After months of waiting, Sean Mannion’s era is officially underway in Philadelphia as the first-year offensive coordinator, meeting with local and national media for the first time since replacing Kevin Patullo and beating out 16 other candidates. On Thursday, the Eagles made Mannion, defensive coordinator Vic Fangio, and special teams coordinator Michael Clay available to the media.
Clay received a new contract after an improved Eagles special team unit had standout moments in 2025, while Vic Fangio nearly walked away from the Eagles and the NFL this offseason.
With OTAs set to begin on Monday, here are three key things we learned from the coordinators’ availability.
Eagles run game will look drastically different
Sean Mannon hired Ryan Mahaffey to the position of Run Game Coordinator/Tight Ends Coach, and this is what Sean Mannion said about his addition:
Me and Ryan have worked together and I think some of the things that we’re bringing, Ryan has a background in and his background is unique. He’s been with the offensive line for a lot of time. He’s been with the receiver group. Ultimately our run game, our whole offense as a whole is a collaborative process. It’s really being built by all of us and Ryan’s a very detailed guy. He understands the schematic elements. He knows how all the pieces fit. Having worked with the blocking unit with the offensive line, having worked with the receiving group, because we all have a hand in the run game and he’s a tremendous teacher, detail oriented. He’s going to be a great fit for that role.
What that means:Mahaffey just completed his fifth season with the Packers after coaching eight years at the collegiate level. In two seasons as the assistant offensive line coach (2022- 23), Mahaffey helped the Packers rank tied for No. 4 in the NFL over that span in sacks allowed (62) and No. 5 in sack percentage (5.1). Last season, Philadelphia struggled to run the football against stacked defensive fronts. After logging 2,005 rushing yards during the regular season, Barkley was hit or tackled behind the line of scrimmage 84 times with 41 negative runs last season, according to SumerSports. Jeff Stoutland’s approach to the running game blended zone and gap schemes that were easy to decipher and relied on the offensive line to dominate up front.
That could all change under first-year offensive coordinator Sean Mannion, who’s likely to borrow from the Kyle Shanahan/Sean McVay/Matt LaFleur styles of offense, which focus on a “wide zone” scheme designed to create mismatches through motion, misdirection, and personnel.
Some of Sirianni’s principles will remain in Eagles offense
Philadelphia hired Sean Mannion, and most of the media discussion before that focused on the need to move away from Nick Sirianni’s conservative playbook. The Eagles’ offense will evolve under Mannion’s guidance, but a good portion of Sirianni’s influence will remain.
Yeah, that’s a great question. Kind of like I spoke to before, it’s a blend. There’s things schematically that we’re bringing. There’s things that the Eagles’ offense has really thrived with doing in the years past. In terms of the verbiage of the terminology, it’s a process of seeing, “Hey, what makes sense to keep? What are things that with some of the new changes coming in [that] need to change?” So that’s something we’ve looked at really from day one, understanding kind of the background of the scheme here, what are some of the things we want to add, things we want to tweak and how do we build kind of the language of our offense, but that’s been a great process. There’s elements that are new and there’s elements that will remain in terms of terminology, but that process has been a lot of fun because ultimately, like I said before, it’s all about bringing something to the table and then how can we continue to make it better? How do we continue to build it, streamline things and that’s really the whole process of the language of the offense, is really a good example of kind of where that takes place.
What that means: Mannion used the term “blending” several times during his media session, and it’s clear Sirianni will still have some influence on the offense, handing the keys to a former QB and first-year play-caller.
Special teams will be key for players on the roster bubble
Michael Clay discussed the Eagles’ special teams unit and offered insight into why key players see significant snaps on kickoff and punt teams.
Over the past two years, from a specialist standpoint or a special team standpoint, I think it’s great because it gives us plays to play. It gives guys opportunities, like the [TE] Cam Latu’s, the [LB] Jeremiah Trotter’s, guys that may not play a lot of offense and defense, but they excel at that and they’re able to put their name out there. I know we had [former Eagles TE] Kylen Granson. Guy had 18 tackles and a lot of them came on kickoff. So, it just gives these guys an opportunity to extend their career, put more money in their pockets for their family, for their wealth.
From a schematic standpoint, obviously, we didn’t play up to our expectations from a kickoff return standpoint and that all falls on me. So going back, I spent a lot of time looking at what the tracks I want the return men to have, how we want our kickoff return, blocking assignments, how we want that [to look]. I’ve spent a lot of time on that and I’m actually looking forward to it when we go [to] OTAs and mandatory mini camps and putting pads on, trying to implement those so we can use that kickoff return as an advantage. I thought our kickoff was very dangerous last year in terms of our kickoff coverage, and kudos for the guys on the 2025 team, but nobody cares about that going into 2026. We’ve got to start from ground zero and earn our right to be able to go out there with all these kickoffs and give our defense a long field.
What that means: Kelee Ringo is all but assured a roster spot thanks to his special teams prowess, and guys like Chandler Martin could find their role and place on Clay’s unit.
Makai Lemon could see snaps in the return game
The first round pick is expected to be a starter or key contributor at wide receiver, but Michael Clay says Lemon could be a low-key contributor on special teams.
Everybody’s part of the kickoff return rotation. Makai, obviously he had that one year at USC where he was really good. They had [former USC WR] Zachariah Branch, obviously hard to pass up that guy. But Makai, I like Makai. He has that California feel, that California confidence. Being from California, you always love it and it may be misunderstood, but he’s out there in the tackling drills, the takeaway circuit, and he’s been able to catch a couple punts as well from Braden and that kickoff return. He’ll definitely be in the mix just like a whole bunch of people will be.
Marcus Epps could be a tone-setter for Eagles defense
Philadelphia saw Nakobe Dean, Reed Blankenship, and Jaelan Phillips depart via free agency. Dean and Blankenship organically developed into leaders for the Eagles, and that presence will be hard to replace. Ask about potential tone setters and leaders on defense, Vic Fangio highlighted Marcus Epps, making it all but a lock for the veteran safety to make the Eagles roster.
Everybody’s part of the kickoff return rotation. Makai, obviously he had that one year at USC where he was really good. They had [former USC WR] Zachariah Branch, obviously hard to pass up that guy. But Makai, I like Makai. He has that California feel, that California confidence. Being from California, you always love it and it may be misunderstood, but he’s out there in the tackling drills, the takeaway circuit, and he’s been able to catch a couple punts as well from Braden and that kickoff return. He’ll definitely be in the mix just like a whole bunch of people will be.
I was pleasantly surprised. Maybe surprised is the wrong word because I just really didn’t know him. But when he had to play last year, he came in and showed his experience, showed his instincts that he has for the game. I was pleased with the way he played last year. I wasn’t considering him an old player at this point, but he’s obviously a veteran. I think he’ll do fine. I’m not sure what his injury history has been, but I think if he stays injury-free and if he wins the job, we’ll be fine.
This article originally appeared on Eagles Wire: 3 things we learned from the Eagles coordinators’ media session