January 31, 2024
Tommy Gilligan/USA TODAY Sports
Jason Kelce on the sideline during the Eagles' preseason game in Baltimore back in August.
Jason Kelce touched on the Eagles' recent coordinator hires, and in light of Nick Sirianni transitioning into a more "CEO" style role for next season, gave another endorsement of the Philadelphia head coach on the latest "New Heights" podcast uploaded Wednesday.
"Nick, and I really mean this, is one of the best coaches I've been around in talking about coaching situational ball, really understanding what to do in the right moment, motivating guys," Kelce said on the weekly show co-hosted alongside his brother Travis. "We coach things up in team meetings and hold people accountable better than pretty much any other coach I've been around. Players love him. They'll play hard for him. I know it was a really sh***y year for us, but I think that Nick has a lot to bring in value as the head coach and with the organizational leadership that he provides for the team."
Despite having his team in the Super Bowl not even a year prior, Sirianni became a focal point for hot seat rumors after the Eagles spiraled into a monumental collapse to finish the 2023 season following an NFL-best 10-1 start. Players regressed, the offense had completely stalled out, and the defense devolved into an incohesive mess incapable of stopping even the NFL's worst teams.
It was a disaster, one that left offensive coordinator Brian Johnson and both defensive coordinators Sean Desai and Matt Patricia destined to be shown the door, and for a while, the thought of if Sirianni would be also.
But during the Eagles's locker room cleanout day a couple of weeks ago, Kelce, with his playing future uncertain, defended Sirianni, as did veteran defensive tackle Fletcher Cox.
Just over a week later, Sirianni was confirmed to be staying put, though with entirely new coordinators coming in who would have full autonomy over their respective units, which led to questions and speculation over what Sirianni's role exactly was.
In the time since, the Eagles have quickly moved to hire known commodity Vic Fangio as the next defensive coordinator and Boise State product Kellen Moore, who oversaw some potent Cowboys offenses within the division in the past few years, as the new OC.
"To me, I look at it as, hey, I think Kellen Moore's a pretty bright guy," Kelce said. "All I know now is I know we have a great coach in Nick Sirianni. We just got a great defensive coordinator, defensive mind in Vic Fangio and we got a great offensive mind in Kellen Moore who just got hired. In my opinion, we're adding more talented individuals to continue to be a part of the staff, so whoever is calling plays, I know that we get better having Kellen Moore in the building because I think he's a great mind and has proven that over the last five years."
Kelce didn't think surrendering control of the offense to Moore for next season should be framed as a bad thing for Sirianni either, calling back to when he did the same for former OC Shane Steichen and how effective that ended up being for the Eagles on their way to a Wild Card playoff berth in 2021 and then an NFC title in 2022.
"Nick moving to a head coaching position, you're moving yourself from playcalling duties last year with Shane Steichen, that ended up working out pretty damn good," Kelce said. "Nick has shown in his tenure with the Eagles that he's gonna do whatever he thinks is in the best interest of the Philadelphia Eagles.
"He's gonna make those decisions, and he doesn't care about how other people perceive it. He doesn't care about anything other than what's in the best interest of the team. To me, I think players respect the hell out of coaches who operate on that level and communicate things like that. He's a very unselfish guy."
After the Eagles fell to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the Wild Card round of the playoffs earlier this month, initial reports pointed to Kelce heading toward retirement. The longtime All-Pro center hasn't made any official announcement on his playing career yet, however, opting to give himself proper time to weigh the decision.
While he's at it, the 36-year old has been along for the ride on his brother's current run to the Super Bowl with the Cheifs, and during the celebration following Kansas City's AFC Championship win over the Baltimore Ravens, told The Philadelphia Inquirer that he still hadn't made a call on his future yet but would still like to be involved with the Eagles in some way regardless.
Check out the latest "New Heights" podcast in full below or on YouTube (talk on the Eagles' coaching hires start at the 1:03:10 mark):
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