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The “Jalen Hurts Has Had So Many Offensive Coordinators” Narrative is Overrated
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No doubt you saw these posts floating around after Kevin Patullo was relieved of his duties:
This is overrated because Jalen Hurts has been playing in the same offensive system since 2021. This is Nick Sirianni’s offense, as the head coach has reminded us several times over the years.
“Make no mistake about it, this offense is being run the exact same way it was last year, and the year before. This is my offense. It’s my offense. The criticism unfairly goes to Brian (Johnson). He calls the plays. The criticism should go to me. This is my offense.”
This is my offense.
There was also this (transcribed by PHLY) –
“No matter if Kevin Patullo is calling it, Shane Steichen’s calling it, Brian Johnson is calling it, Jeff Stoutland’s calling it, Jason Michael is calling it, Jonathan Gannon comes over and calls it, Howie (Roseman) calls it from up there, (Jeffrey) Lurie, (security chief) Dom (DiSandro), Julian (Lurie),” Sirianni said to laughter. “I’m very particular and I know what I believe in, in the passing and the running game and offensive football.”
The head coach designed the offense. The coordinator calls the plays. That’s been going on since the second half of Sirianni’s first season. All of the route combinations, QB runs, read-and-pull concepts – they all come from Sirianni. It’s not like Jalen Hurts had to learn the Air Raid for Shane Steichen, then the Wing T for Brian Johnson, then the run and shoot for Kellen Moore. Each play caller has executed the offense differently from the sidelines, but they aren’t doing some brand new install every camp. They aren’t wiping out the entire playbook and teaching an entirely new system.
So while there’s been a lack of continuity in play calling, which fans and media correctly point out, there’s been a half-decade of continuity in scheme and design. The former is certainly detrimental, but not to the point where it’s some DEFCON 1 topic.
At the same time, Jalen Hurts has gone to two Super Bowls playing in Sirianni’s system, and balled out in both of them, so it’s hard to get too worked up about this when considering the incredible success the team has experienced since 2022.
There seems to be a simple pattern here that goes all the way back to Doug Pederson’s third season. When the Eagles promote offensive coordinators from within, they do very poorly. That’s Mike Groh, Brian Johnson, and Kevin Patullo. When they go outside of the organization and find guys like Kellen Moore, they succeed.
They just need to find the right external hire, somebody who can take Nick’s offense, amplify the good, and discard the bad. They need to do a full audit to identify what works and what doesn’t. What wrinkles can be added to keep things fresh and keep opponents off balance? How can you evolve and adapt?
And the players need to do better, no doubt about it. Say what you will about Kevin Patullo this season, but the line regressed badly and A.J. Smith was pouty and distracting. Let’s hit the reset button and get things moving again in 2026.
Kevin has been writing about Philadelphia sports since 2009. He spent seven years in the CBS 3 sports department and started with the Union during the team's 2010 inaugural season. He went to the academic powerhouses of Boyertown High School and West Virginia University. email - k.kinkead@sportradar.com