Ranking the Eagles best remaining OC candidates after losing out of Mike Kafka, Declan Doyle

There was a time in the not-too-distant past when Philadelphia Eagles fans were incredibly excited about the future of their offense.

After massively misstepping with the decision to replace future New Orleans Saints head coach Kellen Moore with promoted passing game coordinator Kevin Patullo, the Eagles’ offense looked like 2023 all over again, with very little creativity in place design, an incredible lack of originality in play calling, and an overeliance on players to create for themselves once they caught the ball, instead of manufacturing big plays with smart scheming. Sure, they’d look okay for a snap, a drive, or even a quarter, but when it counted, the Eagles had to overly rely on their elite defense to keep them in games while providing Vic Fangio’s side of the ball very little in terms of production to make their lives easier.

With Patullo gone, surely the Eagles would be able to find another Moore, a smart, savvy play caller with something to prove who wanted to test his mettle in one of the most testy markets in all of sports, right?

Right?

On paper, the Eagles’ offensive coordinator job has been a real proving ground for some of the top coaches in the NFL today. Shan Steichen initially held the job when Nick Sirianni was hired and went on to be named the Indianapolis Colts’ head coach after the Super Bowl, a job he holds to this day. While Brian Johnson’s tenure didn’t go as well, being fired and landing in Washington as the Commanders’ pass game coordinator, Moore proved again that if you succeed in Philadelphia, you will get head coaching interviews, a fact some assumed would hold true for Patullo as well midway through the season, even if that now feels rather comedic in hindsight.

Unfortunately, because there is so much scrutiny on the Eagles’ OC gig, when coupled with additional factors like Sirianni’s preferences and the team’s desire to keep Jeff Stoutland on for his zone-heavy run game coordinatorship, Philadelphia has really struggled to land a new top offensive assistant, with some, like Mike McDaniel, choosing other jobs, while others, like Declan Doyle, have withdrawn their names entirely.

With their offensive coordinator search getting dangerously close to February, the Eagles find themselves with few options left to fill the role, but not all options are created equal. No, for the Birds to get back to where they want to be in 2026, they need to make the best of a bad situation, instead of compounding bad luck into bad results.

1. Charlie Weis Jr. 

Technically, Charlie Weis Jr. has already stated he won’t be taking the Eagles’ offensive coordinator job and will be returning to Lane Kiffin as they make the move to LSU from Ole Miss, but unlike, say, Mike Kafka, he isn’t under contract with another NFL team, and as a result, could still be in play if Howie Roseman, Jeffrey Lurie, and company make a strong push.

Making history as one of the youngest coordinators in college football history when he initially linked up with Kiffin at Florida Atlantic, Weis Jr. has followed the now-LSU head coach in each of his stops since, opting to leave Ole Miss for Baton Rouge while many of his coworkers opted to stay put under Pete Golding. And yet, without Kiffin, Weis Jr. showed he can stand on his own. Calling plays during Ole Miss’ run in the College Football Playoffs, scoring 39 points versus Georgia in a win before going down 27-31 against the eventual National Championship runner-up Miami Hurricanes at the Fiesta Bowl.

To their credit, the Eagles have been interested in Weis Jr. for some time now, reaching out to him late last year about joining the team when things were going downhill with Patullo. Weis Jr. reportedly doesn’t have a buyout if he leaves LSU for the NFL, and if they are willing to blow his $6 million salary out of the water, who knows, maybe the Eagles could still make something happen if they really go all-in.

2. Kliff Kingsbury

Of the options who are still available, Kliff Kinsbury might be the best for the Eagles.

Widely considered a very talented offensive mind with experience coming from the Mike Leach Air Raid school, Kingsbury was up-and-down during his run as the Arizona Cardinals’ head coach but really found success in Washington as the Commanders’ offensive coordinator.

Paired up with rookie Jayden Daniels, Kingsbury made things look easy for the rookie quarterback, ranking fifth in points and seventh in yards thanks to a strong rushing game. Kinsbury was able to take an offense that ranked among the worst in the NFL the year prior and turned it around with plenty of the same personnel, leading some to suggest he could be a head coach candidate in 2025.

Fortunately for the Commaders, Kingsbury opted to return and work with Daniels some more, but that didn’t go nearly as well as either side wanted, with the second-year QB appearing in just seven games and Washington taking a step back as a result.

Fired in a very surprising twist in early January, Kingsbury has interviewed for multiple jobs so far in 2026 but hasn’t been hired just yet, leaving him an option for the Eagles as many around him get snatched up.

Is Kingsbury a perfect coordinator? No, but he had success with a strong running game, a plus offensive line, a few weapons in the passing game, and a quarterback who could call his own number if no one around him was open. While Hurts didn’t want to run as much in 2025 as in seasons prior, he still has that aspect in his game, and could be utilized as such in a scheme that stretches out defenses, instead of attacking the same few spots while the front seven looks to shut down the run game.

3. Frank Smith

If the Eagles’ recent interviews are of any indication, they really seem excited about running a version of Mike McDaniel’s offense in 2026.

Coming up under Kyle Shanahan, McDaniel has built his offense on those bones, using fullbacks in the run game and spreading out defenders with a passing attack that could go anywhere, but put his own spin on it with his own unique twists, relying on speed and pre-snap motion to get open field defenders out of position.

The Eagles interviewed McDaniel before he agreed to a deal with the Los Angeles Chargers, and brought in Bobby Slowak before he went back to the Miami Dolphins as their offensive coordinator, but have now taken a third bite out of the apple in the form of Frank Smith, who served as the team’s offensive coordinator from 2022-25 after coordinatting the run game for the Los Angeles Chargers in 2021.

A college center by trade who played with Ben Roethlisberger at the University of Miami (Ohio), Smith has been coaching for over 20 years, including a decade and a half in the NFL with the New Orleans Saints, Chicago Bears, Las Vegas Raiders, Chargers, and Dolphins. With the Dolphins, Smith didn’t call plays, but he was hand-picked by McDaniel right out of the gates, helping to lead an offense that could go for 40 in any given game but struggled with consistency due to injuries.

How much did Smith contribute to the Dolphins’ offense? It’s hard to say, McDaniel noted that Smith was a “problem solver, a solution man” during the regular season, but how much does that impact the Xs and Os? If the Eagles hire Smith, fans will find out.

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