The Eagles are not just your ordinary football team out of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Ordinary would invite the acceptance of mediocrity, that’s not Philly. Philadelphia sports fans demand your best because that’s what’s expected from them day in and day out. So in all actuality, your sports team has to resemble who you are. And Eagles fans are passionate, tough, and above all else, they’re real.
This means that they can’t be fooled into thinking that a Toyota Camry is comparable to a Dodge Charger. They don’t believe in grey areas. It either is or it isn’t. Which brings me to the curious case of Nick Sirianni. What happened to the football enthusiast that Eagles fans respected and how did he turn into the coach that faltered while his team was facing a historical collapse?
Heading into 2023, after the Eagles lost in the Super Bowl, Nick Sirianni lost much more than what people realized. He lost an intelligent offensive coordinator in Shane Steichen. One who took Sirianni’s bland offense and turned it into a powerhouse. He also lost Johnathan Gannon, who led a historical defensive line although the secondary was always questionable. Was that enough to warrant the Eagles’ late-season collapse in 2024? Possibly.
But through this collapse, fans and media members alike started to learn more about the Eagles head coach. His immaturity on the sidelines was exposing itself as he started by yelling at several Chiefs fans after a hard-earned victory. It then grew into a bigger issue after the Big Dom was banned from the sideline due to his incident during the game against the 49ers. Sirianni looked lost at times. Arguing with his players after being unable to keep his emotions in check.
His immaturity also exposed itself in the offense and defense. The demotion of Sean Desai after a 10-1 start in favor of Matt Patricia will be one of the biggest head-scratchers of all time. It’s a move that never made any sense to make and just showed that the house was truly on fire.
On the offensive side of the ball, he continuously defended the offense that was said to be run by Brian Johnson. According to the Athletics’ Dianna Russini, this was not the case at all. Dianna recently reported this little tidbit on the dynamic of the Eagles‘ offensive playcalling in 2023: “But, according to a few people in Philadelphia, while Johnson was the OC, it was 100 percent Sirianni’s offense you were watching last season, and Sirianni wanted to do it his way. That meant a conservative, run-first approach, especially when they got near the red zone. And last year, opposing defenses were ready for it. Johnson wasn’t calling his own plays. He was solely focused on giving Sirianni the offense that Sirianni wanted to run.”
“The offense that Sirianni wanted to run.” That’s an interesting sentence. Once upon a time, Sirianni ran his offense and called the plays. The Eagles started 2-5 during that time and then completely turned it around once Shane Steichen took over the offensive play-calling. It was evident then as it was evident last season, that Sirianni is not a great play caller but he is a great leader. The issue just seems to be that the Eagles’ 43-year-old head coach is a bit overconfident at times and needs to find a way to keep himself in check.
There’s no reason why a head coach needs to have a bodyguard to protect the players from him. He should be able to keep his emotions in check if he values his job as well as anybody else. To be honest, Sirianni should take a page out of his own QB’s book. Say less and do more.
Hurts is a very private person and values the idea of his privacy. As well as his teammates’ privacy. But he knows what’s expected of him and can navigate through the waters when things start to falter. Sirianni has yet to figure that out for himself and if he values his job then that needs to happen sooner rather than later.
After getting a taste of how good this team can be, Eagles GM Howie Roseman has completely loaded up the roster with extraordinary talent. From Sauron Barkley to Quinyon Mitchell, the roster is filled with playmakers that are expected to help deliver another Lombardi to the city of Philadelphia.
This means that nothing short of a Super Bowl is expected of Nick Sirianni in 2024. Sirianni has so much riding against him this season. Imagine the possible scenarios that could develop due to a failure of a season. From the looming shadow of Bill Belichick to the actual possibility that the Eagles brass could end up valuing their offensive coordinator more than their head coach right now. If Moore puts on a show with this offense and is somehow sabotaged by Nick Sirianni in any way, you can bet your top dollar that the Eagles will find a way to push Sirianni out in favor of Kellen Moore. Losing Moore would be a bigger risk than losing Sirianni at that point which is sad to say but it’s the truth.
Which leaves me to say that the only way that Nick Sirianni can win this season is by humbling himself. Yes, you made it to the Super Bowl before but you didn’t win. Figure out why that was and make sure it doesn’t come back to haunt you again this season. Your team had a historical collapse and was bounced out of the playoffs by a mediocre team. That shouldn’t have happened. Figure out why it did and make sure it doesn’t happen again.
The next great Eagles coach?
It’s time for the Eagles head coach to do some self-reflection for the sake of not only his job but for the Eagles organization. A failure for him to launch into the great coach that Jeffrey Lurie believes he can be will be a very bad outlook for the Eagles brass. Now does that mean you move on if the Eagles don’t win the Super Bowl? No, but you do move on if the Eagles are nowhere near the NFC Championship game. Especially with how loaded this roster is and how small of a window they have to win it all.
AP Photo/Chris O’Meara
