New Eagles offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo wants to ‘expand’ on player-driven system already in place

The prominence of his own voice may be the biggest change for Kevin Patullo this offseason.

The Eagles’ decision to promote Patullo to offensive coordinator earlier this year ensured there would be a familiar voice calling plays in Jalen Hurts’ helmet next season. Still, the new gig has required some getting used to for the former pass game coordinator now that he’s the one running meetings during the Eagles’ organized team activities this week.

“Some of it’s still similar,” Patullo said Wednesday. “The biggest thing is I’m the one voice in the offensive room, I still had a big voice prior to, but it’s still not a ton different.”

Just how different things will be under Patullo is a reasonable question entering the offseason. Spending the last eight years working underneath Nick Sirianni, first with the Indianapolis Colts and then with the Eagles, Patullo’s player-centric offensive philosophy echoes many of the things Sirianni has harped on during his tenure as Eagles coach as well. Patullo even borrowed some of Sirianni’s most-used sayings at times Wednesday when discussing how he wants his offense to look.

» READ MORE: After an uncomfortable offseason, Dallas Goedert is ‘stoked’ to still be with the Eagles

“My approach is to put the players in the best position to be successful,” Patullo said. “That’s what it comes down to. You want to make sure they’re confident in everything that they can do, and you want to be confident as a coach that you put them in that position so that they can go out there and do their best.”

“Just like Nick says, we’re going to be detailed in the fundamentals and everything we do,” Patullo added. “We’re going to be detailed in the scheme, and then put the players in the best positions to be successful.”

While Patullo’s similarities to Sirianni are apparent — and perhaps for good reason considering how many different offensive play-callers Hurts has had throughout his career dating back to college — the 43-year-old said the two do have some key differences behind the scenes.

“There’s a lot of fundamental things that we see the same way,” Patullo said. “But I do think our brains work differently. So it’s a good back-and-forth conversational piece that we have constantly. There are things, like I said, that he believes in that I believe in as well, and we’re going to do those things, but I do think we challenge each other to grow.”

Given Patullo’s intention to center things around the Eagles’ best offensive players, Wednesday’s practice session open to the media was a difficult one to gauge any potential growth. DeVonta Smith, Lane Johnson, and Landon Dickerson were absent from the voluntary workout, while A.J. Brown, Saquon Barkley, and Cam Jurgens were each varying degrees of limited and held out of the team portion of practice as a result.

In their absence, the first-team offense mostly ran through Dallas Goedert and Jahan Dotson on the type of shallow, underneath routes that were heavily used last season rather than shots downfield.

Still, Patullo said he’s spent the offseason working with his staff to build off the parts of the offense that worked last year with Kellen Moore calling plays. The Eagles ranked eighth in total offense, seventh in scoring offense, and second in total rushing yards, with Barkley coming up just short of the league’s single-season rushing record. The team also scored 40-plus points in each of its final two games en route to winning Super Bowl LIX with a more balanced approach that quieted concerns about the passing offense trailing behind at points during the year.

» READ MORE: Eagles practice observations: Bryce Huff’s absence; cornerback and safety competitions; Cooper DeJean to the outside?

“We go through the process at the end of each year of examining what we do well, what we need to improve upon, and then really any trends or anything that we see that we can add to it,” Patullo said. “ … It’s going to be what our players do best, like it’s been, and then from there we just expand upon it.”

“As we go forward and we build this thing together as a staff, you’ll see some new wrinkles here and there,” Patullo added. “But more so, it’s just kind of building on what our players do best.”

Patullo has limited play-calling experience throughout his career, but cited a handful of influences Wednesday when discussing the approach he’d like to take. Along with former Eagles offensive coordinators Shane Steichen, Frank Reich, and Moore, the 43-year-old also credited longtime NFL coach Chan Gailey, who he worked under in Buffalo, as a key mentor for him.

“Just how to do things, trust the players, set things up, and just the process of it,” Patullo said of Gailey’s lessons. “I’ve been really fortunate to be around some really, really, really good coaches.”

Patullo also said Gailey taught him to listen to his assistant coaches, something he’s done plenty of during his first few months on the job.

“That was something that Chan always taught me: All of the coaches you have around you are there for a reason,” Patullo said. “So don’t just all of a sudden think you’re going to do it yourself. Lean on those guys, lean on what they’re experts at, and that will give you the best chance to be successful.”