A league source confirmed reports Monday that Shane Steichen will be the Eagles’ offensive coordinator under new head coach Nick Sirianni.
Steichen, 35, was the Los Angeles Chargers’ offensive coordinator under former head coach Anthony Lynn, who was fired at the end of the 2020 season. Steichen spent nine years with the Chargers in two stints, separated by a one-year interlude with the Cleveland Browns in 2013. He worked alongside Sirianni from 2014-17, when Steichen was an offensive quality control coach and then quarterbacks coach, and Sirianni was quarterbacks coach, then wide receivers coach.
Steichen is a former UNLV quarterback who took over the Chargers’ offense in the middle of the 2019 season when coordinator Ken Whisenhunt was fired. The offense improved in the second half of that season.
In 2020, Steichen and the Chargers transitioned to rookie quarterback Justin Herbert, who showed excellent promise, completing 66.6% of his passes for 4,336 yards, 31 touchdowns, 10 interceptions, and a 98.3 passer rating.
Former Colts offensive coordinator Sirianni, Steichen, and passing-game specialist Kevin Patullo, who reportedly is leaving that position in Indianapolis to join Sirianni with the Eagles, would seem to be the major figures charged with sorting out the Eagles’ quarterbacking situation. Carson Wentz nosedived to the bottom of the league in 2020, his fifth NFL season. Wentz was benched in favor of rookie Jalen Hurts for the final four games. Hurts provided energy and something of a different look to the offense, but the results didn’t change.
Team owner Jeffrey Lurie and general manager Howie Roseman want to see a reinvigorated Wentz, after having invested $128 million in a four-year, contract extension in 2019. Trading Wentz this offseason would put a cap-pressed team in even more of a bind, incurring what would be a league-record $34 million dead cap charge. Wentz was said to be disaffected from fired head coach Doug Pederson, wanting a trade. Sirianni reportedly has spoken with Wentz, but there has been no word from the quarterback about his view of the situation.
Two weeks ago, when Lurie explained his decision to move on from Pederson, Lurie called Wentz “very fixable.”
Patullo and Steichen’s arrivals apparently will lead to Press Taylor’s departure. According to an NJ.com report, the Eagles’ pass-game coordinator and quarterbacks coach is not expected to be retained on Sirianni’s staff. The move isn’t all that surprising considering the offensive coaching hires Sirianni has already made. Still, it leaves the Eagles in the market for a quarterbacks coach.
Just last offseason, Taylor was considered one of the promising assistants on Pederson’s staff, getting a promotion that added pass-game coordinator to his title after two seasons as the team’s QBs coach.
