{"id":36772,"date":"2023-02-17T10:47:38","date_gmt":"2023-02-17T15:47:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/?p=36772"},"modified":"2023-02-17T10:47:38","modified_gmt":"2023-02-17T15:47:38","slug":"the-two-minute-drill-nick-sirianni-philadelphias-coach","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/2023\/02\/17\/the-two-minute-drill-nick-sirianni-philadelphias-coach\/","title":{"rendered":"The Two-Minute Drill: Nick Sirianni \u2013 Philadelphia\u2019s coach"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Brendan Nordstrom<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cFairly smart, but not super smart,\u201d Jeff McLane, a Philadelphia Inquirer reporter, <\/span>reported<\/span><\/a> through Twitter.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cReally, this guy won over the room, Philly?\u201d Brad Evans, a former American soccer player, <\/span>wrote<\/span><\/a> on Twitter.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIf you can, hug an Eagles fan today,\u201d Sports Illustrated\u2019s Monday Morning Quarterback account <\/span>tweeted<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

That was Jan. 29, 2021. The Philadelphia Eagles were coming off of a 4-11-1 season, sitting among the dregs of the NFC. They had let go of head coach Doug Pederson due to mutual frustration, and among the sea of candidates, the Eagles chose Nick Sirianni over finalist Josh McDaniels. The comments above were warranted following Sirianni\u2019s opening press conference, where he talked in circles about \u201csystems,\u201d mispronounced the owner\u2019s name and committed a circus of other errors.<\/span><\/p>\n

Just 745 days later, FOX\u2019s camera crew slowly zoomed in on Sirianni\u2019s opal-colored eyes, slowly welling with a tear, eventually drifting down his cheek before a parade followed during the national anthem of Super Bowl LVII. In just two seasons, Sirianni, through all of his antics and flower analogies, led the Eagles to the best record in the entire league at 14-3 and a trip to Super Bowl Sunday. This didn\u2019t stop the backlash.<\/span><\/p>\n

New York Giants safety Julian Love took a seat at the Good Morning Football table two weeks prior to the Super Bowl. When asked about Sirianni\u2019s antics, Love implied anyone could coach the Eagles.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c[Sirianni\u2019s] a guy who’s doing a good job because he’s not getting in the way of his own team,\u201d Love <\/span>said<\/span><\/a>. \u201cHe\u2019s in for a free ride right now.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The Eagles\u2019 head coach is far from blameless for these critiques. He has a fierce competitive spirit, no doubt, but it manifests itself in borderline childish, near-classless ways. Sirianni <\/span>celebrating<\/span><\/a> into the camera during the Eagles\u2019 38-7 victory over the Giants in the Divisional Round prompted this answer from Love. Another <\/span>clip<\/span><\/a> went viral in the Super Bowl in which Sirianni mocks the Kansas City Chiefs defense amidst a booth review.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As the tears rolled during Chris Stapleton\u2019s rendition of \u201cThe Star-Spangled Banner,\u201d Sirianni wasn\u2019t thinking about the Love\u2019s or anyone else\u2019s criticism, but everything that led to his place in Arizona.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Sirianni, an obscure coaching choice back in 2021, has had his validity in doubt since that press conference on Jan. 29. During that same Divisional Round game against the Giants, another clip of Sirianni went viral. After trying to draw the Giants offsides on a 2-point conversion, Sirianni audibly yells, \u201cI know what the f\u2013 I\u2019m doing.\u201d If it wasn\u2019t evident before, Sirianni\u2019s journey to the biggest stage was one among many storylines heading into the Super Bowl.<\/span><\/p>\n

Sirianni\u2019s NFL coaching journey started on the sidelines of Arrowhead Stadium in the Kansas City red and gold. When new head coach Andy Reid stepped in, Sirianni wasn\u2019t retained on staff. Over 10 years later, Sirianni shared the sideline with Reid in contention for the most prized possession in the NFL: the Vince Lombardi trophy.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Prior to the Super Bowl, Sirianni said he appreciated how Reid handled his dismissal and used it as motivation.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cDo you always have this little chip on your shoulder? Yeah,\u201d Sirianni <\/span>said<\/span><\/a>. \u201cSure, you hold on to some of those things.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

However, Sirianni has shown time and time again that he does know what the f\u2013 he\u2019s doing.<\/span><\/p>\n

On the headset, Sirianni has turned a four-win team into a nine-win team, improving by another four wins the next season. His league-leading aggression gives his team an edge in tight spots, and his ability to lead and make players buy into his system is undeniable.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The best move Sirianni has made as a coach is the growth fostered with his quarterback Jalen Hurts. Hurts, another man constantly in doubt by the football community, had Sirianni in his ear for the past two years in what has been an incredible development.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It was even evident during the game. Following a momentum-shifting fumble by Hurts during a designed QB run, Sirianni showed trust in his quarterback. The next drive, Sirianni was undaunted to run a near-identical play. Even after the heartbreaking loss, Sirianni went to the press conference emphasizing his support of Hurts.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cTo me, Jalen played the best game I\u2019ve seen him play in the two years that we\u2019ve been together,\u201d Sirianni <\/span>said<\/span><\/a>. \u201cHe was outstanding.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

That press conference allowed Sirianni\u2019s true colors to shine. After a controversial holding call that ended Philadelphia\u2019s Super Bowl dreams, Sirianni could have been upset. Instead, he went up there and gave his quarterback and the rest of the team a confidence boost at a time when it was most deflating.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Sure, Sirianni is a spectacle at times, but maybe that\u2019s his appeal. Where closed-off and cliche-filled coaches draw ire and boredom, Sirianni brings fire and an undeniable personality. He\u2019s a break from the convention \u2013 something the NFL needs to embrace more. With a team on the bubble of greatness, there are few coaches better in the league, and none better for this Philadelphia team. <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Brendan Nordstrom \u201cFairly smart, but not super smart,\u201d Jeff McLane, a Philadelphia Inquirer reporter, reported through Twitter. \u201cReally, this guy won over the room, Philly?\u201d Brad Evans, a former American soccer player, wrote on Twitter. \u201cIf you can, hug an Eagles fan today,\u201d Sports Illustrated\u2019s Monday Morning Quarterback account tweeted.\u00a0 That was Jan. 29, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19990,"featured_media":36775,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1024,1050,1035,19],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36772"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19990"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36772"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36772\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36776,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36772\/revisions\/36776"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36775"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36772"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36772"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36772"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}