'Lack of respect' a key issue in rift between Jalen Hurts and Nick Sirianni

The Philadelphia Eagles didn't look quite as dominant to begin last season as they were in 2022 when they made it to the Super Bowl, but they did win 10 of their first 11 games including victories over teams like the Bills, Chiefs, Cowboys, and Dolphins. Even with their record being as dynamic as it was, they just didn't look all that threatening.

Sure enough, the Eagles wound up collapsing after that 10-1 start, losing five of their next six games to limp into the postseason. Once there, they'd lose in the Wild Card Round to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. While they weren't as dominant when they were winning games, that kind of fall-off for a team as loaded as this Eagles team was is not normal. Now, we've come to find out that things were going on behind the scenes.

Jalen Hurts and Nick Sirianni reportedly had an 'unhealthy relationship' and a 'lack of respect' from Hurts towards Sirianni impacted how things shook out as the season progressed. ESPN's Tim McManus and Jeremy Fowler took a deep dive into what went wrong and what could possibly fix the situation.

Eagles hope Kellen Moore hire will repair rift between Jalen Hurts and Nick Sirianni

"At the root of the divide: a disconnect in offensive visions, with what a team source described as a lack of full respect for Sirianni's X's and O's chops," wrote Fowler and McManus.

The 'lack of respect' from Hurts appears to have come from Sirianni's play-calling. Sirianni wanted to run much of what worked in their Super Bowl run in 2022 while Hurts and new offensive coordinator Brian Johnson had a different vision.

"On the surface, it seemed Johnson's promotion would be seamless," wrote Fowler and McManus. "But it quickly became apparent Johnson and Hurts were on a different page than Sirianni, who wanted to keep his scheme largely the same under the premise of 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it.' Hurts, now a bona fide franchise quarterback, was looking for greater authority over the offense, according to two sources close to him. He and Johnson wanted the system to evolve and become more layered, team sources said."

Hurts, a quarterback who had established himself as one of the two or three best in the sport, was looking to have more control over the offense. Sirianni, on the other hand, was just trying to not deviate from what he knew worked in the past.

"With the 2024 season on the horizon, there is hope new offensive coordinator Kellen Moore can 'bridge the gap between the two' as one source close to Hurts put it."

With another change at the offensive coordinator position, the Eagles hope that Kellen Moore can be the one to get Hurts and Sirianni on the same page. It won't happen with a flip of a switch, but if Moore can "bridge the gap" and get those two connected again, the Eagles can safely be considered legitimate contenders.

We've seen the quarterback Hurts can be, and we've seen Sirianni coach his team to the Super Bowl. At their best, the Eagles can absolutely win the Super Bowl. For them to get back to that level, the relationship between the quarterback and head coach must be strong.