The Eagles are Super Bowl Champions, and Nick Sirianni has etched his name into NFL history as the first Eagles coach to make multiple Super Bowls. Today he is surely the toast of the town, a legend and hero to Philadelphia sports fans, some of whom were calling for his job just a year ago.
I see a lot of similarities between the Dolphins Coach Mike McDaniel and Nick Sirianni, both keen offensive minds brought into their current franchises to get the most out of quarterbacks drafted by previous regimes. They both saw early success, coaching their teams to multiple playoff appearances, but also struggled with the all-encompassing nature of being the head coach, not just the leader behind the offensive game plan.
If you’ve watched the Dolphins over the past three years, there have undoubtedly been moments that have left you feeling frustrated, if not angry, when it comes to the offensive gameplay and clock management. Players not in the right spot, or motioning as time is running out, timeouts burned because the play took too long to get into the quarterback, or worst of all, challenges made without a prayer of the call being overturned. McDaniel’s genius is undeniable but it comes at the cost of some of the larger head coaching responsibilities. This is an area that fans have picked up on and criticized, begging him to take a step back from planning the offensive game plan and calling the plays.
Nick Sirianni faced similar criticisms in his first season as a head coach where he also pulled double duty as head coach and play caller. Midway through the season, Sirianni gave up play-calling duties to Shane Steichen, a move he recounted following the Eagle’s week 1 game against the Packers this season, as John McMullen reported for Sports Illustrated
“The reason I gave up the play calling to Shane a couple years ago was because I wanted to manage the game better,” Sirianni said.
The Eagles would finish with a 9-8 record and a first-round loss to the defending champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He remained engaged with installing the offensive game plan while Steichen ran the offense in 2022, leading to the Eagles making the Super Bowl and Steichen being hired as head coach for the Indianapolis Colts. This led to Quarterback Coach Brian Johnson being promoted to Offensive Coordinator, with the same set up, Sirianni made the game plan while Johnson called the plays. The Eagles took a big step back on offense and despite starting 10-1 finished the season 11-6, losing in the first round of the playoffs. Johnson would be fired and Sirianni would be at an impasse. Many fans thought that he should also be let go, and if the team didn’t see major success in 2024, he probably would have been canned.
This is in my mind the exact situation that Mike McDaniel is in with the Dolphins, early success, followed by a hot start the next season 9-3 in Miami’s case, ending in a collapse to finish 11-6 and a first round playoff exit. This season was more or less a wash in terms of evaluation due to Tua’s injury but he is now on the hot seat in the same way Sirianni was last year. The difference being that Sirianni hired Kellen Moore to not only call the plays for Philadelphia but also install the offensive game plan. This allowed Sirianni to focus on his job as the leader of the team. He talked about the decision in an interview with CBS sports this summer.
“At the end of the day you always have to do what you feel is best for the team. I think that’s selflessness. Regardless of how much I love something, it’s what’s best for the team.”
This is something that McDaniel has refused to do which has been frustrating for fans to accept. Just last month, he was asked if he had any intention of giving up playing calling, and once again, he said he didn’t.
“Yeah, I think I always consider it, just because that’s something that I don’t enter into for any other reason but I think the team is best served with me calling the plays. The second that changes, I’ll change that. It’s not a self-serving process and part of the evaluation process in general is am I doing this because I’m the best person to facilitate this within this offense and our players, and the second that changes, I’ll change.” McDaniel said.
I think I speak for many fans when I say that has changed from our point of view. McDaniel has taken the team to heights they hadn’t regularly seen in years but there does seem to be a ceiling to things. The ceiling is a first-round exit or missing the playoffs in a heartbreaking fashion at the end of the season. If McDaniel is serious about winning a title he needs to be like Sirianni and focus his efforts on finding an offensive coordinator he trusts to install the game plan and call plays. This will allow him to turn his attention to being the best head coach he can be.
