Another NFL season, another new play-caller for Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts.
Two days after the Eagles won by NFL championship for the 2024 season by beating the Kansas City Chiefs 40-22 in Super Bowl LIX on Feb. 9, the New Orleans Saints named Philadelphia offensive coordinator Kellen Moore as their head coach.
The Eagles stayed in-house to fill the vacancy. Philadelphia’s passing-game coordinator since 2021, the season when Hurts became the Eagles’ No. 1 QB, Kevin Patullo will be the former Alabama signal-caller’s sixth play-caller as he enters his sixth NFL season.
“Coach Patullo, he’s been here throughout the journey as well,” Hurts said this week. “He’s had a different position. Always played a pivotal role in what we’ve done, and I think he’s got a great mentality and a great approach coming into everything right now. And so the bigger picture is just taking it a day at a time truly keeping the main thing the main thing, and I think that’s where we are. Everyone’s in a good place, everyone’s focused, and everyone cares about their duties and what they’re supposed to do.
“And we’ve always had some type of communication in the past in prep, and so nothing really changes in terms of that. It’s just kind of people with different titles. So just taking it a day at a time. I think this is a season right now, in the offseason, where we’re collectively trying to build out the system and structure things the way it’s going to be for this iteration of the Eagles.”
While the change at coordinator doesn’t mean a major overhaul of the offense this time, Hurts said there are “some nuances that are different” and change is needed to keep opposing defenses from getting comfortable.
“You have to be able to decode, detect and correct,” Hurts said, “and refine the things that you need to refine. I think the bigger picture, the more important thing is being able to detect what I can improve on and how important it is to improve that. We can all work hard at something, but not necessarily be working hard at the right things. …
“And so right now, it’s just laying the foundation, trying to figure out what this iteration of the team will be.”
In Hurts’ first season as the Eagles’ starter, first-year coach Nick Sirianni called the plays, taking over those duties from the man he succeeded, Doug Pederson. But with Philadelphia at 3-6, he turned over that duty to offensive coordinator Shane Steichen. The Eagles won six of their next eight games and made the playoffs.
Steichen remained Philadelphia’s play-caller in 2022, when the Eagles went 14-3 in the regular season and reached the Super Bowl. After that season, the Indianapolis Colts made Steichen their head coach.
In 2023, the Eagles had a 10-1 record before winning only one of their remaining seven games. Offensive coordinator Brian Johnson was a casualty of Philadelphia’s tailspin.
Last season, with Moore calling the plays, Philadelphia scored an NFL-record 145 postseason points.
“It’s all looked different,” Hurts said. “And so the more important piece is, regardless of who you have on the team, it’s about finding that flow as a team, creating an identity as a team. And that’s where we are right now. It’s very early. We’re laying the foundation, still filtering through things. But, obviously, well, you know, the biggest thing is what will this iteration of the team be? And I don’t really care how it looks as long as we find ways to win.”
Changing play-callers on an annual basis was something Hurts already had experienced when he reached the NFL.
In his freshman season at Alabama, when Hurts won the SEC Offensive Player of the Year Award, Lane Kiffin called the plays for the Crimson Tide, until he departed to become the head coach at Florida Atlantic. Steve Sarkisian called the plays in the CFP national-championship game – a 35-31 loss to Clemson on Jan. 9, 2017.
Brian Daboll worked as Alabama’s offensive coordinator in 2017. The Tide defeated Georgia 26-23 in overtime in the CFP national-championship game, and Daboll departed to become the offensive coordinator of the Buffalo Bills.
In 2018, Mike Locksley worked as Alabama’s offensive coordinator. He departed after the season to become the head coach at Maryland, and Hurts left, too. After losing the starting spot to Tua Tagovailoa, Hurts transferred to Oklahoma for the 2019 campaign.
With the Sooners, Hurts made his fourth straight trip to the College Football Playoff and finished as the runner-up for the Heisman Trophy with Oklahoma head coach Lincoln Riley calling the plays.
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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X at@AMarkG1.