Report: Sean Desai hired as Eagles’ new defensive coordinator [UPDATE]

UPDATE: Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll says Sean Desai is joining Philadelphia.

ORIGINAL STORY BELOW.

Sean Desai is on track to be the Philadelphia Eagles’ new defensive coordinator.

Though nothing is officially finalized as of this publish time, ESPN reports that Desai is “well-positioned” to be Jonathan Gannon’s successor.

Via Jeremy Fowler:

Seahawks associate head coach Sean Desai has emerged as a strong candidate for the Eagles DC job, with people with Seattle and other candidates for the Philly job bracing for Desai to get it, sources told @DanGrazianoESPN and me. Philly still going through process, with nothing official, but Desai appears well-positioned.

Desai was hosted for a second interview at the NovaCare Complex in South Philly on Monday. The meeting must have gone well.

Desai is arguably the strongest remaining candidate for the Eagles’ opening. Unlike the other rumored contenders, he has a season of defensive coordinator experience under his belt.

Some other things working in Desai’s favor:

• He survived two head coaching changes with the Chicago Bears. He was brought in under Marc Trestman and remained on the staff through the John Fox and Matt Nagy hires. It wasn’t until the Bears added Matt Eberflus last year that the organization wanted him to find a new home.
• Desai overlapped with Vic Fangio in Chicago for four years. He had the chance to work alongside one of the best defensive minds in the NFL.
• Pete Carroll thought highly enough of Desai to find a place on his coaching staff for him last year.
• He is not Jonathan Gannon. And so maybe he’s better at not always getting destroyed by good quarterbacks?

The Eagles may not confirm their coaching hires until they announce them all at once at some point soon. But it’s possible we see more confirmation that Desai will indeed be the man, as we’ve saw with Brian Johnson’s promotion being reported on Tuesday morning.

Stay tuned to BGN for more updates.