Another Philadelphia Eagles season has come to an end.

Following an inconsistent 2025 season, capped off by a heartbreaking loss in the wild-card round of the NFL playoffs, Nick Sirianni is once again searching for an offensive coordinator.

Following a season that saw his offense, captained by first-time coordinator Kevin Patullo, rank 23rd in total success rate, 17th in EPA per play, and 24th in total offense, a change was necessary.

Two days after the season, Sirianni decided to move on from his longtime friend in Patullo.

It will be Sirianni’s fifth offensive coordinator since he became the franchise’s head coach in 2021.

Of the first four, two were hired away as head coaches (Shane Steichen with the Colts and Kellen Moore with the Saints), and the other two were fired (Brian Johnson and Kevin Patullo).

Conclusions can be drawn about the two subsets of coaches. Steichen and Moore both brought previous coordinator experience and play-calling history to the table. Johnson and Patullo were both first-time coordinators and first-time play-callers.

If trends are expected to be followed and reports are to be believed, expect the next offensive coordinator Sirianni hires to be an established coach.

Qualities and characteristics matter when hiring coaches. Specifically for the Eagles, who offer any prospective candidate an offensive unit that boasts All-Pro level talent across the board and an immediate chance to compete for a Super Bowl.

In that context, the margin for error shrinks, making the specific traits a potential coordinator brings to the table paramount.

The Eagles enter an offseason full of questions and uncertainty. The first order of business is landing a new offensive coordinator who can deliver markedly better results than what Patullo did this season.

With that here are the five qualities the next Eagles offensive coordinator must bring into the NovaCare Complex.

5) Emotional Intelligence

As stated above, the Eagles offer any prospective candidate a very enticing opening. It’s also a bit of a powder-keg type environment at times.

Just this past season, Kevin Patullo was the face of the Eagles offensive struggles. Between media and fans alike, the level of scrutiny that Patullo faced was deafening at times. Patullo even had his home vandalized in December after a 24-15 home loss to the Chicago Bears on Black Friday.

Elsewhere, A.J. Brown voiced his displeasure with the direction of the offense numerous times throughout the season. So much so that team owner, Jeffery Lurie had to get involved. Brown even clashed with Nick Sirianni during the team’s home playoff loss last Sunday.

Brown has cited his own competitive nature in the past as to why he operates in the manner that he does, but that same makeup sometimes amplifies friction in the locker room and on the sidelines.

And amid all this, there is the advent of the quarterback, who at times has shown to be as enigmatic in temperament as he is elite in talent.

For Jalen Hurts, he demands a coach capable of not only getting the most out of him as a quarterback, but also adapting to the competitive mindset that he brings to the table.

Whichever coordinator is brought in would be coaching a former Super Bowl MVP, a former Heisman Trophy winner, a former NFC Offensive Player of the Year, and several All-Pro players who are littered throughout the unit.

But with that same high-level talent comes high-level expectation, high-level scrutiny, high-level mindsets, and high-level egos. The coordinator who is hired has to be prepared to deal with the pressure cooker like environment that is coaching in Philadelphia.

4) Ability to Provide Sustained Continuity

This will be the Eagles fifth offensive coordinator in four years. It will be Jalen Hurts’ ninth different play-caller in 10 years dating back to college. At the NFL level, it will be his seventh play-caller in seven seasons.

This level of turnover at the offensive coordinator position is almost unheard of at the NFL level. For a quarterback, it changes the verbiage and identity of the offense, forces them to adjust to a new style of coaching, and shifts the overall functionality of the offense.

It forces an unprecedented level of adaptability for all players on offense because every coach is different. Every coach, regardless of overall philosophy, has their own mode of operation when it comes to game management, which plays to call depending on down and distance, method of teaching/coaching, among other nuances.

The next offensive coordinator must offer some level of sustained continuity or succession plan that can serve as the course of action for if/when they inevitably move on.

3) Proven Track Record of Development and Growth of the Quarterback Position

Jeffrey Lurie and Howie Roseman’s list of qualities required to become the Eagles next offensive coordinator is more than likely very expansive, but at or near the top of that list is likely that person’s ability to maximize the crown jewel of the organization. He’s the highest paid player, and one of the (if not THE) most important players on the roster.

The Eagles as an organization have shown to be a quarterback centric franchise. From the days of Carson Wentz and the proverbial QB incubator they surrounded him with in terms of coaching staff, which was compromised of former quarterbacks (Doug Pederson, Frank Reich, & John DeFilippo), or both Lurie and Roseman’s various comments about the position over the past few years to understand the level of importance they place on the position.

“…there’s no team that has got more value from the quarterback positions than the Philadelphia Eagles. We talked about it, and obviously that’s a factor. Our history is a factor, and that’s the most important position in sports,” Roseman said after selecting Hurts in 2020.

“We’ve seen teams do it. We’re challenged to be one of those teams,” he said. “I think the most important aspect of that is to have the right quarterback,” Lurie said at League Meetings in 2023.

The Eagles brass values the quarterback position, and they value Jalen Hurts. So much so that they made him the highest paid player in franchise history in 2023.

In 2025, it wouldn’t be hyperbole to say that Jalen Hurts didn’t play his best football. Be that due to coaching deficiencies, his own culpability, or a lack of overall dexterity of the entire unit, Hurts wasn’t his best.

However, moving forward, this cannot be the case. The coordinator that Philadelphia tabs will be tasked with meshing with, teaching and developing, and helping to evolve the game of the quarterback.

2) Schematic Competency

The 2025 Philadelphia Eagles were one of the most simplistic, elementary, and stale offenses in the NFL from a schematic standpoint.

Sequencing on a play-to-play basis was inconsistent at best. Matchups weren’t attacked. Formations and alignments weren’t used to the advantage of the offense. Pre-snap motions or shifts were rarely incorporated. The overall operation was uninspiring.

Throughout the season, it seemed as if coaching expected the talent of the players to take over and win regardless of what defenses presented. In fact, Nick Sirianni highlighted this very view in his introductory press conference, under the guise of operating with a simple system and allowing players’ talent to take over.

While this philosophy may have it’s upside, it’s far too reliant upon talent to compensate for schematic deficiencies.

The Eagles offense also routinely found itself in second and third and long due to either self-inflicted wounds, lackluster first down play-calls, or schematic shortcomings (such as route combinations, simplistic design, or play sequencing).

The offense targeted the middle of the field at one of the lowest rates in the NFL. On Sunday against the 49ers, they ran 48 hitch routes, or 27.6% of their total routes.

The ability to take advantage of defenses in areas where they’re weak, seek out matchups, scheme pass catchers open (and get them in space), as well as designing a system that not only maximizes Hurts and gives him answers in the pass game, but also develops and improves the skillsets of everyone else on the unit will be of the utmost importance.

With the new hire, there has to be some semblance of schematic competence or order brought to the room.

1) Established Identity

This was more than likely the biggest downfall of the offense in 2025. For 19 weeks, the offense failed to establish a clear cut identity, or ‘home-base’ in the words of Jalen Hurts.

The offense put together spurts where they leaned on what won them a championship in 2024, the run game, but the execution and overall design/approach of the offense lacked.

Last Sunday’s matchup depicted this explicitly. After scoring two touchdowns on their first three drives and ending the half with a 13-10 lead, the offense (as it did all season) stagnated in the 2nd half, en route to an early elimination at the hands of the San Francisco 49ers, despite winning the all important turnover margin (+2).

Nothing came easy for a unit comprised of All-Pros at almost every position. But that talent was essentially useless due to the fact that the coaching staff had no targeted plan of approach as to how to use them on a consistent basis.

Besides playing risk averse football, and the emphasis on protecting the football, there wasn’t much for the team to hang its hat on. And because of that lack of identity, when issues persisted throughout the season and into the playoffs on offense, every problem became a scramble for answers.

An established identity is more than likely the chief quality that Roseman and Lurie are looking for as they begin their offensive coordinator search.

Early reports suggest this is the case.

ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported Philadelphia expects to bring in a “proven offensive mind.”

According to NFL Insider Josina Anderson, the next offensive coordinator is expected to have, “complete autonomy” over the offense, similar to what Kellen Moore experienced with the Eagles offense in 2024. With this reported level of autonomy comes a complete overhaul of Nick Sirianni’s perceived offensive identity.

Ultimately, landing a coordinator with an established offensive identity appears to be the cornerstone of the search. It’s the guiding principle through which the next coordinator will get the most of the star-studded unit.