head coach Nick Sirianni was hired in 2021, from passing game coordinator to offensive coordinator a year ago after Kellen Moore left to become the head coach of the New Orleans Saints. But continuity on the coaching staff did not result in continued offensive success for the Eagles.

    In a statement, Sirianni said he “met with Kevin today to discuss the difficult decision.”

    “He has been integral to the team’s success over the last five years, not only to the on-the-field product but behind the scenes as a valued leader for our players and organization,” Sirianni said.

    “Ultimately, when we fall short of our goals, that responsibility lies on my shoulders.”

    The Jalen Hurts roller coaster is about to lose Kevin Patullo. How will the next rider fare?

    Some of the Eagles’ issues were out of Patullo’s control. A once-elite offensive line, for example, was rarely if ever at full strength. But other things were in his control, like the play-calling and the scheming of an offense that couldn’t force teams out of stacked boxes with a dynamic enough aerial assault. Or scheming a running offense that found ways to utilize Saquon Barkley’s skill set and find him more space.

    Kevin Patullo talks with Jalen Hurts on fourth down late in the fourth quarter against the 49ers.

    To Patullo’s credit, the Eagles had the most efficient red zone offense in the league and turned opportunities into touchdowns at a higher rate (70.45%) than any other team. Getting into the red zone, however, was an issue. The Eagles had a higher three-and-out percentage than even the New York Jets and too often were stagnant offensively.

    Patullo’s removal as coordinator marks the second time the Eagles internally hired and then removed a first-year offensive coordinator in the last three seasons. They elevated Brian Johnson from quarterbacks coach to coordinator in 2023 and then fired him after a smaller regression than the one Patullo oversaw.

    Free-agent moves? Stars moving on? Answering all of the Eagles’ biggest offseason questions

    Patullo, 44, spent time with Sirianni on the Indianapolis Colts coaching staff and was brought to the Eagles with Sirianni in 2021 as the passing game coordinator. Patullo added an associate head coach title in 2023 before becoming offensive coordinator. Before the Eagles, Patullo was a passing game specialist with the Colts and also spent time as the team’s wide receivers coach.

    The Eagles’ next offensive coordinator will be the seventh play-caller Hurts has had in the NFL in what will be his seventh NFL season. Before Patullo, Hurts had Doug Pederson, Sirianni, Shane Steichen, Johnson, and Moore. Hurts also had six play-callers in college.

    The next one will be a critical hire charged with revamping a high-priced offense. The Eagles are likely to cast a wide net.

    This is a developing story that may be updated.

    Staff writer Jeff McLane contributed to this article.

  • Jason Kelce defends Kevin Patullo but blasts ‘mediocre’ Eagles; Donovan McNabb points finger at A.J. Brown

    Jason Kelce defends Kevin Patullo but blasts ‘mediocre’ Eagles; Donovan McNabb points finger at A.J. Brown

    It’s been two days since the Eagles’ loss to the San Francisco 49ers and fans are demanding the firing of Kevin Patullo, calling for A.J. Brown to get traded, and looking ahead to an offseason of change — from free agency to the draft to the start of training camp.

    The Eagles season ended sooner than expected, and that means there are plenty of questions surrounding the team as eight others continue to battle in the playoffs. Here’s what they’re saying about the Birds after their early exit …

    ‘Mediocre across the board’

    Former Eagles center Jason Kelce believes the offensive coordinator isn’t the only person who should be blamed for Sunday’s loss.

    “I know that everybody is out on Kevin Patullo. I happen to know the guy, I love Kevin Patullo,” Kelce said on ESPN’s Monday Night Countdown. “I know he’s a great coach. I know it wasn’t the best performance this year, offensively. They had the No. 1 highest-paid offense in the league and were mediocre across the board. That’s unacceptable. They had their chances to win that game [Sunday]. The players didn’t make the plays.”

    The 49ers defense held the Eagles to 19 points in Sunday’s loss at Lincoln Financial Field. Kelce praised the San Francisco defense for its efforts in the win over the defending champs.

    “What Robert Saleh did to that defense, it’s commendable what they’ve done to get to here,” Kelce said. “It’s absolutely a testament to that organization and how well they’re built and how they function across the board. Kyle Shanahan with the trickeration, finding a way to get things open. You tip your cap to them. But Philly had their opportunities.”

    The Jalen Hurts roller coaster is about to lose Kevin Patullo. How will the next rider fare?

    Patullo ‘needs to be gone’

    Although Kelce may not be among those calling for Patullo to get fired, his coworker Marcus Spears certainly is.

    “I’m not going to teeter around it, Kevin Patullo’s [butt] needs to be gone,” Spears said on Monday Night Countdown. “This was a horrible year of calling the offensive plays. And I don’t think the Philadelphia Eagles offense is as bad as we watched it based on the talent. That’s what kept us on the string all year long.”

    ‘They’re not trying unless they’re trailing’

    Patullo has been a member of the Birds coaching staff since Nick Sirianni arrived five seasons ago, but this was his first year as the offensive coordinator after he replaced Kellen Moore, who took the head coaching position with the New Orleans Saints. After the Birds’ short postseason run, ESPN’s Get Up show posed the question: Was Kevin Patullo the Eagles’ weakest link this season?

    “The frustrating part about watching that offense, and it’s happened all year and it’s very on display in this game, is that it appears as if they’re not trying unless they’re trailing,” Domonique Foxworth said on Tuesday. “What I’m watching in the second half, it’s second-and-8, it’s second-and-10, it’s third-and-10, it’s third-and-11. And they’re running the ball and throwing swing passes. I’m not a fan of the Eagles, I’m just a fan of football. Like, come on. I imagine Eagles fans are watching this like, ‘Try something. We won a Super Bowl last year. We’ve been together all year and our answer on third-and-10 is a swing pass to Saquon Barkley?’”

    Free-agent moves? Stars moving on? Answering all of the Eagles’ biggest offseason questions

    A lot was made about the Eagles going conservative in the second half Sunday, but it’s been an issue throughout the season.

    “This is the point that we made about this team all year. And maybe they just weren’t as good as we wanted them to pretend that they were,” Foxworth continued. “But the point that we made was, the reason we wanted them to be more aggressive offensively is that there will come a game where the breaks won’t come your way and you wish that you would have extended the lead. And I’m watching this game and they’re like, ‘We’re up by one, let’s go ahead and punt.’”

    Foxworth also noted the difference between how the Eagles and Niners attacked those situations, with San Francisco being proactive while the Eagles seemed content to sit back and wait for something to happen.

    “You watch this [49ers] team, which knows they’re not that good — or knows that they don’t have that much of a margin of error — they’re like, ‘Look, we’ve got to take shots.’ And we’re watching the Eagles like, ‘Come on. Do something, do something, do something.’”

    Eagles wide receiver A.J. Brown had multiple costly drops in the team’s wild-card loss.

    ‘Our offense becomes dull and stale’

    Although most of the blame is being directed toward Patullo, there are some critics, including former Eagles running back LeSean McCoy, who have questioned Jalen Hurts’ role in this year’s predictable offense.

    McCoy went on The Speakeasy podcast after the game and said the quarterback was holding back the offense. “We can’t do different exotic looks, different formations, different motions because I’m hearing that [Hurts] can’t really do it,” he said.

    Nick Sirianni had a worse year than Kevin Patullo, Jalen Hurts, A.J. Brown, or anyone on the Eagles | Marcus Hayes

    But Hurts didn’t appear to hold back the offense a year ago, and former Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb defended the Super Bowl LIX MVP on 94 WIP.

    “Let me break it down for this, and I know there’s a lot of rumblings about what Jalen wants to run and what he doesn’t like,” McNabb said. “He’s deserving of that decision as the quarterback of the franchise. He’s the face of the franchise. He’s won you a Super Bowl. He’s been Super Bowl MVP. You know he’s been in this league long enough where he decides what he likes and what he doesn’t like.

    “It’s our choice as the quarterback to be able to be comfortable with what we’re calling. So we can eliminate that whole mindset that everybody on the outside is trying to create. That whole narrative.”

    Instead, to McNabb, there was one critical moment that changed the Eagles offense for the rest of the season.

    “To me, with this offense, everything shifted ever since A.J. [Brown] started talking he wasn’t getting the ball,” said McNabb, who played alongside another outspoken wide receiver in Terrell Owens. “The offense shifted and everything was kind of going to A.J., and DeVonta [Smith] being the third option. And so, that’s kind of to me where it took us away from what we were very successful with last season to what’s going on with this season. And we didn’t make that change.

    “And so we’re trying to please people now. So, our offense becomes dull and stale because we don’t move guys around.”

    Will A.J. Brown be traded? Kevin Patullo fired? Is Jalen Hurts holding Eagles back? Here’s what they’re saying.