Jason Kelce Addresses Nick Sirianni Critics: Eagles HC Is Similar to Dan Campbell

Former Philadelphia Eagles star Jason Kelce came to the defense of Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni, who has faced steady criticism despite the team's 7-2 record.

"I think the big thing people question with Nick is like, 'What does he do?' Especially now that he's not a play-caller," Kelce said on the 94WIP Morning Show. "And I just think there's a number of coaches that do this now, Dan Campbell being one of them. And people really don't question what Dan Campbell does for the Lions."

While Campbell has been credited a lot for the Detroit Lions' success, plenty of praise has been afforded to offensive coordinator Ben Johnson and defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn.

A little like with how the duties on the Lions' coaching staff are delegated, Kelce sees Sirianni's primary duty as helping to "steer everything."

"I know that's not as easy and transparent as like calling plays and whether he is good or bad at that. But I think that has tremendous value," he said. "For the most part, he's been really, really good at that through his career...You've got to give him some credit for—I don't know who made the hires or whatever. He's been the head coach through Kellen Moore and Vic Fangio coming on and these new additions and they've lost two games this year."

At a certain point, the results begin to speak for themselves.

Philadelphia is 41-19 with an NFC title since Sirianni took over. This hasn't been a repeat of the Doug Pederson era, where a Super Bowl triumph in 2017 was a clear outlier in an otherwise lackluster run.

The Eagles are also sixth in total offense and second in total defense in 2024. Quarterback Jalen Hurts is eighth in QBR (64.3), per ESPN.com, and running back Saquon Barkley is second in the NFL in rushing yards (991).

Maybe Sirianni isn't a master tactician who succeeds or fails largely on the strength of the staff around him.

But managing a locker room and identifying the right assistants are skills in their own right. On those fronts, Sirianni has excelled this year.