A reality check on a fan‑driven fantasy

Every offseason, a handful of names get thrown into the Eagles’ coordinator rumor mill—some realistic, some wishful, and some that were never happening no matter how loudly talk radio tried to manifest them. Brian Daboll falls squarely into that last category.

The idea of Daboll landing in Philadelphia always sounded splashy, but it never aligned with how coaches think, how the league works, or what the Eagles actually need. When you break it down, the reasons are pretty straightforward.

1. Daboll still wanted to be a head coach
Daboll didn’t get into this cycle looking for a soft landing. He wanted another shot at running a team. The Bills’ head‑coaching job was the one realistic opening that fit his background and relationships but Buffalo chose Joe Brady instead.

Once that door closed, Daboll wasn’t suddenly going to pivot to “just find any OC job.” His priority remained positioning himself for the next head‑coaching cycle, not taking a role that would make that harder.

2. If not a head coach, the next best job is OC under a defensive head coach
This is the golden rule for offensive coaches trying to rebuild their stock.

If you work under a defensive head coach, you essentially run the entire offense. You’re the architect, the play caller, the identity‑setter. You’re almost a co‑head coach in terms of responsibility and visibility.

That’s why Daboll’s logical landing spots were always going to be teams with defensive head coaches... places where he could control an entire side of the ball and rebuild his résumé without interference.

The Eagles, of course, do not fit that description.

3. OC under an offensive head coach only works if you get to call plays
There are offensive‑head‑coach teams where an OC can thrive... but only if the head coach hands over the keys to the offense.

Nick Sirianni fits that mold but,

even though Sirianni gave up play‑calling duties in the past, the Eagles’ offensive structure is still built around his system, his terminology, and his fingerprints. Daboll, who has already been a head coach and a high‑level play caller, was never going to step into a situation where he’d be operating someone else’s offense.

It’s hard to picture him taking orders from Sirianni after running his own program in New York.

4. The Eagles’ OC search is complicated...
The Eagles’ biggest problem isn’t finding a “name.” It’s finding a play caller.

Most of the candidates floating around—Sean Mannion, Matt Nagy, Jim Bob Cooter, and others—were OCs under offensive head coaches who called the plays themselves. That means:

They weren’t the primary designers of their offenses

They weren’t the primary decision‑makers

They’d be first‑time play callers in Philly

The Eagles already tried the “first‑time play caller” experiment with Kevin Patullo this year, and it didn’t work. They need someone who has actually run an offense before, not someone learning on the job...

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5. So where does this leave the Eagles?
If they can’t land a veteran play caller.. Jim Bob Cooter becomes the most logical fallback:

He knows the building

He knows the staff

He’s worked with Sirianni

He can operate within a collaborative structure

It wouldn’t be a “Daboll‑level splash,” but it would be functional, familiar, and aligned with how the Eagles actually operate.

Final thought
The Daboll‑to‑Philly idea, The McDaniel Idea was fun for a minute, but it never made sense. The Eagles want a play caller who complements the coaches already in the building...

If the Eagles end up with a veteran play caller, great. If not, expect the hire to be someone like Jim Bob Cooter... someone who fits the structure, not someone who demands to reshape it.

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