PHILADELPHIA -- 'Tis the season for honeymoon phases and hyperbole. Every NFL team is undefeated and reality has yet to wear off the glow of optimism surrounding offseason moves.
But good buzz beats the alternative, and things are buzzing pretty nicely right now around new Eagles offensive coordinator Sean Mannion -- the green coach charged with overseeing the most significant schematic overhaul of the Nick Sirianni/Jalen Hurts era.
"Sean is an evil genius. That is my first impression," left tackle Jordan Mailata said. "The guy knows ball. If I were to lock the three smartest people in the facility in one room, Sean would be there. And I think Sean would just be by himself. It would just be Sean. He's a wizard. And man, I'm super excited. As the year goes on, we get to display what is in that beautiful mind of his."
The Eagles initially were targeting more experienced coaches like Brian Daboll and Mike McDaniel to replace Kevin Patullo, who struggled to find his footing in his first year as a playcaller and was fired at season's end, but needed to pivot once the established names landed elsewhere.
Mannion's resume is extremely light in comparison. The former Oregon State quarterback played professional football as recently as 2023. He joined the coaching ranks in '24 as an offensive assistant for the Green Bay Packers and was promoted to quarterbacks coach last year, aiding in the development of Jordan Love and Malik Willis.
"One of the hardest workers that I've seen at a younger age, always in the building, always working at it, always one-on-one with the quarterbacks, doing extra things," said Dolphins head coach and former Packers defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley of the 34-year-old Mannion. "And he played the position. You can say he's only coached two years but his time as a quarterback in the NFL, all he's doing is learning football and he's doing it, right? What he'll being to that quarterback room and what he'll bring to that offense, I think he's going to be awesome."
Mannion interviewed with Philadelphia virtually while at the East-West Shrine Game in Texas in January. By Mannion's account, the two sides "really hit it off right away." An in-person interview followed that Mannion described as "even more validating."
Like Sirianni and Hurts, Mannion is a coach's son. He used to tag along when his father, John Mannion, would scout rival high school teams in Northern California. Even at seven years old, Sean had a yellow notepad in hand and would jot down notes and design plays. John had that notepad framed and gave it to his son as a gift when he was hired by the Packers.
"Even as a player, I knew this is what I wanted to do next," Mannion said. "I knew I was going to get into coaching. So I always had that in mind as I'm learning things, how am I going to use this someday from a coaching perspective."
Mannion was recently under Packers head coach Matt LaFleur's tutelage and is in the process of installing an offense in the Kyle Shanahan/Sean McVay mold, featuring lots of under center and pre-snap motion. These are elements the Eagles have not leaned heavily into in recent seasons in part, sources said, because Hurts has shown some resistance towards them.
A team source believes Hurts is as open as he has ever been to change, however, and the early returns suggest he's on board with Mannion -- Hurts' sixth playcaller since entering the league in 2020.
"It's been a really good process so far. He's come in and he's very clear, giving good direction. You can definitely see the vision," Hurts said. "He's been able to answer all of my questions, very instructive, very helpful, so it's been a very enjoyable journey so far."
"Jalen's been awesome," Mannion added. "I really think he can do anything we ask of him. He's accurate. He's a great athlete. He really attacks the fundamentals...He's always wanting more things to work on, wanting more things regarding fundamentals, timing, understanding the scheme. He's hungry for more."
The Eagles are looking to recalibrate after the most expensive offense in football finished 24th in total yards (311.2) and tied for the most three-and-out drives (50), falling well short of expectations. Patullo was fired, star receiver A.J. Brown was traded to the New England Patriots, and the front office brought in a host of new playmakers including first-round pick Makai Lemon and former Packers receiver Dontayvion Wicks.
Whether they can rebound and get back on a championship track depends in part on whether Mannion's performance matches some of the early hype.
"Sean's done an awesome job thus far and just really like the command that he has in front of the room and the conviction that he has in front of the room and the knowledge that he has in front of the room," Sirianni said.
"We'll see how that looks. We've got a long time before we play. We've got a lot of practices to go through before we play a game. This is about figuring out what we do well, what we can do well, and sharpening our tools. You can run any scheme you want, but if you can't block, if you can't catch, if you can't protect the football, it doesn't really matter. All those things that aren't looked at as sexy, the dirty work stuff, that's what we're working on perfecting right now as we get to know some new terminology and some new things [with] the way the offense goes."