In the 2022 regular season, the Philadelphia Eagles finished sixth in Defensive DVOA, and first against the pass. They had a historic time in which four different players (Haason Reddick, Javon Hargrave, Josh Sweat, and Brandon Graham) had at least 11 sacks. Darius Slay and James Bradberry may have been the league’s best cornerback duo, and new additions like Reddick and C.J. Gardner-Johnson had (and are having) career years. And they completely decimated the New York Giants’ offense in Philly’s 38-7 divisional-round thrashing.
That would seem to point to the idea that Jonathan Gannon, who has run the Eagles’ defense over the last two seasons, it pretty good at his job. But as tends to be the case with sports radio in that particular environment, there are going to be inevitable detractors, no matter how well things are going.
After that Saturday playoff win, Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni took time to eviscerate those who would slander Gannon’s good name.
Nick Sirianni had the 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚 for Jonathan Gannon detractors 😂😭 pic.twitter.com/OSAihStMgg
— NBC Sports Philadelphia (@NBCSPhilly) January 22, 2023
“Man, what did they score? Seven. Yeah, big time. Jonathan Gannon puts these guys in great positions. Obviously, we have great players. Sometimes I have to hear some things about Jonathan Gannon, and I don’t know if it’s you guys. Might be more other people. I won’t say names – [SportsRadio 94WIP Morning Show Host] Angelo [Cataldi] — right?
“But this guy is an unbelievable coordinator. The fact that he doesn’t get respect from our radio station blows my mind. It blows my mind. I know you work at the radio station too so I’m not going to say anything about you. It blows my mind.
“This guy is an incredible coordinator. People love to play for this guy. Listen, you want me to keep going?”
Gannon did recently complete an interview with the Houston Texans, so that could be a thing after the Eagles’ season ends… whenever it does.
Sirianni was then asked why he even pays attention to this stuff.
“[Senior Vice President, Communications] Bob [Lange] has to put me on to — the only reason I have to pay attention is because Bob does such a good job at his job that he preps me for questions that I have to answer,” Sirianni said. “So, every time I hear an answer about Jonathan Gannon I laugh to myself. As a matter of fact, coaches from other teams ask me, does Jonathan Gannon get crap here? I’m like, somehow, yeah. Like this guy is incredible.
“He’s going to be a head football coach in the National Football League because of what he does. This guy is a stud. He’s a stud. I can’t wait to talk to Angelo on Monday.”
After the Eagles’ divisional-round win, Sirianni will also be preparing his team for an NFC Championship game against the winner of today’s divisional game between the San Francisco 49ers and the Dallas Cowboys.
