Potential High Upside For Eagles Hiring Young OC Sean Mannion

by Marc Narducci | Feb 6, 2026

The long-awaited hire of the Eagles offensive coordinator has been met with a wide variety of opinions.

Sean Mannion, who turns 34 in April, was a Green Bay Packers assistant coach the previous two seasons. Mannion was an offensive assistant his first year in Green Bay in 2024 and served as the quarterbacks coach this past season.

He has never called plays.

Reports suggest he is expected to be the play-caller for the Eagles, and quite frankly, why would he take the job if he weren’t given that authority?

Mannion spent nine seasons as a backup quarterback in the NFL before beginning his coaching career with the Packers in 2024.

No, that isn’t much coaching experience, but he was a backup quarterback in the NFL for nine seasons.

He was drafted in the third round out of Oregon State by the St. Louis Rams in 2015. The Rams would move to Los Angeles the next season.

He played for the Minnesota Vikings and spent time with Seattle, but never got into a game with the Seahawks. In fact, he didn’t get in many games, but he worked for some of the great offensive minds in the NFL, including Sean McVay, who became the Rams’ coach in 2017.

In his nine seasons, which included stints on practice squads, Mannion threw for 573 yards and one touchdown in 14 games, including three starts.

It was a lot of sitting, but also plenty of observing.

Remember, McVay and Kyle Shanahan, two of the top offensive minds in game, never played in the NFL.

The fact that Mannion got NFL experience as a player, albeit at a limited rate, is a big help. He was known in his days as sort of a coach on the field. That’s why he was able to immediately earn a coaching job and then get promoted after one season. Now he has earned a second promotion with a new franchise.

Even though the Eagles are taking a chance on an inexperienced coach, it says here that it is well worth it.

Plus, ESPN reported that the Eagles have also hired Josh Grizzard as passing game coordinator. Grizzard was the Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive coordinator last year, but was fired after his lone season in that position.

Also a young coach, Grizzard turns 36 in June.

The Eagles will have a young duo, but again, that could be a positive situation.

It won’t take much to be more creative than last year’s offense, under the guidance of Kevin Patullo, who was fired after one season as the Eagles offensive coordinator, although he had been with the team five years.

The Eagles showed little imagination, rarely used motion, and were clearly predictable. Plus, Jalen Hurts’ reluctance to run the ball, made him easier to defend. In his five seasons as a starter, Hurts had the fewest rushing attempts, 105, this past season.

That doesn’t mean that Hurts has to become a running machine, but he has to be more of a dual threat than he has been.

Plus, the Eagles have to design an offense that takes advantage of throwing the ball more effectively over the middle. Even though Hurts is better throwing to the sidelines, he has to take more advantage over the middle of the field.

The Eagles’ 23-19 playoff loss to the San Francisco 49ers was a classic example of the importance of qualify play-calling.

Despite being under-manned, San Francisco’s Shanahan ran circles around the Eagles with his play-calling, and that was a major difference in the 49ers’ win.

There is so much unknown about Mannion and Grizzard, but that isn’t always a bad thing.

It can’t be worse than last year.

Bringing in some young and creative blood, could be exactly what the Eagles need.

Sean Mannion / Photo courtesy Philadelphia Eagles X/Twitter

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Author: Marc Narducci

Potential High Upside For Eagles Hiring Young OC Sean Mannion

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