Panthers Give Eagles an Early Win by Turning Away from Shane Steichen

The Eagles OC has been a hot name on the coaching market but Carolina may have been his best opportunity for a head-coaching job this year

PHILADELPHIA - The Eagles may have gotten a bit of a break on Thursday about 540 miles to the south when the Carolina Panthers pulled the lever on the first hire of the 2023 head-coaching cycle.

Former Indianapolis coach Frank Reich, also the ex-Eagles offensive coordinator, got the big chair in the Queen City, a double positive that might rival turnovers and explosive plays at the NovaCare Complex.

That’s because Reich is still very popular in Philadelphia and it’s always nice to see a class act succeed while many betting markets had the current Eagles’ OC, Shane Steichen, as the favorite to land the Panthers job.

With only four openings remaining – Denver, Arizona, Houston, and Indianapolis – it’s becoming more and more likely that Nick Sirianni will keep his play-caller for at least another season.

Inside the NovaCare Complex, that will be bittersweet if that’s how things shake out because everyone was rooting for the popular Steichen to take the next step in his career but the silver lining is a valuable commodity stays in the position that got him noticed in the first place.

For now, Steichen remains deep into preparation for the San Francisco 49ers and their No. 1 ranked defense in Sunday’s NFC Championship Game.

“I think just watching them over the past couple of days, and they’re very sound in what they do up front,” Steichen said earlier this week. “It starts with (Nick) Bosa and (Arik) Armstead. Those guys are really good players. Bosa is an exceptional player. He has really good speed to power. They do a good job in their rush lanes collapsing the pocket, especially on third down.”

The front is backed up by perhaps the best linebacking tandem in the game and a playmaking secondary.

“(Fred) Warner and (linebacker Dre) Greenlaw are really good players,” said Steichen. “I can’t say enough about Warner, just the way he plays within that scheme. You can tell he prepares the right way. 

"He understands route combinations. He has incredible instincts to where the ball is. He understands line-blocking schemes of when to shoot and go through the gaps. He plays within the scheme well, but phenomenal instincts, and then on the back end, they’re really sound, too.”

The safeties – Talanoa Hufanga and Tashaun Gipson Sr. – are well-rounded and have combined for nine interceptions.

“They’re really physical,” Steichen said. “Obviously, 29 (Hufanga) and 31 (Gipson) are really good players. 29 has been really good all year. He’s good in the box, and he’s good in the post. I was with Gipson for one year in Cleveland in 2013, and he is a veteran player. Both of those guys are really solid, and they can fly around.

“That whole defense is really good.”

The result of it all is a league-best 300.5 yards per game allowed and only 77.7 on the ground, No. 2 in the NFL.

Bosa is the heavy favorite to be NFL Defensive Player of the Year after an 18½-sack season and one Eagles coach compared Warner to former Carolina star Luke Kuechly when it comes to diagnosing the opposition’s play calls and keying his teammates into what's coming.

For Steichen it's the toughest test he's faced all season and an immediate opportunity to unleash a little buyer's remorse on the Panthers.

“We have to be ready for everything, including how they’re going to play certain things in the run game,” he said. “We have to prepare the right way, give different looks in practice and walk-through of what we think we might get, all those different things, but I’m sure they’ll have a plan, and we have to be ready for it.”

-John McMullen contributes Eagles coverage for SI.com's Eagles Today and is the NFL Insider for JAKIB Media. You can listen to John, alongside legendary sports-talk host Jody McDonald every morning from 8-10 on ‘Birds 365,” streaming live on YouTube. John is also the host of his own show "Football 24/7 and a daily contributor to ESPN South Jersey. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen