The Eagles Have a Transparency Problem — And It's Making the OC Search Look Worse Than It Is

The Philadelphia Eagles don't have a coaching search problem. They have a perception problem. And according to John McMullen on Tuesday's Birds 365, it's entirely self-inflicted.

"The lack of transparency hurts them," McMullen said bluntly. "They allow people to have the baton and do what they want and say what they want. If they furnish more information, there's a better likelihood that people would have a better feel for what's going on here. But they choose to do it the way they choose to do it."

The Perception vs. Reality Gap

The narrative has spiraled. Ian Rapoport was out saying people don't want to come to Philadelphia. LeSean McCoy publicly criticized the search. National media, unfamiliar with the Eagles' internal process, are painting a picture of dysfunction. A tweet shared on the show encapsulated the perception: "Watching men turn down the OC job for the Philadelphia Eagles over and over is the real story."

But McMullen argued the reality is far more mundane. Candidate withdrawals — like Declan Doyle and Charlie Weiss Jr. — are standard NFL practice across every team, not unique to Philadelphia. When a candidate is informed they're not getting the job, their agent spins it as a withdrawal. "Watch other cities. You'll see the same thing," McMullen said. He pointed to Philip Rivers withdrawing from the Bills head coaching search on the same day as an identical example.

A Self-Fulfilling Prophecy

McMullen identified a real but smaller-than-reported factor: the Philadelphia environment. Coaches with families weigh the intensity of the market. The Eagles couldn't even protect where Kevin Patullo lived. McMullen acknowledged this is part of the equation for coaches with multiple options — but emphasized it's a small part, and that the list of candidates with truly multiple options was extremely short: Mike McDaniel and Brian Dable.

The deeper issue, McMullen suggested, is Jeffrey Lurie's impatience and the organization's approach to coaching searches. "Jeffrey Lurie, if you're out there, start showing more patience, buddy. And then you wouldn't be in these monster offensive coordinator searches," McMullen said. He argued the Eagles should have stuck with Kevin Patullo and let him grow — though he admitted that's nearly impossible in a league where public pressure drives decisions.

The irony is that Jeffrey Lurie reportedly cares deeply about perception — yet the organization's refusal to communicate openly is the very thing making that perception worse. Until the Eagles learn to control their own narrative, every coaching search will look like a crisis — even when it isn't one.

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