We don’t know much of anything about the Eagles’ new coaching staff, and maybe that’s a good thing. At least we know we’re not getting a boring retread group. If anything, Birds fans should appreciate the newness and curiosity that comes with the unknown.

With the reported hirings that crossed the wire Monday, the Eagles’ fledgling coaching staff now looks like this:

  • head coach – Nick Sirianni (39 years old)
  • offensive coordinator – Shane Steichen (35)
  • defensive coordinator – Jonathan Gannon (in his late 30s)
  • pass game coordinator – Kevin Patullo (39)
  • defensive line – Tracy Rocker (54)

Sirianni is a first-time head coach and Gannon is a first-time defensive coordinator. Steichen has one year of play-calling experience under Anthony Lynn and Patullo was a pass game “specialist” this past season in Indy.

RE: Steichen, there’s no way that he’s only 35 years old:

Might need to get him hooked up with Dr. Paul Glat, hair restoration specialist, upon his Philadelphia arrival. If this man can fix Carson Wentz, I’ll personally pay for the treatment and apologize publicly for the snarky quip.

But on a serious note, isn’t it ironic that Howie Roseman and Jeffrey Lurie seem to be cool with Sirianni hiring his guys? He worked with Gannon and Patullo in Indy. Steichen is a former San Diego colleague. The connections all stem from the Chargers/Colts pipeline that saw these coaches working under Frank Reich and alongside QB Philip Rivers.

That’s not to say they’re unqualified, because they’re not, at least on paper. Gannon was a hot defensive prospect and his name was widely proliferated in the media. Steichen appears to have the makings of an “up and comer” on the offensive side.

It’s just a 180 degree turn from Doug Pederson’s days, when Jim Schwartz was installed for him. When Mike Groh and Carson Walch were fired one day after Pederson said they would be back the next season. When Doug reportedly was keen on promoting from within while the powers that be weren’t totally into it.

The difference here seems to be obvious. Roseman and Lurie had familiarity with Doug’s coaches and didn’t think highly of them. There was obviously underperformance and failure, which they were able to evaluate much better than we are. In this case, perhaps they’re buying in to the “clean slate” idea and rolling the dice with a young coach bringing in his guys, instead of meddling in those affairs. Either way, they still possess franchise hegemony over Sirianni, and Howie will still run player-personnel, but it seems like they’re ceding control to a 39-year-old first-time head coach in a way that they would not for the Super Bowl winner that they just fired. We’ll see whether Jeff Stoutland and Dave Fipp are retained, and whose decision that ends up being. That will be an intriguing piece to the coaching puzzle.

Maybe there’s something more to this topic, or maybe not. But it’s curious, isn’t it?