The Philadelphia Eagles reportedly expressed interest in a well-known head coach — only to be rebuffed.
According to Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio, the Eagles reportedly “expressed interest” in Bill Belichick. However, the longtime ex-New England Patriots head coach didn’t reciprocate interest in Philadelphia.
“One league source explained it, Belichick is believed to be done with ‘big-market media,’ making him more inclined to go to a place like Atlanta than Dallas or Philadelphia,” Florio wrote on Thursday, January 18. “As to the Cowboys and the Eagles, there’s also a belief in some league circles that both teams expressed interest in Belichick, that Belichick didn’t reciprocate, and that those teams then decided to stick with their current coaches.”
Eagles Likely Bringing Back Nick Sirianni
Just several days prior, both the Eagles and Dallas Cowboys had head coaches who were considered to be on the hot seat. While the Cowboys have since re-committed to Mike McCarthy as their head coach for the 2024 season, the Eagles appear to be leaning towards bringing back Nick Sirianni for a fourth season.
“For now, it’s looking like Sirianni will stay,” wrote Florio on Sunday, January 21. “If so, the Eagles won’t announce he’s staying; he’ll just stay.”
Eagles’ Nick Sirianni’s Job Status Is in Question
While that now appears to be the case with Belichick appearing to lean towards the Atlanta Falcons‘ head coaching job, it’s fair to wonder if the Eagles had always planned to bring back Sirianni. Had Belichick shown interest in the Eagles job, would Philadelphia have parted ways with Sirianni?
Although Sirianni led the team to a Super Bowl appearance just last season, Philadelphia ended the season in embarrassing fashion. After starting out the season 10-1, the Eagles lost six of their final seven games. Their season finally came to a close after losing 32-9 to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the wild card round of the playoffs.
The early playoff exit combined with Philadelphia’s struggles towards the end of the season led to immediate questions surrounding Sirianni’s job following the team’s playoff loss.
“I’m not thinking about that,” Sirianni said on Tuesday, January 16. “I’m thinking about the guys. Again, there’s a lot of guys in that locker room, all the guys in that locker room, every single one of them that put their heart and soul into this. I’m not worried about me.”
While the Eagles will likely bring Sirianni back, it appears they would have considered replacing him with Belichick, who has won six Super Bowls as a head coach and is widely considered to be the best ever at his job.
What may have played a possible role in Belichick’s lack of interest in Philadelphia is that he probably wouldn’t have had total say in football operations. Belichick had that power in New England and it looks like Falcons owner Arthur Blank is willing to give him that same role if he were to coach Atlanta.
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The question, if the deal gets done, becomes whether Belichick will have the ‘checks and balances’ that Patriots owner Robert Kraft made clear last week had evaporated with the Patriots,” writes Florio. “Will Belichick once again be the emperor of football operations? If Blank is willing to let Belichick have that power, why wouldn’t Belichick take it?”
It’s a nice scenario to imagine what Belichick — who coached Tom Brady and the Patriots to nine Super Bowl appearances and 17 division titles — could have done with Philadelphia’s Super Bowl-ready roster.
However, it looks like he has his eyes set on Atlanta.
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