For the second time in three seasons, the Philadelphia Eagles reached the Super Bowl, but lost their offensive coordinator to a head coaching position. 

The only difference this time was the Eagles’ run ended with a championship. 

Kellen Moore took the head coaching gig with the New Orleans Saints, a difficult situation to enter for Moore. The Saints are a mess of a franchise right now, so Moore has his work cut out for him.

Still, Moore was an integral part of  the Eagles’ success this season.

Aside from the addition of running back Saquon Barkley, the Eagles offense consisted of almost the same playmakers as last season, when the offense crumbled under Brian Johnson.

Moore just put this offense in a better situation, especially quarterback Jalen Hurts. The offense was simply elite this season, and it would be wrong to not give Moore credit for the massive turnaround from 2023 to 2024. 

The same could be said for Shane Steichen. He led almost the same group of players to the Super Bowl in 2022. Under Steichen, the Eagles offense was phenomenal, and he didn’t even have Barkley to work with. 

After he took the head coaching position with the Indianapolis Colts, the Eagles took a major dip under Johnson, who barley lasted a season. It’s crazy how all that unfolded. After losing in the Super Bowl that season, I was very optimistic for the 2023 season. Again, with essentially almost the same offense, I did not think the unit would be as bad as they were.

Johnson’s play-calling was just too predictable. The spot he put the offense in was just horrendous. See how quickly things changed under Moore? It proved that Hurts was an elite quarterback and this offense was not predictable. The offense had the talent, and clearly Moore got the best out of them.

Johnson didn’t to that, despite inheriting an offense coming off a Super Bowl appearance.

The question now is will the Eagles go through another Johnson era next season, or will the offense continue to soar like the unit did under Moore? 

On Wednesday, the Eagles promoted Kevin Patullo to offensive coordinator. 

He joined the Eagles’ staff as passing game coordinator in 2021 when coach Nick Sirianni was hired, and he became associate head coach in 2023.

The good thing about the move is Patullo knows the offense and what makes it click. He has been here for both Super Bowl runs, and has seen these players at their best and worst. It also seems as though he played a role in the play-calling this season, and has the trust of Sirianni.

“I can’t tell you that I make a decision without saying to Kevin first, ‘What do you think?’ That’s in everything. That’s in-game, out of game, with scheduling, that’s with offensive stuff, that’s with game-management stuff. I lean on him a lot,” Sirianni said.

“Can’t be great without the greatness of others, and that is definitely a fact with Kevin Patullo, and I trust him with everything.”

Patullo started his NFL coaching journey with the Kansas City Chiefs in 2007 as a quality control coach. He also worked for the Buffalo Bills, Tennessee Titans, New York Jets and Indianapolis Colts. So, he has the experience.

I don’t think the offense will drastically change, in regards to production, like when the Eagles went from Steichen to Johnson. 

However, Patullo will certainly add his own twist, like most new coaches do. That concerns me a little. He will be Hurts’ sixth play-caller in his sixth NFL season.

That’s not really ideal. 

Hurts, and really the entire offense, needs consistency. Like with Johnson, Hurts was put into a bad situation. Moore resurrected Hurts’ play when most called for his head and heavily criticized him last offseason. Now, Hurts is the Super Bowl MVP and a champion. 

Having the right offensive coordinator helped with that, and hopefully Patullo doesn’t disrupt any momentum or mojo Hurts has going into next season. 

Another other issue is this — if the offense is strong again next season, which is highly likely with the a majority of the core returning and mostly everyone being in their prime, the prospect of losing Patullo to a head coaching job could easily happen. So, the Eagles could go through an offense change again.

I like the in-house hire because, again, Patullo knows the offense and the players are probably comfortable with him.

However, hiring someone like Vic Fangio could have been a smart move, too. Fangio is an experienced coach, but being 66, he came here with the intention of staying. He bought a house in  Dunmore, Pennsylvania, to be closer to his family. He is most likely not looking for a head coaching position.

Hiring someone like that was huge, right? Look what he did with the defense this season. I bet if he was younger, a team would have wanted him as a head coach. Luckily for the Eagles, he is not going anywhere.

However, if a team poaches Patullo next season, the Eagles should look into hiring an older, experienced coordinator because this revolving door of OCs is not good, in regards to consistency among the offense.