Every once in a while, Nick Sirianni has the demeanor of a fan who has won a contest to be the head coach for a day.
He likes it that way.
A new article from Mike Silver of The Athletic explores the authenticity of Sirianni. And it’s clear that, for better or worse, he’s not changing who he is.
“Fuck that,” Sirianni told Silver. “You’ve got to be you. Especially in leadership roles. Because otherwise people are going to see through it. I’m [at work] way more than I’m at home. I can’t possibly carry a facade of being somebody else for going on six years of a job. I’d [have to] be the best actor in the world. I’d be a way better actor than Joey Tribbiani on Friends.”
It makes Sirianni a guy to love if he’s with you, and to hate if he’s against you.
“When you’re going against it, you can’t stand it,” running back Saquon Barkley told Silver. “If you don’t know Nick Sirianni, it’s easy not to like Nick Sirianni.”
Even with an in-your-face style, many overlook what Sirianni has done for the Eagles in five years as the head coach.
“He doesn’t get enough credit at all, in my opinion,” Barkley told Silver. “I don’t get why he doesn’t. Like, what he’s doing, in real time, is legendary.”
With a 59-26 record in the regular season, Sirianni has the NFL’s fifth highest all-time winning percentage.
“If we’re being honest, no one talks about it enough,” Barkley told Silver. “Like, we love to talk about me rushing for 2,000 yards, we love to talk about Jalen [Hurts], we love to talk about the Eagles. But he’s like the last one to get brought up, and it doesn’t really make sense.”
Sirianni’s approach does make sense, even if it can make for periodic issues.
“Without it, he isn’t as good,” owner Jeffrey Lurie told Silver. “And occasionally, with it, he’s not quite as good as he can be. But it’s a good trade-off.”
In five years with Sirianni, the net result of that trade off has taken the Eagles to the playoffs five times. They’ve been to two Super Bowls. They’ve won one of them.
But, no, Sirianni doesn’t get as much credit as he should. When the Eagles thrive, it’s because of the talent of the players. When they don’t, the coaches get blamed.
That said, Sirianni got the job based on his success as an offensive coordinator. As a head coach, however, he’s not viewed as an offensive specialist. The coordinator gets the credit when things go well (along with head-coaching jobs, like Shane Steichen and Kellen Moore) and absorbs the blame when they don’t (and get fired, like Brian Johnson and Kevin Patullo).
Sirianni has never really been on the hot seat. Things got a little awkward after the 2023 season, when the Eagles collapsed after starting 10-1 and lost in the wild-card round to the Buccaneers, 32-9. He eventually had to have a good plan to replace the offensive and defensive coordinators — and he did, with Moore and Vic Fangio helping propel the Eagles to a Super Bowl win.
Still, no one is going to confuse Nick Sirianni with Vince Lombardi. If Sirianni keeps winning the way he has through his first five seasons, he’ll deserve to be compared to some of the best who have ever done it.
Read the full article here
