He is the one who sets the culture, who puts together the daily schedule, who creates the tempo at the NovaCare Complex.
Nick Sirianni is all about, "You can't be great without the greatness of others," so when it comes time to discuss his new multi-year contract, it is no surprise that he credits others for his success.
Football. The ultimate team sport.
The Philadelphia Eagles. The ultimate team.
"Obviously very thankful to Mr. Lurie (Jeffrey Lurie, Chairman and CEO) for believing in me to hire me four years ago and then being able to continue to be the head coach of this football team," Sirianni said on Tuesday at the NovaCare Complex, "and just can't thank him and the organization and Howie (Roseman, Executive Vice President/General Manager) enough for everything."
As players and coaches and folks throughout the organization congratulated Sirianni on his second contract, he found himself thanking them and thanking everyone for his good fortune and outcome.
That's the way he is. He understands what it takes to win.
"It felt with every player that I talked to, the main thing that was coming out of my mouth was, well, I'm not in this situation without great players and I'm not in this situation where I'm able to sign a new contract without great coaches and I'm not able to be here without Howie because you can't be great without the greatness of others ... it just shows you how awesome a team sport like football is. It takes everybody and I sure am grateful for Mr. Lurie and all the players here and all the coaches here that have put me in this position to do this."
Sirianni has always leaned on hard work, communication, his core values, and the understanding that the NFL is so incredibly competitive that it requires much more than one person to have success. Winning Super Bowl LIX was a thrill, a dream come true, and then, boom, it was on to 2025. Offensive Coordinator Kellen Moore joined New Orleans as the head coach. The NFL Scouting Combine happened.
Expectations renewed, higher than ever.
"You can it enjoy it for a little bit, but you gotta turn the page quickly because we'll have a high standard for ourselves, I know you all (media) will have a high standard for us and we will have a high standard for us," Sirianni said. "It takes steps and that's mental toughness. I talked about this with the players today. I think a lot of times when I talk to them I tend to talk to them about mental toughness. I talk to them about overcoming adversity and that's a big part of mental toughness, but another part of this mental toughness thing is going through the monotonous things over and over and over again and having the same attitude and effort no matter what the circumstances are."
Sirianni's growth has also been guided by his frequent conversations with current and former coaches in many sports, and leaders of people, as he has worked to improve himself. There have been adversities and, certainly, always pressure, and Sirianni has kept growing and building and living in the moment.
That the Eagles won Super Bowl LIX is something that is indelible, incredible, and, obviously, life-changing. But it is in the past.
Sirianni is building his football team for 2025.
"We're thinking about where we are today and trying to get better," Sirianni said. "You strap up and play again. There's always pressure in this profession. And looking forward to the next year and building this team. Everything else is in the past. When teams are trying so hard to repeat or trying so hard to recapture, there are two mistakes that they make. They are either looking at their past accomplishments or they're looking too far into the future of how you do that again when it's really about the daily grind that you go through day in and day out."
Game on.
It is a new season, a new challenge, and many singular steps that need to be taken to attain greatness. Sirianni has done it once. He is motivated to do it again with the help of an entire organization rowing in the same direction.
