It’s the most wonderful time of the year. It is officially football season.
The Eagles training camp is underway as of July 24. For the next 29 weeks, assuming the Eagles make it to the Super Bowl LIX New Orleans, it is football season. And thank heavens for that.
The season figures to be an impactful one for Eagles fans, the team and, especially, for Eagles coach Nick Sirianni.
No one person in the Eagles organization has more at stake than the coach who led the team to a Super Bowl in his second season as head coach. Sirianni was owner Jeffrey Lurie’s bold pick for head coach after Doug Pederson and the Eagles parted ways.
That choice paid off almost immediately as the Eagles returned to an elite level of the National Football League. The success came at a price as the NFL conspired to grab a portion of that success by raiding the Eagles coaching staff. Sirianni lost his offensive and defensive coordinators last season.
The effort to replace Jonathan Gannon and Shane Steichen was an unqualified disaster as the Eagles season disintegrated coming down the stretch of last season.
The Eagles gambled on coaching talent that was already in the building to try to recapture the magic of the 2022 season. The Eagles threw snake eyes and crapped out.
Sirianni found himself scrambling for his coaching life. The Eagles, executive vice president Howie Roseman and Lurie had to decide whether Sirianni had earned enough good will to return for another season.
In essence, the Eagles have gambled again.
The Eagles chose to not move on from Sirianni, while moving on from his direct impact on the play-by-play running of the team.
Sirianni’s primary gameday role will be to let Vic Fangio and Kellen Moore do the things that have made them successful coordinators in the league. Sirianni will take care of the overhead view of the team and concentrate on keeping the players and coaches rowing all in the same direction.
Siranni is and always has been at his very best as a motivator. For however stale the offense got last year or how stagnant the defense appeared, Sirianni has a proven record of leading the Eagles.
That record will be put to the test this fall and, hopefully, well into the winter.
For the next 29 weeks, it is football season.
Thank heavens for that.
Saquon Barkley will be running the ball for the Green. Lane Johnson will be anchoring the offensive line. Jalen Hurts will be trying to find AJ Brown.
Darius Slay will be searching out big plays. Jalen Carter and Jordan Davis will be clogging up the running and passing lanes. Brandon Graham will be laughing and trash talking just as he has for the last decade and a half.
We have Christmas in July. It really is the most wonderful time of the year.
