BREAKING: Eagles replace Sean Desai as Defensive Coordinator

In a bit of surprising news, it looks like the Eagles will have a big change coming to their defense on Monday night against the Seahawks.

After a season of struggle for the defense, the Eagles have now made a change where defensive coordinator Sean Desai will now move up to the box while Matt Patricia will come down and call the plays for the defense.

Sean Desai replaced as Eagles defensive coordinator

As @MikeGarafolo mentioned, #Eagles players have been impressed with Matt Patricia. Now, he takes on a more prominent role. https://t.co/uiQlDH2SdP
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) December 17, 2023

Matt Patricia was brought in as a Senior Defensive Assistant during the offseason after Sean Desai was hired. The news broke after Desai’s hiring and it shook the Eagles fanbase due to the history between both Darius Slay and his former Head Coach Matt Patricia.

This move was weirdly similar to Doug Pederson’s final season in Philly where the Eagles brass brought in more eyes to help evolve the offense. At the time Pederson was enamored with his current offensive coordinator, Press Taylor, while his bosses were not.

Eagles jalen carter — Philadelphia Eagles defensive tackle Jalen Carter, left, runs with the ball while scoring on a fumble recovery as teammate Haason Reddick (7) gestures and Dallas Cowboys offensive tackle Terence Steele (78) chases him during the second half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Dec. 10, 2023, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

The Eagles have been blown out in back-to-back contests after standing alone on top of the league for most of the season. This change follows the news that was broken on Saturday where Eagles CB1 Darius Slay would be out for several weeks after undergoing arthroscopic surgery on his knee.

Patricia has a rich history of being a defensive specialist with the Patriots but failed to evolve after being hired as the Lions’ head coach. Since being fired from Detroit, Patricia hasn’t made much noise until now where he’ll take over the reigns of the Eagles defense.

A little @Eagles scoopage today: Philly very quietly made a change at defensive coordinator this week moving out Sean Desai to another position and replacing him with Matt Patricia. Desai remains with the team in different capacity but Patricia now runs and calls the defense…
— Jay Glazer (@JayGlazer) December 17, 2023

It appeared, at first, that Sean Desai wasn’t not been fired but instead moved to a different position on the defense. Jeff McLane, who covers the team, noted a very different reality.

Sean Desai is no longer the #Eagles DC and has been replaced by Matt Patricia, an #Eagles source confirms @JayGlazer report.

Desai will remain on staff in another role.

Nick Sirianni shakes up his staff after two poor defensive performances.
— Jeff McLane (@Jeff_McLane) December 17, 2023

What this means for the team after this season is all a mystery but it looks like the Eagles are choosing to embrace the mid-season chaos in hopes of turning around this defense.

Will it work? No one knows. But in all honesty, sometimes a different perspective can help boost a team’s morale. If what Ian Rapport said is true and the Eagles defensive players believe in Patricia then this could be the change that they needed all along.

Photo by Robin Alam/Icon Sportswire