Indian American Sean Desai of Philadelphia Eagles Fired After NFL Season Collapse Despite Early Lead
- The Defensive Coordinator had his play-calling duties stripped amidst the team’s losing streak in mid-December.
Sean Desai, who was in his second season as a defensive coordinator for the Philadelphia Eagles, has been fired. The 40-year-old Indian American was was let go by head coach Nick Sirianni, after his play-calling duties stripped “amidst that losing streak in mid-December.” He was replaced by Matt Patricia, who is not under contract beyond this season. According to the NFL Network Insider, which first reported the news, Desai was “still expected to be a candidate for some of the vacant defensive coordinator jobs elsewhere around the league.”
The Eagles’ season collapsed after starting 10-1, with the Birds losing six of their final seven games, and the defense was a big reason for the team’s struggles. However, as The Athletic notes, the team’s defense was “just as problematic” under both Desai and Patricia. “They surrendered 24.7 points per game under Desai and 27.8 under Patricia, while giving up 358.8 yards per game under Desai and 327.2 under Patricia.”
“Desai’s criticism had been mounting after the Bills racked up 505 yards on Nov. 26, although the Eagles won that game 37-34 in overtime,” The Philadelphia Inquirer reported at the time. That was followed by two straight lopsided defeats, 42-19 to San Francisco and the loss to the Cowboys. After that defeat, the personal relationship between Desai and head coach Nick Srinani suffered “a setback,” the report said, adding that the two “had a vast difference in terms of running the team.”It noted how “Sirianni wanted more collaboration and communication between Desai and his staff, and conveyed to him the “need to be more open to other viewpoints.”
In a post on X, Jeff McLane, the Eagles reporter for the Philadelphia Inquirer writes that everyone he spoke to after Desai’s demotion “had nothing but positive things to say about his character and professionalism through what had to be a difficult endeavor.” He noted that when the publication did an episode on Desai and “and the importance of being the first Indian American to rise to the level of coordinator, few could have predicted he would get so little time to prove his mettle.”
Meanwhile, The Athletic has reported that the Eagles will interview former Washington Commanders coach Ron Rivera to replace Desai. The team has also reportedly reached out to former Giants defensive coordinator Wink Martindale.
Desai was named the Eagles’ defensive coordinator in March. He replaced Jonathan Gannon, who left to become head coach of the Arizona Cardinals. According to the Bleacher Report, he was “a popular target” for defense coordinator in the 2023 hiring cycle. He interviewed with with five different clubs, and “ultimately chose the Eagles,” the report added.
He joined the Birds after spending eight seasons as a defensive assistant with the Chicago Bears before he was promoted to defensive coordinator in 2021, making him the first Indian American coordinator in NFL history. But he was fired as part of the ouster of former coach Matt Nagy. He spent the 2022 season as an associate head coach and defensive assistant with the Seattle Seahawks under Pete Carroll.
Before joining the Bears, he was the running backs coach/special teams coordinator at Boston College. In the 2012 season, Desai also coached Boston College running back Andre Williams, who won the Doak Walker Award as the nation’s top running back a year later.
Prior to that, he was the assistant director of football operations at the University of Miami in 2011 after spending five seasons at Temple (2006-10) as a defensive and special teams coach. At Temple, he also served as an adjunct professor in 2009 and 2010, teaching in the master’s and doctoral programs in education administration. He earned the nickname “Doc,” because of his doctorate in educational administration, with an emphasis on higher education. In 2011, he joined the University of Miami as the assistant director of football operations.
He received his undergraduate degree in philosophy and political science, with a minor in biology, from Boston University in 2004. Desai earned a master’s degree in higher and postsecondary education from Columbia University in 2005.
(Top photo, courtesy of the Philadelphia Eagles)