Bleeding Green Nation
This isn’t my usual type of article. I’ll get back to covering the Eagles’ draft picks soon, but I wanted to take a moment to write about Nick Sirianni. I recently recorded a podcast with the brilliant Tommy Lawlor, and we had a great discussion about Sirianni. It made me want to put my thoughts down in writing. So, here goes!
Some of what I’ve seen online this week has really annoyed me, though, I know I shouldn’t let it. BGN’s Alexis Chassen wrote a good piece recently pointing out that Sirianni has the fifth-highest win rate in NFL history among head coaches. Let’s just pause there. That’s pretty crazy. It’s also the highest among current NFL head coaches.
Since becoming the Eagles’ head coach, Sirianni has gone 48-20 in the regular season, taking the team to the Super Bowl twice. That’s an extraordinary record in just three seasons. And yet, somehow, he keeps getting disrespected by numerous voices in the media,
I feel the same way about Nick Sirianni as I feel about Jalen Hurts. Is Jalen Hurts the most talented quarterback in the league? No. But would I trade him for anyone else? I genuinely don’t think I would. He’s the best quarterback for this team right now. Nick Sirianni is the perfect head coach for this Eagles team. All Hurts and Sirianni do is win.
Sirianni and Hurts embody what this team stands for. Their leadership, mentality, and resilience are tailor-made for this organization. And when I see people ranking guys like Dan Quinn ahead of Sirianni, I don’t get it.
If you prefer his coaching style, fair enough, that’s your own opinion. Dan Quinn doesn’t have a top-five all-time win percentage, though (it’s 55-47).
This is the line that really gets me: “I still don’t know what Nick Sirianni does.”
It’s as if Sirianni is just some random guy who stumbled into the job and lucked into a winning record. That couldn’t be further from the truth. Sirianni sets the tone for the culture, just like a great CEO sets the tone for an organization. You can’t just ignore what he does because you can’t physically see it on the field.
People used to laugh at Dan Campbell, too. Now he’s universally praised for what he’s done with the Lions. Sirianni is no different. He’s built an extremely strong culture, kept the locker room united, and produced consistent success. This is not an easy thing. It’s not easy to ask one of the NFL’s best wide receivers to block down the field 30 times a game, but AJ Brown does it. It’s not easy to keep DeVonta Smith happy when he only gets a few targets a game. But Sirianni manages to do it. This is good leadership.
Many of Sirianni’s critics are what I’d call “scheme guys.” They want to see exciting play designs on 3rd and 12. They admire coaches like Mike McDaniel...
