Nick Sirianni explains his side of the Jeff Stoutland departure originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
It was a 13-year stretch of brilliance that brought 27 Pro Bowl nods, Hall of Fame careers and a couple Super Bowl rings.
But earlier this offseason, the legendary Jeff Stoutland stepped down from his post as Eagles offensive line coach.
Before heading to the NFL Combine, Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni spoke to reporters for the first time since the major coaching staff shakeup. He got a chance to explain, from his point of view, what led to Stout’s departure.
“Obviously, he’s been such a huge, important piece of the puzzle of what we’ve done here, not just in my time, but obviously prior to me being here,” Sirianni said at the Jefferson Health Training Complex. “But I can only speak on the time I’ve been here. And so obviously we wanted him to stay and be involved in this, I’m going to say rebuild, but you know, re-identification, re-classification, however you want to say it.
“At the end of the day, Stout got to where he was and I obviously wish him the best and I’m going to deeply miss him because he’s done so many things that have helped us throughout his time here. You always want good, just like you always want good players around, you always want good coaches around. With that being said, I’m really excited about the guys that we brought in. And it’s a different … some of the things that we think we’re leaning towards doing is a different way of going about it and excited about that opportunity.”
Sirianni confirmed the Eagles wanted Stoutland to remain on the staff as their offensive line coach but it was clear that Stoutland’s overall role was going to change. As the Eagles switch up their offensive scheme under new OC Sean Mannion, they brought in a new run game coordinator in Ryan Mahaffey and new OL coach in Chris Kuper to help facilitate the change.
It’s important to note that the 64-year-old Stoutland has not retired. While it seems very unlikely he’ll coach this season — he’s still under contract with the Eagles — there’s a chance he’ll continue his coaching career elsewhere in the future.
That’s understandably hard for Eagles fans to swallow.
Stoutland hasn’t spoken publicly since he announced his departure from the Eagles in a social media post back on Feb. 4.
But the Philadelphia Inquirer reported that Stoutland’s duties as run game coordinator were slowly taken away during the 2025 season as Sirianni got more involved in the offense. And then ESPN reported that Stoutland felt he wasn’t consulted about the changes to the run game “to what he felt was an appropriate degree” to the extent that he no longer wanted that additional title. ESPN also reported that Stoutland’s experience from 2025 “gave him pause about continuing on with the organization.”
Sirianni was asked about those reports last week and at first said he doesn’t get too wrapped up in them because he values his own interactions with individuals.
Fine. But what about the way things were handled in 2025?
Sirianni’s increased presence in the offense was well-documented during last season as former offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo struggled. Sirianni aimed to give the offense a shot in the arm but it seems possible he alienated a legendary coach in the process.
“We were struggling and it was like, ‘Hey, what do I need to be able to do as the head coach to go in and help where we’re struggling here?’ That was with every phase,” Sirianni said. “That was with third down, that was with red zone, that was with short yardage, that was with run game, that was with play action game, that was with drop back game. And so that’s the way it went, but we still went about our process the same.
“There was obviously different things that we did and a different process in the sense of we were all together doing it in there. Not to get too much into this, like exactly what it was. And so there were definitely changes of what we did but Stout still did a lot of the stuff where he brought the ideas of what he was thinking. And then there would be like, ‘Hey, I want to run this particular run on our term.’ It’s always been collaborative in everything that we’ve done here. But I guess it was just more collaborative as an entire group in the run game as opposed to run pod and pass pod, if that makes sense. And then we felt like that meshed up with our play action a little bit better. I anticipate us doing that again. Meeting as a group, all together as a run and pass game together.”
Stoutland had been with the Eagles since the 2013 season. He came to Philly under Chip Kelly and then coached under Doug Pederson for five seasons and the last five under Sirianni. He’s the only NFL coach all five of the Eagles’ starting offensive linemen have ever had.
As excited as the Eagles are about their new offense going into 2026, there’s now way around it: They’re going to miss Stout.