GREEN BAY — Matt LaFleur wanted Sean Mannion on his staff two years ago that the Green Bay Packers essentially intercepted his former pupil before the Chicago Bears could get their hands on him. 

And on Thursday, LaFleur lost Mannion to a promotion — one that took him from being the Packers quarterbacks coach to being the Philadelphia Eagles new offensive coordinator.

The Eagles announced his hiring Thursday afternoon.

“I’m thrilled to have Sean Mannion on board as the new offensive coordinator of the Philadelphia Eagles,” head coach Nick Sirianni said in a statement. “My goal throughout this process was to operate with an open mind regarding the future of our offense to find the best fit for the Eagles. Over the last few weeks, I had an opportunity to meet with a number of talented candidates and great offensive minds. I am appreciative of the time I was able to spend with each of them. Some came with years of experience running an offense and calling plays. Others were young, sharp, and dynamic coaches on the rise. I felt it was important to be patient and thorough to allow the right fit to reveal himself to us. Sean did just that.

“It was quickly apparent in meeting with Sean that he is a bright young coach with a tremendous future ahead of him in this league. I was impressed by his systematic views on offensive football and his strategic approach. Sean’s 11 years in the NFL have provided him a great opportunity to learn from and grow alongside some of the best coaches in the game. As a result, he has a wealth of knowledge and experience that will be invaluable to our team moving forward.”

LaFleur felt the same way about Mannion, which is why he poached him from the rival Bears two years ago.

In January 2024, Mannion was prepping for an interview with the Bears and reached out to LaFleur, who had coached him in 2017 when LaFleur was the Los Angeles Rams offensive coordinator and Mannion was the backup QB behind Jared Goff, for pointers heading into his meeting with then-Bears head coach Matt Eberflus and offensive coordinator Shane Waldron, who’d coached Mannion with the Seattle Seahawks.

While LaFleur, in the wake of the Packers’ NFC divisional playoff loss to the San Francisco 49ers, was avoiding watching the subsequent NFC Championship Game between the 49ers and Detroit Lions, Mannion was getting set to travel to Chicago to meet with the Bears.

“He was getting ready to go interview for Chicago, and during the NFC Championship Game — which I really didn’t care to watch — I jumped on a Zoom call with him in the second half,” LaFleur recalled after hiring Mannion as an offensive assistant. “He showed me what he was going to present [to the Bears], and I told him, ‘Wow, that’s pretty good. I think you should come up to Green Bay right when you’re done with that interview.’

“I’m surprised that they let him out of the building. They tried to get him, but I guess we had more to offer.

“We’re lucky to have him. I really do think this guy’s going to have a bright future for us and certainly in the coaching profession.”

Before last season, LaFleur promoted Mannion to quarterbacks coach after longtime assistant Tom Clements retired. Asked earlier this month to assess how Mannion’s first year as the QBs coach had gone, LaFleur raved again.

“Unbelievable. Great job. He’s been awesome. He’s got a bright future in this profession,” LaFleur replied. “He attacks it the same way I knew he would when he was a player. Just extreme ownership of everything. Puts in the extra time. Just goes above and beyond the call of duty, which is exactly what you want from your assistant coaches.”

One of the Packers’ on-staff potential replacements for Mannion would be senior offensive assistant Luke Getsy, who is in his third stint with the team. He rejoined LaFleur’s staff in a part-time role during the 2024 season after being fired by the Las Vegas Raiders as their offensive coordinator.

Getsy originally joined the Packers in 2014 under then-head coach Mike McCarthy and served as the wide receivers coach until leaving to become the offensive coordinator at Mississippi State in 2017.

LaFleur re-hired him as the quarterbacks coach in 2019 and Getsy spent three seasons in that role — including now-starting quarterback Jordan Love’s first two NFL seasons — before leaving to become the Bears offensive coordinator under Eberflus.

Former offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett might’ve been another option to replace Gannon, but according to an ESPN report Thursday afternoon, Hackett is joining ex-Packers defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley’s staff with the Miami Dolphins.

Hafley had already hired several defensive assistants, but the Dolphins new head coach spent this season working with Hackett, who gave an offensive-minded coach’s perspective to the Packers defense throughout the year.

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