April 17, 2024
Charles LeClaire/for PhillyVoice
Bill Belichick coaching in Super Bowl LII, which the Patriots lost after surrendering 41 points to a backup quarterback.
Nick Sirianni remains the Eagles head coach going into the 2024 season, but just a couple of months ago, it wasn't totally clear that would be the case. A report from ESPN's Seth Wickersham indicates that the Eagles may have kicked the tires on one potential replacement for Sirianni: former Patriots head coach Bill Belichick.
In an expose on Wednesday, Wickersham, who literally wrote the book on the Patriots' dynasty, said the following regarding Belichick and the Eagles:
Not since Paul Brown in the 1960s had such a revolutionary head coach been available. Owners and executives, even on teams that didn't have openings, discussed hiring Belichick. Among them were the Eagles, who were coming off a disappointing finish one year after a narrow Super Bowl loss. Owner Jeffrey Lurie and general manger Howie Roseman, both Belichick fans, still strongly believed in their current head coach, Nick Sirianni, who over a stretch went 26-5. But Lurie thought it was worth asking a confidant of his about Belichick. A source close to Belichick said the coach would have been interested.
Roseman told ESPN he had a conversation with Belichick, a check-in to see how the coach was doing after he was out in New England. A source close to Belichick confirmed there was no talk during the call about working for the Eagles.
Still, there was chatter in league circles that Philadelphia and Belichick could be a match. Despite some owners and executives believing the game had passed Belichick by, the Eagles felt he still had his fastball.
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Was it worth overhauling the building, changing personnel and philosophies on everything from training staff to salary cap structure, for someone who might coach only two years?
"You'll have to start over again," said a source with firsthand knowledge of the Eagles' thinking. "Who would replace him? He hasn't had a good record of developing coaches. They were afraid that he'll have changed everything and every person, and [then] you'll be starting from scratch again. He didn't demand those changes, but they felt like, if we hire him, we have to give everything to him and trust how he does it." [ESPN]
Belichick, who isn't working with an NFL team this season, may only want to coach again until he can break Don Shula's all-time wins record, which he needs just 15 more to do. That's where the talk of the Eagles having to restart the hiring process in two years all over again comes in. A massive overhaul followed quickly by another massive overhaul doesn't do much for continuity on a team that has a clearly defined locked-in core group of stars.
Sirianni is here regardless and, hey, he's made a Super Bowl more recently than Belichick at least, as the future Hall of Fame coach is coming off a disastrous 4-13 season in New England where he deserved to foot a ton of blame.
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