The irony in the Philadelphia Eaglesâ offensive reset is hard to miss. All season long, fans, analysts, and probably more than a few people inside the NovaCare Complex complained that the run game was broken, the offense was stale, and something, anything needed to change.
Now it has and it might be more change than anyone expected.
The Eaglesâ run game in 2025 never found stable footing. Injuries across the offensive line clearly mattered. Lane Johnson missed time. Landon Dickerson and Cam Jurgens gutted through the season at less than full strength. Jordan Mailata would tell you himself he didnât play to his usual standard.
That explanation alone would have been sufficient if the problems stopped there.
They didnât.
The Curious Case of the Run Game Collapse
Tight ends routinely missed assignments. Saquon Barkley was meeting defenders in the backfield instead of at the second level. The unit that once imposed its will instead looked disjointed and reactive. No one expected a repeat of the historic 2024 rushing output, but what followed wasnât normal regression. It was collapse.
By seasonâs end, the Eagles led the league in stuffed runs and faced longer average third downs than any team in football. Thatâs not a statistical blip. Thatâs a systemic breakdown.
As the offense stalled late in the year, head coach Nick Sirianni became more directly involved in shaping the run game. Alongside then-offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo, new run concepts were layered in to try to inject life into an attack that had gone stale.
The issue, according to league sources, wasnât the idea of change, it was how that change was executed.
More Dysfunction
Then Eagles legendary offensive line coach, Jeff Stoutland, long regarded as the backbone of the Eaglesâ offensive identity, felt increasingly sidelined in decisions tied directly to his area of expertise. The run game coordinator title, once a reflection of his influence, began to feel hollow. At a certain point, the role no longer matched the responsibility.
As ESPN’s Tim Mcmanus reported on Wednesday, more dysfunction withing the organization led to a lost season.
Things were less harmonious this past season. Injuries to right tackle Lane Johnson and others along the front played a part in the ground gameâs regression, but there were other dynamics at play. With the offense stagnant, head coach Nick Sirianni took on a more active role over the latter part of the season. He and then-offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo began incorporating different run designs in an effort to kick start the operation.
Stoutland was not consulted about the changes to what he felt was an appropriate degree, a league source said, to the point where he no longer desired the title of run game coordinator because he felt it no longer fit his job description.
That experience gave him pause about continuing on with the organization, the source added.
That disconnect lingered.
When the Eagles pivoted again this offseason, hiring Sean Mannion to install a new offense inspired by the Shanahan and McVay coaching trees, the gap widened. Stoutland, who had spent more than a decade anchoring Philadelphiaâs offensive philosophy, was suddenly being asked to adapt to a system outside his coaching lineage without a clear path to ownership within it.
Stout Out
The Eagles offered Stoutland a position on the revamped staff. He declined. On Wednesday, the franchise made it official: after 13 seasons, Jeff Stoutland will not return for 2026.
That ending is jarring given what came before it. Since arriving in 2013, Stoutland had been the constant through multiple coaching regimes, helping power a run that included two championships and three Super Bowl appearances. His offensive lines werenât just effective they were the identity of the team.
The run game did show signs of life late in the season. Over Weeks 14 through 17, Barkley topped 400 rushing yards and averaged nearly five yards per carry. Jalen Hurts re-emerged as a factor on designed runs. There were glimpses of functionality.
But context matters. That stretch included games against struggling defenses, and the broader issues never truly disappeared.
Careful What You Wish For
This is where the Eaglesâ reset becomes complicated. If you asked fans in January whether the organization should do everything possible to keep Jeff Stoutland, the answer would have been overwhelming. Scrap the year, get healthy, and run it back with the foundation intact.
At the same time, those same fans spent the season demanding change, louder, faster, and more decisive.
They got it.
Kevin Patullo is gone.
Jeff Stoutland is gone.
Sean Mannion is in.
Josh Grizzard is in.
The offense is being rebuilt with a different philosophical blueprint. So now comes the critical emperical data. We’ll soon know whether his was necessary evolution or an overcorrection born out of frustration.
The Legend of Stoutland University
Stoutlandâs departure stings. It should. His influence on the franchise is undeniable, and one dysfunctional season doesnât and shouldn’t erase a decade of dominance. But the Eagles didnât stumble into this moment, they sprinted toward it after months of dissatisfaction with how things looked on the field. Sort of reminiscient of late 2023 when they replaced defensive coordinator Sean Desai with Matt Patricia and we know how that turned out. Â
The Eagles are betting that sweeping change fixes what incremental adjustment could not. Whether that gamble restores the run game or deepens the dysfunction will define the next chapter.
Either way what wonât change is Jeff Stoutland’s legacy in Philadelphia. Stoutland University was an institution of higher learning and exceptional execution for many an offensive line that studied under the future hall of fame coach. He’s an Eagle legend no matter how this transition plays out.
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