Nick Sirianni spoke to the media at the annual owners meetings in Phoenix and was asked about working with new defensive coordinator Sean Desai.
PHOENIX — In the month since he hired Sean Desai, Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni has been getting to know his new defensive coordinator more and more.
The one thing he doesn’t have to spend too much time on is learning what kind of players Desai wants and needs for his defense.
“As far as the player profile, there’s a lot of similarities because it’s a similar defense,” head coach Nick Sirianni said. “That’s one of the reasons … obviously Sean was the best guy for the job but also there wasn’t going to be a lot of change as far as the base part of the defense. There’s going to be slightly different things that we’re going to do.
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“The player profile, the traits that we’re looking for are similar. But not everybody thinks exactly the same so there’s going to be tweaks here and there.”
While Jonathan Gannon wasn’t the most popular guy in Philly during his two years as the Eagles’ defensive coordinator, a lot of what he did falls in line with what Sirianni wants his defense to be.
And a lot of that falls in line with what we expect from Desai with some minor — but potentially important — differences.
With a truncated offseason, that continuity between defensive schemes has made it easier in free agency and will make it easier in the draft as the Eagles continue to build the defense with the same types of players they had under Gannon.
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Eagles general manager Howie Roseman echoed Sirianni’s sentiment.
“I think a lot of the things that Sean wants to do are things that JG wants to do,” Roseman said. “I think there’s a lot of carryover from those positions. I don’t think it’s dramatic.”
In the month since we learned the Eagles were hiring Desai, what have Sirianni’s impressions of him been?
Sirianni has been extremely impressed by Desai’s organizational skills. He said Desai has a process for everything and he likes that about him.
Desai, 39, spent last season with the Seahawks under Pete Carroll as an associate head coach and defensive assistant. But most of Desai’s coaching experience was with the Bears. He spent nine seasons in Chicago, eventually ascending to the role of defensive coordinator in 2021.
For many of those seasons in Chicago, Desai worked under longtime defensive coach Vic Fangio. The Eagles were already using a ton of those Fangio staples under Gannon in 2022. That’s what, at least in theory, makes this such a seamless transition.
Of course, the Eagles lost several key free agents on that side of the ball and might not have the overall talent in 2023 that they had in 2022.
That’s where Desai really comes in.
“We’re just getting on the same page with my vision for the defense,” Sirianni said. “Obviously, I hired him to do a job but still have to give him the visions that I have for certain situations and different things that I want to see out of the defense. So getting on the same page, it’s been fun doing that. He’s done a great job so far.”
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