Getty Dallas Cowboys special teams coordinator John Fassel has emerged as a head-coaching candidate for the Philadelphia Eagles.
The Philadelphia Eagles continue to cast a wide net on their head-coaching search despite rumors of an impending marriage to Josh McDaniels. On Tuesday, team owner Jeffrey Lurie was reportedly interviewing two more candidates in Florida.
The first one was Indianapolis Colts offensive coordinator Nick Sirianni who has 11 years of NFL coaching experience. The 39-year-old coach has worked under Frank Reich for three years while ranking 10th in total offense (378.1 yards per game) in 2020. The Colts also ranked ninth-best in total points (28.2) and third-best in giveaways (15). He is widely regarded as a quarterback developer.
Indianapolis Colts’ offensive coordinator Nick Sirianni is interviewing today for the Eagles’ HC job, per source.
His coaching history spans almost two decades and favors the offensive side. Prior to Indianapolis, Sirianni worked as a wide receivers coach and quarterbacks coach for both the Chiefs and Chargers while serving a brief college stint as a defensive backs coach. The one thing he hasn’t done in Indy is called the offensive plays since it’s a job Reich enjoys doing — although Sirianni has input on those calls, especially when it comes to evaluating down and distance.
“Nick and I talk a lot about these fourth-down calls,” Reich said, via Herald Bulletin. “We will push each other and I will say, ‘Are we really going to be comfortable with this with the game on the line? I mean, is this really what we want to call when the game is on the line?’ Vice versa, he will ask me those same kind of questions, and we will just go back and forth.”
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Eagles ‘Interested’ in Cowboys Special Teams Coach
According to Marcus Hayes of the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Eagles are “interested” in Dallas Cowboys special-teams coordinator John Fassel. The 47-year-old assistant coach has 16 years of experience coaching in the NFL, including special-teams jobs for the Cowboys, Rams, Ravens, and Raiders. He even served as the interim head coach for Los Angeles for three games (0-3) in 2016.
Fassel, nicknamed “Bones” by his peers, is viewed as one of the most creative football minds out there. Look no further than that confusing “watermelon kick” that capped an improbable comeback win for the Cowboys in Week 2. Dallas saw their special-teams unit vault into an elite group this year following a dismal 2019 when they finished 31st in the NFL.
Remember, Fassel has been around the game of football his entire life growing up the son of a one-time NFL Coach of the Year. He’s a smart innovator who knows how to get the most out of his players, but is that enough to lead a rebuild? Maybe.
One more interesting wrinkle — as Sports Illustrated‘s Mike Fisher pointed out — Fassel shares the same agent (Bob LaMonte) as Eagles GM Howie Roseman.
Did Sean Payton Take Shot at Eagles?
The New Orleans Saints choked in the NFL playoffs for a fourth consecutive season after falling to Tom Brady. Ho-hum. But it was something that Saints coach Sean Payton said prior to their divisional-round game that raised eyebrows.
Payton was asked if he was trying to emulate what the Eagles did with their “quarantine quarterback” situation by bringing in different long snappers and kickers during the week. Saints kicker Wil Lutz had been struggling down the stretch.
“Yeah, we’re not looking at the Eagles for any model.” — Sean Payton, when asked if their kicker-long snapper signings this week were similar to what Philadelphia did with Josh McCown in previous years.
The thought process was having those guys ready to go and cleared to play in case of emergency. But Payton — an old friend of Doug Pederson — indicated that he wasn’t “modeling” anything after the Eagles. Burn? The Saints haven’t won a Super Bowl since 2010.
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