At first glance, the Eagles' hiring last week of the raw, inexperienced Sean Mannion as their play-calling offensive coordinator appeared like an out-of-left field hire. Mannion, who in 2022 retired from his nine-year career as a journeyman backup quarterback, has only coached for two seasons with the Packers as an offensive assistant and QBs coach.

Although his peers have spoken highly of him, Mannion's limited coaching resume, lack of play calling experience at any level, and unfamiliarity with the Eagles make him a curious fit for an organization one year removed from a Super Bowl and trying to get back in 2026.

But the history of the Eagles also reveals that having first-time play callers on offense isn't a new strategy, and although results are mixed, there are reasons for encouragement as there are for being skeptical.

Let's take a look at the results of some first-time offensive play callers:

Kevin Patullo (2025)

HOORAY for red zone scoring?!?! Yeah, no. This wasn't a hit. 

We've written ad nauseam about issues beyond play calling and play design that led to Patullo getting fired after just one season, but it needed to happen. There was too much money invested in this offense to rank in the bottom half or bottom third of these major statistical categories, especially for someone who had 15 years of NFL coaching experience prior to his OC promotion.
Final judgment: Bad play caller

Brian Johnson (2023)

Holy smokes. Johnson's play calling probably would've won the Eagles a Super Bowl this season – and he didn't even have Saquon Barkley. Did the Eagles pull the plug on Johnson too soon? Maybe, but two things are worth remembering here: 1) the Eagles finished the year 1-6, and there were times when Jalen Hurts and A.J. Brown were freelancing on the field; and 2) the Eagles scored less than 20 points five times during that seven-game implosive streak. They were in major decline and correct about the pass offense getting stale.

But the bigger issue was more that it was Nick Sirianni's overall philosophy and scheme influence that was hurting the offense, and it remained in decline even as new OC Kellen Moore called plays, outside of some well-timed breakouts in the NFC Conference Championship and Super Bowl. Back to Johnson – the Commanders could've promoted him from pass game coordinator to OC after they fired Kliff Kingsbury, but they bypassed him for David Blough, their version of Mannion.
Final judgment: Not a great play caller ... but Johnson was more of a scapegoat and might not be as bad as initially perceived.

Nick Sirianni (2021)

An info box wouldn't tell the whole story here. Sirianni, who had never called plays in his three seasons as Colts OC or any time in his 11-year career as an NFL assistant or college coach, gave up play calling just seven games into his first season as Eagles head coach. His offense after seven weeks ranked 15th in points scored, 17th in total yards, and 19th in third-down conversion percentage.

The Eagles averaged 5.0 yards per rush during Sirianni's stint as play caller, fourth best in the NFL, but only had the NFL's 10th-most rushing yards as Sirianni tried to overemphasize the pass game in Jalen Hurts' first full season. Sirianni handed play calling to Shane Steichen, who had prior experience doing it with the Chargers as an interim OC in 2019. From that point on, the Eagles finished with the NFL's fifth-most points, most total yards, best third-down conversion rate and No. 1 rushing offense. Good surrender, Nick.
Final judgment: Bad play caller.

Doug Pederson (2016)

The man who coached the Eagles to their first Super Bowl title in just his second season had never been the full-time play caller in his seven prior years in Kansas City, coaching under Andy Reid despite three seasons as OC. Reid said he would sometimes have Pederson call plays in the second halves.

Pederson called plays for his entire five-year tenure as Eagles HC, but his acumen proved to ephemeral. The Eagles scored the third-most points in the NFL in 2017 and flourished even after starting QB Carson Wentz went down in December with an ACL tear, leading Nick Foles to take over and become Super Bowl MVP. You may have heard of this.

But the Eagles' offense ranked 14th overall in both 2018 and 2019, then hit rock bottom with a 24th ranking in 2020. Pederson remained loyal to his offensive staff and got fired for it.

Overall, Pederson's play calling acumen is questionable at best. He had the same issue when he became Jags HC in 2022, producing the 10th-best offense in his first year, then 13th in Year 2, then 25th in his third year, leading to his firing.
Final judgment: Not a terrible play caller, but defenses quickly adapted to his success and he had no counterpunch.

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Chip Kelly (2013)

Although he was considered an offensive genius and elite program builder after coaching Oregon into the national championship game behind an innovative no-huddle and spread scheme, Chip Kelly didn't live up to the expectations of either label despite producing top-five offenses in his first two seasons as Eagles HC.

The Birds ranked fourth and third, respectively, in Kelly's first two seasons, but he also inherited a loaded offense built by Andy Reid that already had a track record of success – a group that included LeSean McCoy, Michael Vick, DeSean Jackson, Jeremy Maclin (who missed all of 2013 with an ACL tear) and an offensive line that included Jason Peters, Jason Kelce and No. 4 overall pick Lane Johnson.

Truth be told, Kelly's first-year offense flourished partly because the NFL hadn't yet adjusted to the super-speed pace of his offense, and it got fat on some lopsided games against inferior opponents, including a 49-20 win over a terrible Raiders team and a 54-11 win over a Bears team that fielded the NFL's third-worst defense. Of the eight times the Eagles scored 30 points or more against in Kelly's first season, only one came against a team that finished with a winning record. Six other times that season the Eagles scored 24 points or fewer against teams that finished .500 or better. 

Kelly was fired before the end of his third season for being a terrible program builder who got rid of several really good players and then failed to adequately replace them, losing the confidence of owner Jeffrey Lurie. He was given an immediate second chance by the 49ers, who then posted the NFL's second-worst offense, which made Kelly a one-and-done. After several years back in college, Kelly returned to the NFL as Raiders OC and was fired 11 games into the season. The Raiders finished with the NFL's worst offense.
Final judgment: Maybe, perhaps, Chip Kelly just wasn't meant to be an NFL play caller.

Andy Reid (1999)

The Eagles took a major swing when they hired Reid, who hadn't been a coordinator in any of his prior 17 seasons coaching in college or the NFL. Like Mannion, Reid had been the QBs coach for the Packers when Lurie and Joe Banner singled him out as a future star and hired him to lead a franchise rebuild.

Reid had veteran journeyman QB Doug Pederson and No. 2 overall pick Donovan McNabb for his first season. The cupboard at wide receiver and tight end was bare, and the offensive line featured just one player – LT Tra Thomas – who'd be back on the starting unit for Reid's second season. RB Duce Staley was the offense's lone spark plug, especially with McNabb beginning his rookie season on the bench.

The Birds finished with the NFL's third-worst offense in Reid's first season but jumped to 17th in Year 2 – 12th in points scored – and finished top-10 in points scored in each of the next two seasons as Reid earned a reputation for being an emerging play caller. Reid went on to preside over six more top-10 scoring offenses as the Eagles made nine overall playoff appearances and made a Super Bowl before Reid was fired after a disastrous 2012 season and went to Kansas City. He now has three Super Bowl wins and is considered one of the greatest coaches and play callers in the sport's history.
Final judgment: Thankfully, the Eagles didn't give up on Reid – and he didn't give up on himself – after one year.

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