He has been the head coach here for five seasons, and in that time, Nick Sirianni has joined company so elite that the names are football royalty: Don Shula. Vince Lombardi. John Madden.
Nick Sirianni.
As the Eagles prepare for their fifth straight playoff appearance with Sirianni at the helm, it is a good time to remind ourselves of the success he has had, even in times when the NFL has never, not once, recognized him as the league's Coach of the Year despite …
- Two Super Bowl appearances in the previous three seasons, including the win in Super Bowl LIX.
- Sirianni has won 11 or more games in four of those five seasons, joining Andy Reid (Eagles) and Tony Dungy (Colts) as the only coaches to do so in their first five seasons.
- With 65 wins, Sirianni is tied with Shula (Dolphins) for the third-most wins in the first five seasons as head coach of a team, trailing only George Seifert (68, 49ers) and Dungy (67).
- Sirianni's Eagles have a 59-26 record in the regular season during his time here, the best record in the NFL during that time.
And let's not forget the trajectory here: Sirianni has lost coordinators on both sides of the football, he has overcome injuries and losing streaks, and as recently as October in the 2024 season, many pundits said Sirianni was on "the hot seat" after the team's struggles late in the 2023 campaign and a 2-2 start to the '24 year.
We know how that season ended.
"He is a great coach, and I'm glad we have the relationship that we have with him," wide receiver DeVonta Smith said. "He understands what we're going through. He understands how to keep us at our best every day. That's the mark of a great coach."
Said linebacker Nakobe Dean: "I love playing for him. Him being so passionate about winning and passionate about his guys. A lot of guys come here from other teams, who say they haven't had a coach that congratulated them, was really passionate, or talked to them the way Nick does."
The fire, the passion – all of that is organic and real for Nick Sirianni, who always has his players' best interests at the forefront of every decision he makes. Not everything he does is going to be popular with every player, but the moves are made with the team in mind.
Team first. Always with Nick Sirianni.
"When people compare who's the best and who's not, and for coaches, it's about winning," Saquon Barkley said. "He would say himself what makes a great coach is having great players. Obviously, the Philadelphia Eagles have been a great team since I've been in the league, going against them and now playing with them. But there's something to his standard that he sets, there's something to the way he comes to work, just how detailed and how obsessed he is with all the little things.
"There's a reason why we do a really good job of protecting the ball. There's a reason why we do a really good job of tackling. That all stems from him. It starts with him, and then he trickles it down to the offensive coordinator, defensive coordinator, and then all the assistant coaches, and the leaders on team, we gotta all take that message and make it work. But he's been doing a great job for the last five years, and it's weird that you wouldn't hear his name brought up. But I mean, he probably doesn't care about that either."
The results, of course, speak for themselves. The Eagles rebounded from a losing season in 2020 and brought in Sirianni, a first-time head coach. He has done things his way since then – always with energy. Sirianni keeps it fresh for his players every day with competitions, camaraderie-building events, motivational speakers, inspirational quotes that are posted in the players' areas of the NovaCare Complex and, most importantly, spirited and competitive practices.
On the field, his approach is a measured combination of fearlessness and confidence in his players and the rational approach to winning football games. Sometimes, his calls are questioned. Way more often than not, they lead to victories, and that's the bottom line.
"You don't have to like him if you aren't on our team. We don't care about that," left tackle Jordan Mailata said. "What matters is what we think of him in his locker room, and we love Coach Nick. He has done the right things for us, and we have won football games, won a Championship, and now we're in the playoffs again.
"That is the expectation. Nothing that anyone says on the outside impacts what we do or what we think inside here. Nick is the leader of this football team, and we are all glad to have him."
The work is well underway preparing for the San Francisco 49ers and the Wild Card Round on Sunday, 4:30 PM, at Lincoln Financial Field. Every game is of the utmost importance for Sirianni and this team. Every detail is discussed. Every scenario is investigated. A coach like Sirianni – who is all in all of the time – is immersed deep in his bunker at the NovaCare Complex and loving every bit of it.
"His work ethic. His determination. His passion for the game," Jalen Hurts said when asked what he appreciates about Sirianni as a head coach. "And how effective he is in the way he does what he does.
"Continued growth for all of us," quarterback Jalen Hurts said. "That is the way it works here. We're all growing, evolving, building relationships and winning together and that is the culture that we have in this building."
The Eagles have done it as well as any team in the NFL since Sirianni has been on the scene, and he is the perfect head coach for this team and this city, even if those outside the walls of the Eagles don't appreciate or recognize the impact he has had or the mountain of wins he is building in Philadelphia.
