Nick Sirianni was once given his worst moment by Andy Reid, and that helped the Eagles coach win a Super Bowl.
That morning in early January 2013, it might have been the worst moment of Nick Sirianni’s existence.
After all, a week after being fired by the Eagles, Andy Reid had just accepted the head coaching position with the Kansas City Chiefs, and his first task there was to fire the prior coaching staff. Among them was Sirianni, a 30-year-old who had recently concluded his debut year as the wide receivers coach for the Chiefs.
However, to understand Sirianni is to understand why he has no ill will toward Reid. Sirianni, in fact, interprets his dismissal in the exact opposite way.
And now, ten years later, here they are, sparring on Sunday in the Super Bowl. As the Eagles’ head coach for the second season, Sirianni faces off against Reid, the team’s all-time winningest coach with 14 seasons under his belt, who is currently leading the Chiefs to their third Super Bowl.
Sirianni stated, “Andy came in because we weren’t good enough in Kansas City.” “He filled in and performed a fantastic job.”
Being inadequate is an understatement. The Chiefs of 2012 weren’t good at all. They had the lowest scoring offense in the NFL and finished 2-14. Linebacker Evan Belcher killed his fiancée that season, then drove to the Chiefs facility and took his own life.
After working as a quality control coach for the previous three seasons, Sirianni, then thirty years old, was in his first season as a position coach. He is aware that there is no possibility that he will be kept.
Particularly not considering Reid is moving to Kansas City alongside experienced wide receivers coach David Culley. Culley had worked for the Eagles for a number of seasons in the same capacity.
Nevertheless, Reid insisted on having a meeting with every coach on Romeo Crennel’s staff. Sirianni was among them.
Sirianni remarked, “I liked how he let everyone in and had conversations with them.” “His remarks were really positive. He provided me strength when I needed it since he knew I would be low, and I was grateful for that.
It seems like the kind of person and coach he is.
Reid expressed his admiration for Sirianni last week.
Reid remarked, “I adored his personality. He’s an approachable guy with good communication skills. You and the players both recognize the fire he possesses. What I’m trying to say is that you need a decent personality. He is also intelligent. I spoke with him, and he’s a bright young man.
Additionally, I believe he is ideal for Philadelphia. He is a tough child and he connects well with the people there, even though it’s a rough area.
At first, it certainly didn’t look that way. When Sirianni was presented as the Eagles’ new coach in January 2021, he seemed apprehensive and stammered through the team’s first news conference.
Established veterans like center Jason Kelce, who was thinking about retiring following the Eagles’ terrible 4-11-1 2020 season, couldn’t have taken well to that. Carson Wentz, the team quarterback, had wanted to be traded, and head coach Doug Pederson was fired.
But defensive end Brandon Graham detailed how Sirianni got Kelce and the team back:
Regarding the press conference, Graham remarked, (Sirianni) was upset about it. I adore it because many coaches would occasionally deny that the media grates on their nerves.
He was a very cool, humble, and all-around cool man. I spoke with a number of guys who had worked with him at past jobs, and we got along well.
That’s when he really won me over by being honest about his feelings. He wears his emotions on his sleeve, as I understand, but I believe he does a fantastic job of accepting it and moving on.”
In his two seasons as the Eagles’ coach, Sirianni has seen his share of these situations.
Sirianni acknowledged that he had threw down a rock, paper, scissors challenge to aspiring draftees in 2021. After a 2–5 start, he gave his team an image of a flower container with roots developing in the earth.
More recently, following an Eagles victory by one point, he ascended to the bench and shouted at Indianapolis Colts supporters. That occurred only one week after Frank Reich, his mentor, was sacked by the squad as head coach.
Sirianni discovered that he was the owner of everything after Reid sacked him ten years prior.
On the one hand, Sirianni was appreciative of his four seasons in Kansas City because that’s where he met Brett, his wife. Sirianni, on the other hand, had to locate a new career after losing his position overnight.
After landing with the Chargers, he moved to San Diego, but as an offensive quality control coach, he had to start over.
Do you have a small grudge against someone all the time? Yes, Sirianni replied. But as a person and as a coach, that is who I am.
To make sure I’m improving as much as I can, I want to make sure I’m working extremely hard. Of course, you still have some of those items.
And I truly experienced that, and I thought, ‘Hey, I know I wouldn’t be sitting here if I hadn’t gone through one of the worst experiences of my life.
Sirianni did receive some retribution. The Chargers defeated Reid and the Chiefs 41-38 in that 2013 campaign. According to Sirianni, he was standing on the table in the press box, pumping his fists and swinging his arms.
Sirianni remarked, I was simply really emotional about it. But as time passes and you grow older, you realize, ‘Hey, I needed to experience that; I needed to be in this circumstance.
Sirianni rose up the ranks of the Chargers organization gradually before departing in 2018 to take a job as offensive coordinator in Indianapolis with Reich. Then he was hired by the Eagles.
And now, partly because of Reid, Sirianni is a head coach in the Super Bowl.
