The importance of Nick Sirianni keeping coaching staff together originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
Change is inevitable, as the saying goes. But not every year.
Sometimes it makes sense just to keep things the way they are, and for Nick Sirianni it made sense to keep his coaching staff together for a second straight season.
And that’s rare.
This is the first time in 17 years the Eagles have had no significant changes on their coaching staff from one year to the next.
Andy Reid had the same staff in 2004 and 2005, and every offseason since, at least one position coach or coordinator has changed.
It’s not unusual for a Super Bowl team to keep the same staff simply because by the time its season is over in early February most openings around the league have been filled.
And in 2005, Brad Childress, Jim Johnson and John Harbaugh remained coordinators, Marty Mornhinweg, Pat Shurmur, Ted Williams, David Culley and Juan Castillo remained in place on the offensive side with Tommy Brasher, Steve Spagnuolo, Trent Walters and Sean McDermott on the defensive side.
This past offseason, three of Sirianni’s assistants were linked to possible promotions. Defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon was up for head coaching jobs with the Texans, Broncos and Vikings; quarterbacks coach Brian Johnson interviewed for the Packers’ offensive coordinator position; and passing game coordinator Kevin Patullo was reportedly on the Bears’ radar for their offensive coordinator position, although he never actually interviewed as far as we know.
There’s a lot to be said for continuity, and a head coach bringing back his entire coaching staff for a second season is unusual but huge for returning players who don’t have to start over with a new position coach or coordinator. They don’t have to start from scratch figuring out what their coach is looking for in meetings and at practice, they don’t have to learn new ways of communicating on gameday, they don’t have to adjust to…