Jalen Hurts and Nick Sirianni’s “fractured” relationship is the talk of the town these days. “Is Nick Sirianni a control freak?” is the question that might be the fuel behind the fire. Hurts’ relationship with the Philadelphia Eagles had been rocky since the last season. The main reason behind it is the QB not having enough freedom over play calling.

This led ESPN to explore their shaky relationship and ended it with a kicker. “Do I think they will go to dinner together? Hell no. But it can be a good working professional relationship, and I don’t think it’s hatred,” wrote ESPN.  Nick Wright and his cohorts on First Things First compared their dynamics to Russell Wilson and Pete Carroll’s relationship in Seattle.

“I’ve seen this before. A coach who had success with a quarterback who deep down thinks he might be a little limited, the quarterback then wants to expand past it and show everyone that he’s a star and the coach is pulling against it, that was the Russell Wilson-Pete Carroll thing. It just took a long time,” said Nick Wright on First Things First.

After winning the Super Bowl in 2014, Seahawks were on a decline. While they were making playoff appearances every now and then, they couldn’t make it to the Super Bowl. Russell Wilson felt like it had something to do with coaching. So, before the 2022 season started, Wilson asked the Seahawks management to fire Pete Carroll and GM John Schneider because they didn’t help the team win any games. Russ’ qualm was that the Seahawks didn’t leave the offense “open enough for his liking.” The Seahawks didn’t fire Pete Carroll and their GM, instead, they decided to send Russell Wilson to the Denver Broncos where he secured a huge contract.

Russ clarified the situation later saying Pete Carroll was “like his father” and that he had no problems with the coaching staff and the management. Russell Wilson playing “hero ball” and trying to assert his importance to the Seahawks ultimately became his downfall. Apparently, Russ wanted to replace Carroll with Sean Payton, a dream that came true in his tenure with the Denver Broncos. But karma came around and it was Russ who got the boot this time and got ejected from the Broncos.

“I love Pete and he was a father figure to me and John believed in me and drafted me as well. I never wanted them fired. All any of us wanted was to win. l’ll always have respect for them and love for Seattle,” wrote Wilson on X in February last year.

Though Hurts didn’t ask for the Eagles to fire anyone, he’s in a similar problem. Imagine how the Eagles started 10-1 last year. Then they went on a losing streak, the reason for which was stale playcalling. Sirianni bungled both offensive and defensive play calling, and Hurts lacked respect “for Sirianni’s X’s and O’s chops.”

Let’s talk a bit more about their botched on-field dynamics and personal relationship.

How Nick Sirianni botched his own Cinderella story

Going on a losing streak and losing to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the playoffs might be reason enough. But their relationship had been shaky since last year’s week 4 game against the Commanders. Sirianni had to “make his presence felt,” so he undermined Brian Johnson’s (OC at the time) decision to pass the ball on a critical third and long and chose to run it instead. It backfired. At one point, even the offensive players didn’t know who was calling the plays. In the ESPN piece, a source reported how Hurts was trying to play “hero ball,” trying to justify his $250 million worth to the Eagles. That might have also been a reason behind their downfall.

The QBs offensive vision didn’t align with Sirianni as the HC relied on simple play calls. The HC relied too much on “vertical routes” and not on short to intermediate throws, which resulted in Hurts throwing 15 interceptions in the last season, his career high. Also, this move by Sirianni limited AJ Brown’s performance. If that wasn’t enough, Hurts wasn’t dealing well with blitzes either. In 2023, Hurts was the highest-intercepted QB when subjected to a blitz. Also, the Eagles thought that the tush push was the answer to everything. It got to a point when Hurts had to call former Giants DC, Wink Martindale for some advice.

Martindale spoke to ESPN and said, “They weren’t committed to the run,” and “They weren’t committed to the quarterback runs. They were trying to throw the ball a little but too much on early downs, which put them behind the sticks. That’s when defenses can go to work.” Also, in the last season, Sirianni decided to make changes to the DC position and switched Sean Desai with Matt Patricia. Again, it was something that backfired. Sirianni’s experiments were not working and by the end of the season, he had to fight for his head coaching position.

It’s also notable that Sirianni is a bit emotional and confrontational, even a bit of a control freak. Jalen Hurts on the other hand is a bit introverted, calm, and collected. The personalities just don’t mash together. That’s why Hurts and Sirianni have left the conversation to a minimum during the spring and summer training.

While Hurts called the Eagles out last season, the start of the 2024 season will be a bit different. “I think we’re in a great place,” Hurts said at the start of training camp. “I think any time you have any frustration, any time you have any adversity that you have to overcome, it’s supposed to test you. It’s a matter of being on the same page. If we were on the same page, we maybe would have accomplished the things we would have [last season], and we didn’t, and that’s a learning experience.”

So, are things fixed between the two, or is Hurts putting on a front? Football season is about to start and whether their shaky relationship is mended or not will be revealed soon. This is a prove-it season for Nick Sirianni.