Eagles promote Kevin Patullo to offensive coordinator to succeed Kellen Moore

The Eagles decided to not draw out their search for Kellen Moore’s replacement and announced Wednesday that they promoted pass game coordinator and associate head coach Kevin Patullo to the role of offensive coordinator.

Patullo, 43, will take over play-calling duties. He has been on staff since Nick Sirianni was hired in 2021, and the two have worked together since 2018, when Sirianni was the offensive coordinator in Indianapolis and Patullo coached receivers.

Patullo has been Sirianni’s right-hand man with the Eagles, and his elevation to this role was a strong possibility after Moore departed to become the head coach of the Saints.

During the lead-up to the Super Bowl in New Orleans two weeks ago, when Moore’s departure was imminent, Patullo described his role with the Eagles as “half head coach, half offensive coordinator” and said a promotion to offensive coordinator with the Eagles or elsewhere was on his wish list, as was finally being a primary play-caller.

“Anything that I can do to continue to grow would be good for me as a person, as a coach,” Patullo said then. “The role I’m in now has been good, too, because I get to do both, essentially. I’m looking forward to whatever happens. I’m not particular in what it needs to be. It’ll take its path the way it’s supposed to go. I’ve been doing this for a long time. I think this is my 16th year in the NFL, or whatever it is, maybe more, and it always works out the way it’s supposed to.”

Two weeks later, the job he desired is his with the team he just helped win a Super Bowl.

» READ MORE: The Eagles need a new offensive coordinator. Could Kevin Patullo be next up?

Patullo’s promotion keeps at least some level of continuity with the Eagles offense, but he will mark the 12th play-caller in 10 college and pro seasons for Jalen Hurts. While Patullo has never called plays, he was closely involved with game planning and game-day execution and handled play-calling duties in practice sessions.

“Kevin Patullo’s never been — he’d have a different role,” Hurts said of Patullo last week. “So it’s hard to compare that role to this role because his job is going to demand something completely different of him. And I have a lot of confidence in him and what he’s shown. However, I know, I’ve learned over the years, that’s out of my jurisdiction. Kind of just taking things as they come and trying to go out there and be the best I can be and just learn and evolve.”

Patullo said he was involved in interviewing Moore last offseason. The process was different, Patullo said, from interviewing Moore to bringing him on staff to spending the offseason and OTAs and training camp implementing and merging new ideas.

“You don’t get to learn new things always as a coach when you’re at the same place every year,” Patullo said. “It was almost like we were clinic-ing each other on stuff, and so we got to go through things and see what fits best.”

The Eagles offense took a while to get going. It’s well-established how critical the Week 5 bye week reset was. Sirianni, Patullo, Moore, and Hurts spent a lot of time evaluating things. The Eagles emerged from the bye as a run-first offense, with NFL offensive player of the year Saquon Barkley running behind one of the league’s best lines. The passing game sometimes was stagnant, but the Eagles rarely needed to rely on it to win.

Patullo’s hands were involved with the entirety of the offense, not just the passing game that was in his job title. Moore said earlier in the season that he spent a lot of time each week with Patullo getting the call sheet ready before every game.

By hiring Patullo, the Eagles are aiming to retain most of the same scheme and terminology they used under Moore. The 2024 offense still had elements of Sirianni’s past scheme to emphasize Hurts’ strengths. Offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland will retain his title as run game coordinator.

Patullo’s promotion will be met with trepidation by those who remember the failed experiment of promoting Brian Johnson from quarterbacks coach to offensive coordinator after Shane Steichen left to become the head coach of the Colts. Patullo has been closely attached to the Eagles’ offense and Hurts’ development for the last four seasons.

Sirianni and Patullo have been friendly since 2009, when Sirianni replaced Patullo as a quality control coach in Kansas City. They finally coached on the same staff nine years later with the Colts. Years of friendship and a professional life together will come in handy moving forward, Patullo said two weeks ago.

“I’ve learned so much from him, and I think the best part of it is we do get to play off each other because we challenge each other in different ways, and we are a little bit different, the way we think,” Patullo said.

“That’s why I am who I am today, because I’m honest with him and he’s honest with me, and I appreciate that because I don’t think a lot of people are.”

The Eagles likely are going to need a new quarterbacks coach, as Moore is expected to bring on Doug Nussmeier as his offensive coordinator in New Orleans.

According to NFL Network, the Eagles are expected to hire Miami Dolphins offensive assistant Parks Frazier as passing game coordinator. Frazier, 33, was on staff with Sirianni and Patullo in Indianapolis.