Nick Sirianni: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly & The Unknown
Two consecutive convincing victories have renewed optimism for Philadelphia Eagles fans. Is a trip to New Orleans for Super Bowl LIX in play?
Improvement from Jalen Hurts and a loaded cast of offensive firepower inspire confidence, but the head coach still doesn’t. Nick Sirianni built his fair share of doubters during a 2023 collapse, and plenty of Eagles fans and media hesitate to give him credit for much of anything.
Even during a three-game winning streak, Kellen Moore receives more accolades for efficient offensive game plans.
Conflict on The Mike Missanelli Show
The Mike Missanelli Show has sparked an excellent contrast in points of view. Missanelli disagreed with the decision to retain Sirianni entering 2024 because of the head coach’s inability to respond to a brutal losing stretch last season.
Bill Sirianni Colarulo pushes back consistently against strong criticism of the his alleged cousin that comes from all angles throughout Philadelphia.
Colarulo continually raises an excellent point about the perception of the coaching staff.
Why does Kellen Moore receive the credit for game plans when the offense runs successfully while Nick Sirianni takes blame for the unit’s shortcomings?
The question touches on the subjective nature of evaluating football coaches. It also relates to a big-picture question about Sirianni’s degree of impact on the franchise’s ability to post an outstanding 39-19 record since he took over the sidelines from Doug Pederson in 2021.
The Good: Nick Sirianni in 2022
Philadelphia seemed perfectly okay with Sirianni’s uncommon and sometimes bizarre temperament after two seasons. The Eagles exceeded expectations in 2021 and narrowly lost to Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LVII after the 2022 season.
Winning tends to shape perception, but did the success have more to do with Sirianni’s strengths or a talented roster assembled by Howie Roseman?
Sirianni never proved himself as an offensive genius that NFL broadcasters gush over. He also didn’t have to.
The Eagles took what opposing defenses gave them. They proved themselves capable of alternating dominant performances through the air or on the ground on their way to finishing third in the NFL in offensive DVOA.
The former Division III wide receiver wisely and humbly avoided overcoaching a team rolling on all cylinders. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that means he did nothing to contribute to a 14-3 season.
Plenty of tactically strong coaches can’t match Sirianni’s career record because they force players into predetermined systems too strongly with detrimental ego.
Instead, Sirianni’s emphasis on core principles of connectivity, competition, accountability, intelligence, and fundamentals resonated with his players.
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Situational football became a key strength and substantiated the vague idea of culture. A victory in the NFC Championship Game provided the perfect microcosm when DeVonta Smith narrowly missed a key fourth-down catch in the first quarter.
The Eagles deliberately took advantage of the officials’ mistake to rule it a catch. They quickly ran another play before Kyle Shanahan could throw the challenge flag.
A coach with more apparent strengths in game preparation and intangibles had just outsmarted a coach lauded for his offensive scheme. The Eagles gained 29 yards in a key swing play that helped them to a victory over the San Francisco 49ers.
The Bad: Nick Sirianni in 2023
Sirianni’s culture did nothing to stop the bleeding when adversity struck in 2023.
Fundamental mistakes proved the Eagles weren’t a disciplined team throughout the season. Repeated turnover issues belittled the coaching staff’s emphasis on ball control. The connectivity principle seemed hollow when Jalen Hurts lost continuity with his head coach.
Sirianni’s lack of innovative offensive concepts caught up to the Eagles when they lost six of their final seven games. Jeremy Fowler cited NFL scouts commenting on Philadelphia’s failure to maximize their talent.
“They kind of felt like the Eagles rolled the ball out last year (2023) like ‘Hey, what we do isn’t broken. Let’s not fix it. Let’s go after it.’ And because of the talent they had, (the Eagles thought) that they could just mow people over. That worked for a little bit, but teams adjust and evolve.” –Jeremy Fowler on Kincade & Salciunas
The decision to appoint Matt Patricia as the primary-decision-maker on defense after Week 14 also contradicted Sirianni’s supposed strength of coaching the coaches. Sean Desai hadn’t even lasted a full season as defensive coordinator, and the Eagles later fired Brian Johnson.
The move to Patricia complicated the defense when simplification might’ve benefitted the unit more. The offense conversely could’ve benefitted from new layers of creativity, as Rob Maaddi discussed with Kincade & Salciunas after a conversation with Jason Kelce.
Sirianni’s volatile personality hurt the team more than his sincerity helped it, particularly in the case of his poor reputation with NFL officiating crews.
The Ugly (& The Unknown): Nick Sirianni in 2024
Jeffrey Lurie’s decision to retain Nick Sirianni entering 2024 came with unavoidable consequences. The additional decision to hire two new coordinators created the perception that Bill Colarulo has questioned.
The most passionate fans in professional sports won’t offer the benefit of the doubt to the head coach until there’s a Lombardi Trophy in his hands.
Any questionable behavior, especially a rash and immature argument with fans at Lincoln Financial Field, always held the potential to explode into a bigger story.
The emphasis on pre-snap motion and offensive plays under center during the recent winning streak since the Week 5 bye are two identifiable characteristics of past Kellen Moore offenses. The praise has poured in for the OC.
Where’s the credit for Sirianni? If his supposed strengths managing team culture and connectivity are legitimate, he’ll allow outsiders to credit Kellen Moore with his own focus solely on success.
“Nick has shown in his tenure with the Eagles that he’s going to do whatever he thinks is in the best interest of the Philadelphia Eagles… He doesn’t care about how other people perceive it. He doesn’t care about anything other than what’s in the best interest of the team… I think players respect the hell out of coaches that operate on that level and communicate things like that. He’s a very unselfish guy.” –Jason Kelce
His lack of ego helped the team when Shane Steichen took over play-calling in 2021 and when he let his players execute in 2022 without overstepping. He’s already shown similar humility in 2024 by blaming himself for poor game management decisions.
While his antics after the Cleveland Browns game certainly weren’t productive, they didn’t disrupt the team’s momentum. The door is still open for Super Bowl contention, and the Eagles have a roster capable of winning the ultimate prize.
Fans and media might quarrel over assigning credit if the Eagles continue to pick up steam in the second half of the season. They might focus too heavily on Sirianni’s references to his old high school coaches after a loss. They might even unreasonably criticize his personality.
However, Nick Sirianni himself should wonder about something much more important.
Are his strengths benefitting the Eagles in 2024 like they did in 2022? Or, are his weaknesses holding the team back like they did in 2023?
