Nick Sirianni Has Silenced The Doubters Forever
Cooper Neill. Getty Images.Before we even get started here, let me make this abundantly clear--I was one of those doubters. There are so many moments over the last 12 months that I wish I could take back when talking about Nick Sirianni. So I don't want this to come off as an "I told you so" type of blog based on the headline. But the point of this blog is that I'm not alone in that sentiment, because the doubt and disrespect thrown Nick Sirianni's way was coming from every direction. And after last night's win, that doubt ends forever after Nick Sirianni cemented his legacy as one of just 36 NFL head coaches to ever hoist the Lombardi Trophy over his head. So let's talk about it.
Let's set the stage here for a moment. Personally, I think the story of Nick Sirianni starts with losing Super Bowl LVII, and all the adversity he's had to find a way to navigate through since that moment.
Every team that makes it to the Super Bowl and loses always tries to convince themselves that they'll be back and get another chance at it. But as we've seen throughout the history of football, that's not always the case. It's very rarely ever the case. You think that window lasts forever, but it slams shut aggressively close.
Nick Sirianni never stopped believing in his ways.
So after losing the Super Bowl in 2022, the Eagles come out of the gates on fire in 2023. Maybe they weren't racking up the most convincing wins ever, but they were well on their way to making it back to the Super Bowl after starting the year 10-1. There were a few moments throughout the season where Nick Sirianni seemed to be rubbing some people the wrong way, but he had been to a Super Bowl and had this Eagles team humming at 10-1 to start the year. Winning masks everything. But then…complete and utter disaster. The Eagles suffer an all-time implosion, the team loses 6 out of their final 7 games, they fire 2 defensive coordinators, they fire the offensive coordinator, it seems like the team completely quit on the season, and there also seems to be a massive rift between the head coach and quarterback.
Nick Sirianni never stopped believing in his ways.
Despite the majority of the city calling for Nick Sirianni to get fired after that collapse, Howie Roseman and Jeffrey Lurie keep him around as the head coach. But they completely take his legs out from under him when they hired Kellen Moore, and made it clear that Kellen Moore had complete control over the offense. Nick Sirianni had already given up his play-calling duties during his first year as head coach in Philly, but it was at least understood that the offense they were running was his offense. Not anymore. They had a new offensive coordinator who was calling the shots, they had a new defensive coordinator, and Nick Sirianni was pretty much relegated to being an expensive mascot on the sideline.
Nick Sirianni never stopped believing in his ways.
The start of the 2024 was as tumultuous as could be. A 2-2 start gave the fans in Philadelphia no reason to believe the end of the 2023 season was just a fluke. Everyone thought this was a continuation of 2023, and that Nick Sirianni still didn't have control over that locker room. That there was still a rift between Nick Sirianni and Jalen Hurts. That the team still didn't believe in him, and that it was time to start searching for a new voice.
Nick Sirianni never stopped believing in his ways.
There were so many different ways this could go wrong. There were so many different ways this team could have crashed and burned out yet again. There are so many ways that locker room could have turned into a complete disaster, and the organization would be left in complete disarray. But Nick Sirianni is all about connection. Nick Sirianni is all about togetherness. "You can't be great without the greatness of others". He knew that if the Eagles were going to get themselves back on the trajectory where they needed to be, that he'd need to get every single person in that entire building all rowing in the same direction again. He needed to make the Philadelphia Eagles the most cohesive football team in the world, and that building that culture of connection was his main objective as head coach of this franchise.
The fans may have doubted him. The media may have doubted him. But Nick Sirianni never stopped believing in his ways.
And now here we are 4 months after that bye week. The Eagles went on a 16-1 run to close out the year with their only loss coming in a game where Jalen Hurts left in the 1st quarter with a concussion. They went on the most dominant postseason run in NFL history, putting up 145 points in 4 games. He became the first Eagles head coach to make two Super Bowl appearances. And after completely decimating the Chiefs' dynasty last night and out coaching the everliving shit out of Andy Reid, Nick Sirianni became the greatest head coach in Eagles history by winning a Super Bowl of his own.
You listen to almost any single Eagles player last night in a post-game interview, and they all said some version of Nick Sirianni's "you can't be great without the greatness of others" quote. Nick Sirianni had this team as locked in as humanly possible. Nick Sirianni had this team as together and connected as humanly possible. 53 players, coaches, training staff, equipment managers, ball boys. He had the entire organization all rowing in the same direction towards a common goal. And now he puts himself into a conversation among some of the greatest coaches in the history of the game. Vince Lombardi, John Madden, Nick Sirianni.
Now I do believe that over the last 4 months, Nick Sirianni has found a way to grow and mature into his role in a way that he hadn't before. We've definitely seen fewer antics on the sideline, and less of the stuff that was always easy pickings for fans and the media to shit on the guy. But the thing about Nick Sirianni is that he's quite literally a Philly sports fan. He's loud, he's aggressively passionate, he's overly emotional, and he's always going to be the first one to let you hear about it. I think we, as Philly fans, know that some of our best qualities are also some of our worst. So maybe for a time, we resented Nick Sirianni because it was like looking in the mirror and seeing the worst version of yourself. The phrase is "opposites attract", so I guess that would mean that similarities repel each other. Nick Sirianni and Philly fans were like two magnets going up against one another.
Luckily it's not up to the fans, and it's not up to the media. The Eagles stuck with Nick Sirianni because they trusted his vision. Nick Sirianni stuck with it, he held this team together through some rough patches that could have easily taken down teams that weren't as connected, and now the Eagles are Super Bowl Champions because of it. His players love him. His coaches love him. And although it took a little longer than it should have, the city of Philadelphia loves him. He's earned every single apology that needs to go his way, and he should never have to listen to an ounce of skepticism ever again.