If Eagles fire Nick Sirianni, here’s who should replace him | ‘Status quo’ is unacceptable

16/01/2024

What should a team do after losing six of their last seven games following a 10-1 start?

That’s the question facing the Philadelphia Eagles after their 32-9 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the NFC wild-card game Monday night.

As ESPN’s Troy Aikman put it in the post-game show, “You cannot go into next season as status quo (and) there’s going to have to be some changes,” which could very well be coach Nick Sirianni getting fired — a year after taking the team to the Super Bowl and with a career 34-17 regular-season record.

Eagles fans (and others) were quick to offer their suggestions for owner Jeffrey Lurie and general manager Howie Roseman on social media. Here are some of them:

♦ Mike Vrabel: Three-time Super Bowl champion as a player who was recently (surprisingly) fired by the Tennessee Titans after a 6-11 season. He had a 54-45 record in six seasons.

“Mike Vrabel needs to be the next head coach do the #Eagles,” MLFootball wrote on X. “He will bring the physicality to this team that they are clearly missing and his teams are never unprepared. He will make Philly fearful again, his passion is like no other, would be an ELECTRIC duo.”

♦ Ben Johnson: The 37-year-old is in his fifth season with the Detroit Lions and second as their offensive coordinator. He has helped revive QB Jared Goff’s career by leading an offense that ranked third in yards and fifth in points this season.

♦ Bobby Slowik: The 36-year-old Princeton native is in his first season as the Houston Texans offensive coordinator after spending six with the San Francisco 49ers as their passing game coordinator. He has helped C.J. Stroud, the No. 1 overall pick in 2023, become one of the best young quarterbacks, while leading the 13th-scoring offense. The Texans just dominated the Cleveland Browns 45-14 in the AFC wild-card game.

“Ben Johnson is in a class of his own,” one fan wrote on Reddit. I really think Bobby Slowik would be the hire tho(ugh)…”

♦ Bill Belichick: The six-time Super Bowl champion recently split from the New England Patriots after 24 seasons. He’d bring immediate accountability to the Eagles’ locker room.

“You get one of Vrabel or Belichick,” one fan wrote on Reddit. “At this point it’s really about doing the simple (stuff). BB or Vrabel would get into the ass of our players and make them execute the basics. Running, slants, checkdowns and above all… DEFENSE.

“You get one of those two and everything else falls into place.”

“Legit excited to see if Belichick’s agent can pit the Eagles & Cowboys against each other in a bidding war for his services,” FS1′s Nick Wright wrote on X.

♦ Frank Smith: Smith has spent the last two seasons as the Miami Dolphins’ offensive coordinator after offensive positions with the New Orleans Saints, Chicago Bears, Las Vegas Raiders and Los Angeles Chargers. Miami’s offense ranked first in yards and second in points in 2023, but it scored one touchdown with 264 total yards in the 26-7 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC wild-card game played in fridig temperatures.

Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting us with a subscription.

OTHER NEWS