ESPN spoke with several sources who detailed a prolonged strain between Hurts and Sirianni during the 2023 season.
With all eyes fixed on Nick Sirianni, who stood in front of the team, the beleaguered head coach decided to get -- as one team source in attendance said -- "super honest.""He took full responsibility, that he felt he let the team down and didn't do a good enough job of empowering the players," the team source said. "It was passionate and from the heart."
Things were off, including between the head coach and quarterback. ESPN spoke with several sources who detailed a prolonged strain between Hurts and Sirianni during the 2023 campaign, with one source with direct knowledge of the dynamic describing the relationship as "fractured" and unhealthy last season. At the root of the divide: a disconnect in offensive visions, with what a team source described as a lack of full respect for Sirianni's X's and O's chops.
That was enough to kick up six weeks of speculation during the run-up to training camp: Is the Hurts-Sirianni relationship in a bad place? If so, what does it mean for the 2024 season? Following Philly's Super Bowl run at the end of the 2023 season, offensive coordinator Shane Steichen left to coach the. He was replaced by quarterbacks coach Brian Johnson, whose relationship with Hurts dates back more than two decades. Hurts' father, Averion, was a coach at Robert E. Lee High School in Baytown, Texas, in the early 2000s when Johnson played there.
Following the Super Bowl run, Sirianni dug in. He got more hands-on last season and took more control, including holding private meetings with Hurts, a team source said. While head coach-quarterback meetings are not uncommon and something Sirianni had done before, the source believed, in this case they muddled the staff's ability to convey one consistent message to the quarterback.
Eagles coaches tried to find common ground. During the season, Sirianni and Johnson held a meeting with Hurts and urged him to open up more to teammates, according to a team source. "I just think they sensed the vibe was off overall," the source said. The source noted that Hurts did make efforts to speak up, either with teammates or requests for tweaks within the offense. "It's not his personality to make demands," the source said.
"What was taught was not necessarily what was relayed in the moment," a team source said. "He wanted to add to it, like, 'It's not quite enough, let me add to this.'" Having been raised by a football coach, showing respect and deference toward his coaches is high atop the priority list for Hurts, a source close to him said, but there's no greater pull than his will to win.did not materialize over the course of the 2023 season, which became a source of disappointment.
"I've been doing this for 40 years," said Martindale, now the defensive coordinator at the University of Michigan, "and it's the first time I've had an opposing quarterback call me up. I thought it was pretty cool that the guy called. It shows you what kind of pro he really is. He's just looking at every angle that he can to get better."
"They weren't committed to the run," Martindale said of the Eagles' offense down the stretch. "They weren't committed to the quarterback runs. They were trying to throw the ball a little but too much on early downs, which put them behind the sticks. That's when defenses can go to work.""Do you want Nick back?" a reporter asked Hurts.More than a week went by before it was made clear Sirianni would return as coach. During that time, the front office.
There have been other outward displays that suggest the relationship is in a better place, including on Monday when Hurts and Sirianni drove around the field on a golf cart together, both smiling as they took a lap in front of the media and some fans before heading out of sight. "He's been poking his head into the rooms," Brown said. "He kind of makes the young guys uncomfortable when he comes into the wide receiver room ... because he's just holding everybody accountable. It's new. Our guys only see the wide receiver coach most of the time. When you see the head coach come in there, they're just like, 'Uh-oh.' They sit up straight and everything. It's kind of funny.
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