Brian Daboll, Dianna Russini, and the Eagles: why Philly’s OC search just hit a fork in the road

Philadelphia’s hunt for a new offensive coordinator has taken a sharp turn after fresh reporting made clear that Brian Daboll isn’t treating the Eagles job as his primary destination. The coaching carousel is now pulling three major threads together at once: Daboll’s preference to return to Buffalo as head coach, Philadelphia’s need to pivot to alternative candidates, and a growing “if-this-then-that” offseason where roster patience—especially around star receiver A.J. Brown—may depend on what the Eagles’ next offense actually looks like.

The result is a classic January squeeze: teams with openings want quick clarity, but the best candidates can afford to wait for the job they really want.

Brian Daboll’s next move: Buffalo first, then Tennessee “if” it doesn’t happen

Daboll’s immediate priority is the Bills’ head coaching vacancy, and Buffalo has already begun the formal interview process that puts him squarely in the mix. For Daboll, it’s a clean storyline: a return to the organization where he helped develop Josh Allen into a premier quarterback, now with the chance to run the entire operation.

If Buffalo doesn’t go his way, the expectation around the league is that Daboll’s fallback isn’t Philadelphia—it’s Tennessee, where he could step in as offensive coordinator with a young quarterback plan already forming around Cam Ward. That conditional path matters because it shrinks the Eagles’ realistic window to land him: if Daboll believes the Bills job is truly attainable, he can wait; if it slips away, the Titans opportunity appears positioned as the next landing spot.

• Daboll is viewed as prioritizing the Bills’ head coaching opening over the Eagles’ offensive coordinator job.

• Buffalo has initiated interview requests, signaling Daboll is a serious candidate, not just a name attached to rumor.

• If the Bills job doesn’t materialize, Daboll is widely expected to land in Tennessee as offensive coordinator.

• Philadelphia’s OC search is now effectively a Plan C exercise, after multiple top targets have moved off the board.

• The Eagles’ roster questions—especially at wide receiver—grow louder if the new OC vision doesn’t align with key players.

Dianna Russini’s Eagles angle: why this is more than one candidate saying “no”

Russini’s reporting reframed Philadelphia’s search as one being conducted with an important reality baked in: the Eagles can interview Daboll, but they’re doing it while acknowledging they may not be his top choice. That distinction changes leverage. It’s the difference between “we’re close to hiring” and “we’re in the mix, but we may be a stop on someone else’s route.”

In practical terms, the Eagles have already experienced how quickly the coordinator market can tighten. A high-profile candidate can be “available” and still out of reach if another job offers a better title, a clearer quarterback plan, or more control. In Daboll’s case, the title gap is enormous—head coach versus coordinator—and that alone can settle the matter.

Philadelphia Eagles offense: the OC hire now intersects with A.J. Brown’s future

One of the most telling parts of the current discourse is how quickly the coordinator search has bled into roster stability. Russini has also pointed to A.J. Brown’s future as something that could come down to personal appetite and fit—whether he wants to be in Philadelphia, whether he wants to stay tied to Jalen Hurts, and whether the offense that emerges is one he believes in.

That’s the core “if” that hangs over the Eagles:

• If the next OC modernizes the attack in a way that maximizes Hurts and keeps the passing game explosive, the roster tension cools.

• If the hire signals philosophical drift, or if the offense becomes a week-to-week grind without identity, the noise around star players gets harder to ignore.

This is why “just hire a coordinator” is never just that. In a contending window, the OC decision becomes a referendum on how the franchise plans to score points in January.

A short historical context matters here: teams that cycle coordinators frequently often pay an extra tax in chemistry—terminology changes, timing resets, and the roster starts to feel like it’s auditioning for a new system every year. When that happens, dissatisfaction doesn’t always start with losing; it starts with uncertainty about direction.

What happens next: the Eagles’ Plan C list, and the signals to watch

With Daboll trending away from Philly and at least one other top candidate already moving elsewhere, the Eagles’ next step is less about star power and more about clarity. The next hire needs to answer three questions fast:

1. What’s the passing game identity with Hurts?

2. How will the run game and quarterback run package be married to that identity?

3. Who has real authority—play-caller autonomy, staff building input, and the mandate to install?

The early signal won’t be a headline name—it will be pace. If Philadelphia moves quickly to finalize an OC, it suggests confidence in a specific internal or secondary-market target. If the process drags, it may indicate the Eagles are waiting for the coaching chessboard to settle and for one more option to shake loose.

For fans tracking “Brian Daboll” and “Philadelphia Eagles” right now, the simplest way to read the moment is this: Philly’s search is no longer about landing the biggest available name. It’s about landing the right fit before the offseason turns into a chain reaction—where the coordinator hire shapes the offense, the offense shapes player buy-in, and player buy-in shapes whether 2026 begins as a title push or an uncomfortable reset.