From butt of jokes to playoffs, no one is laughing at Sirianni anymore

[time2rock]

From butt of jokes to playoffs, no one is laughing at Sirianni anymore

 

There have been moments over the last year when Nick Sirianni has been the butt of jokes. It happened when he flubbed his introductory press conference. It happened when he played rock paper scissors with draft prospects. It happened when he talked about flower roots.

No one is laughing at Sirianni anymore.

There were seven head coaches hired last January and there’s just one of them who has his team in the playoffs a year later.

"I don't think about that,” Sirianni said on Monday. "All I care about is that our team is successful, our team is ready to play each week. So, I haven't really thought too much about that.

"I’m just thankful that we're in the position we're in now to go down to Tampa and play a really good team in the playoffs and prepare for that.”

Sirianni, in fairness, doesn’t have time to think about that or reflect on his first season as an NFL head coach because it’s not over yet. He has to get his team ready to play the defending Super Bowl champions on Sunday in Tampa.

But as a reminder, here’s a look at how first-year coaches fared in 2021:

Eagles: Nick Sirianni (9-8), made playoffs

Chargers: Brandon Staley (9-8)

Falcons: Arthur Smith (7-10)

Jets: Robert Saleh (4-13)

Texans: David Culley (4-13)

Lions: Dan Campbell (3-13-1)

Jaguars: Urban Meyer (2-11), fired

Sirianni is one of just two rookie head coaches to guide his team to a winning record and the Eagles’ turnaround from a 4-11-1 season to 9-8 is more impressive than the Chargers’ going from 7-9 to 9-8 with a no-doubt-about-it young stud quarterback.

When you dive deeper into Sirianni’s first season at the helm, his accomplishments are even more impressive. He’s had to navigate a lot.

When Sirianni was hired, the main question was about Carson Wentz and his future with the team. Then there was the Zach Ertz situation, massaging a rocky relationship between one of the franchise’s all-time great players. Then there was his Pro Bowl right tackle Lane Johnson taking a three-game absence to deal with mental health issues. Then there was the realization that he needed to swallow his pride and make this offense a run-first attack.

And, finally, there was the tough schedule early this season, which left the Eagles with a 2-5 record and an enormous mountain to climb.

But Sirianni knew the only way to climb that mountain was one step at a time. That’s what he stressed to his team throughout the turnaround. And he got them to buy in because he’s a genuine dude.

If you think back to when Jeff Lurie hired Sirianni, that was one of the major reasons.

"I think for the Eagles, what we've harped on very, very much is we're looking for the best football leader going forward,” Lurie said last January. "It's not about who is the hot coordinator, who is the best X's and O's, who has the best résumé. Everything is important. Everything is important.”

Lurie once used the term "emotional intelligence” when he moved on from Chip Kelly. He found that attribute with Doug Pederson and he found it again with Sirianni.

It’s not that X’s and O’s don’t matter — they obviously do — but Lurie was looking for a leader first.

"I think it's really valuable to have somebody that innately and genuinely cares about who they work with, the players that play for them and with them, the other coaches, the staff,” Lurie said last January. "Somebody who is genuine about caring. For me, Nick epitomizes that.”

While it’s too early to say for sure, it seems possible the Eagles have won their second consecutive hiring cycle. They clearly did back in 2016 when they hired Pederson and the other six teams hired Mike Mularky, Adam Gase, Dirk Koetter, Hue Jackson, Ben McAdoo and Chip Kelly.

Lurie has a knack for hiring good coaches and it looks like Sirianni is no exception.

No matter what happens in Tampa on Sunday, Sirianni’s first season at the helm has been a success. He wasn’t the popular choice at the time, but the Eagles nailed it.

https://www.nbcsports.com/philadelphia/eagles/eagles-nick-sirianni-only-nfl-rookie-head-coach-team-playoffs

[UK_EaglesFan89]

Sirianni has done a tremendous job. I think when you factor in all the things that he's faced and how he's handled them he's, in my opinion, right up there in the top 3 HCs this year. I mean LaFleur has Rodgers so whilst he's done a great job let's recognise he has the best QB in football. Belichick has had a great year with a rookie QB and deserves a lot of praise. And then right there with them is Sirianni. 

Sirianni doesn't have a stud QB. He doesn't have a very good defense. He doesn't have a lot of weapons at receiver either. And he's dealt with a lot. The Carson issue, the Lane absences, the injuries to our RBs. The poor start that could have snowballed out of control. He's working with a roster that has a lot of holes. What a job he has done. 

[rrfierce]

Agreed. Been a really good appointment. 

[Procus]

Sirianni 

I laugh at him!

[time2rock]

3 hours ago, UK_EaglesFan89 said:

Sirianni has done a tremendous job. I think when you factor in all the things that he's faced and how he's handled them he's, in my opinion, right up there in the top 3 HCs this year. I mean LaFleur has Rodgers so whilst he's done a great job let's recognise he has the best QB in football. Belichick has had a great year with a rookie QB and deserves a lot of praise. And then right there with them is Sirianni. 

Sirianni doesn't have a stud QB. He doesn't have a very good defense. He doesn't have a lot of weapons at receiver either. And he's dealt with a lot. The Carson issue, the Lane absences, the injuries to our RBs. The poor start that could have snowballed out of control. He's working with a roster that has a lot of holes. What a job he has done. 

Can't really argue against the Vrabel selection.  Earlier in the season I would have thought Kingsbury would have been a lock but they fell off down the stretch.  Zac Taylor (Bengals) also should have received strong consideration.