Eagles hire Sean Mannion as offensive coordinator
He comes to Philly with pedigree. Birds also bring in Josh Grizzard as pass game coordinator.
For The Reporter: https://tinyurl.com/3mwnexfn
If the Eagles were going to choose a first-time play caller as their new offensive coordinator, Sean Mannion was the guy.
He may be balding with a dad bod, but the 33-year-old who looks 53 is widely considered one of the young up-and-comers on offense in the NFL.
Whether the former quarterback pans out as an OC remains to be seen, but no one can accuse the Eagles of not doing their homework or lacking progressive thinking with this hire.
Mannion has spent his only two seasons as a coach — that’s right, just two seasons — working with QB Jordan Love of the Green Bay Packers under head coach Matt LaFleur, who comes from the innovative offensive school of Kyle Shanahan, Sean McVay, Kevin O’Connell and Mike McDaniel.
Love, with Mannion as quarterbacks coach in 2025, threw for 3,381 yards with 23 touchdowns and six interceptions. His 1.4% interception rate was the lowest of his career, while his 66.3 completion percentage was his best since becoming a full-time starter.
“I’m thrilled to have Sean Mannion on board as the new offensive coordinator of the Philadelphia Eagles,” head coach Nick Sirianni said in a team statement Thursday. “My goal throughout this process was to operate with an open mind regarding the future of our offense to find the best fit for the Eagles.
“Over the last few weeks, I had an opportunity to meet with a number of talented candidates and great offensive minds. I am appreciative of the time I was able to spend with each of them. Some came with years of experience running an offense and calling plays. Others were young, sharp, and dynamic coaches on the rise. I felt it was important to be patient and thorough to allow the right fit to reveal himself to us. Sean did just that.”
Mannion, during his nine-year NFL career as a backup quarterback, worked directly under McVay in Los Angeles, O’Connell in Minnesota and Dave Canales in Seattle. (Canales is now the Carolina Panthers’ head coach and just led the franchise to its first playoff berth in eight years.)
Zac Taylor, the head coach in Cincinnati, beloved by quarterback Joe Burrow, was Mannion’s QB coach for a season with the Rams. And Klint Kubiak, now the offensive coordinator for the Super Bowl-bound Seahawks, mentored him in Minneapolis.
Mannion’s plucking by the Eagles is reminiscent of when they hired Andy Reid, who was quarterbacks coach in Green Bay under Mike Holmgren, a direct descendant of the Bill Walsh coaching tree. Kyle Shanahan’s father, Mike, succeeded Holmgren as OC in San Francisco.
All those names and legacies sound sparkling and fantastic, but Mannion has yet to prove himself as an offensive coordinator. He replaces Kevin Patullo, who flailed as a first-year play caller, after beating out finalists that included the Colts’ Jim Bob Cooter (yes, that guy, who was here in 2021 as a consultant and sounds like a character from “The Dukes of Hazzard”), former Tampa Bay OC Josh Grizzard and Texans QB coach Jerrod Johnson.
McDaniel, the Eagles’ top choice, spurned them to become O-coordinator with the Chargers. Their other leading target, Brian Daboll, took the OC position with the Titans.
Mannion was drafted by the Rams in the third round (89th overall) in 2015 out of Oregon State, the fourth quarterback off the board in a draft where Jameis Winston and Marcus Mariota went first and second.
He was selected 14 slots behind Colorado State’s Garrett Grayson, a short-lived NFL backup whom most people have never heard of. Mannion, whom most people also have never heard of, played in 14 games with three starts over parts of nine seasons with the Rams, Vikings and Seahawks.
“It was quickly apparent in meeting with Sean that he is a bright young coach with a tremendous future ahead of him in this league,” Sirianni stated. “I was impressed by his systematic views on offensive football and his strategic approach.
“Sean’s 11 years in the NFL have provided him a great opportunity to learn from and grow alongside some of the best coaches in the game. As a result, he has a wealth of knowledge and experience that will be invaluable to our team moving forward. I can’t wait to see Sean with our team, and I want to welcome him and his wife, Megan, to the Eagles family.”
What to expect
Mannion could prove to be a much-needed shakeup for Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts, putting him under center more often, incorporating more pre-snap motion and reads, and finding quick ways to get the ball to dynamic playmakers such as A.J. Brown (if he’s still here) and DeVonta Smith.
Mannion comes from a developmental mindset that challenges QBs’ comfort levels while also being adaptive to their individual talents. And he may experiment with some zone-based run concepts and ways to stretch defenses horizontally as well as vertically.
McVay, when Mannion was a player, referred to him as “hyper-detailed” and a “coach in the quarterback room” who was heavily involved in breaking down coverages and weekly game planning.
Overall, based on his pedigree, Mannion appears to be a creative mind whose offense should unfold as a narrative rather than simply throwing plays at a wall and seeing what sticks.
Remaining questions
How much autonomy will Mannion have? How much will Sirianni be involved? It’s hard to believe Mannion would have accepted the job without some assurances.
He didn’t come here to be a figurehead. That’s not what the Eagles need anyway.
Also, what is the future of iconic offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland? He was stripped of his run-game duties midseason, according to recent reports — which is stunning, given his résumé and the extensive injuries to the line in 2025.
It also bears noting that Stoutland has traditionally been resistant to heavy pre-snap motion because he views it as added stress on the offensive linemen.
Finally, for all the upside Mannion promises, the most obvious question of all: Is he the real deal?
UPDATE: The Eagles hired Josh Grizzard, 35, as pass game coordinator on Friday. Grizzard worked under Mike McDaniel in Miami and Liam Coen in Tampa Bay.
Coen, a former McVay assistant in Los Angeles, took over as head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2025 — flipping their record from 4-13 a year earlier to 13-4 and ending a three-year playoff drought.
Grizzard, a Yale grad from central North Carolina, took over for Coen as offensive coordinator for the Buccaneers this past season. But he was fired after the injury-riddled Bucs, who began 6-2 and atop the NFC South, lost seven of their last nine games and missed the playoffs.
—
Follow Christiaan DeFranco on X at @the_defranc for the latest updates.