Nick Sirianni leans once morest a wall in the hallway at Lincoln Financial Field as the Eagles coach tells his team how he suffered a bad leg injury 20 years ago. At that time, all of his ankle ligaments were torn. He had fluid in his tissues and an infection.
“Last night was regarding all the bad things we’ve been through in our lives – so I started my story,” explains Sirianni. “Then I had them think regarding their stuff that they went through in their life. The point was I wanted them to think regarding something that happened in their life that they overcame and it got them into that who they are today. Because we all have this story. I told them my story. I wanted them to think regarding their story.”
Nick Sirianni: “It’s always regarding moving on”
“And it should tell them: We’re really strong mentally. We’ve all been through a lot. There will be points in this game where we get punched in the face. That’s what happens in a heavyweight championship fight. They punch, they get punched, but it’s regarding moving on.”
The Eagles didn’t face the kind of opposition from the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship that Sirianni and his players expected when they gathered at the team hotel the night before.
Sunday’s game will not be remembered as a classic. The Eagles won 31-7 once morest a Niners team that had both quarterbacks — third and fourth — on the field that year. The score was 21-7 at half-time following a mistake by Josh Johnson in the last minute of the first half led to a kind of preliminary decision. A concussion from Johnson two and a half minutes into the second half put the lid on for good.
But Sirianni and his players will remember Sunday’s game as another symbol of how tenacious this side has become. The Eagles put the ball in the “red zone”, attacked exceptionally well, and relied on their greatest strength, dominating the lines of scrimmage on offense and defense. They were completely themselves, a reflection of where the further journey should go.
Critics poked fun at Sirianni’s team building in 2021
The next destination is Super Bowl LVII in Glendale, Arizona, where the Philadelphia Eagles will meet the Kansas City Chiefs with NFL star Patrick Mahomes.
The story of his broken leg is emblematic of the Eagles and the way Coach Sirianni reached out to his team.
It’s one of the reasons everything has worked for the Eagles over the past 24 months, even if few thought it would work following Sirianni was hired in January 2021. He was a coach who had never been interviewed for any other head coaching job.
Sirianni is never afraid to open up. He wants to be close to his players. The hope was that learning together in this way would not only strengthen motivation but also strengthen bonds within the team.
“If you don’t have that, you don’t have a buy-in. I think in today’s NFL you have to be strong, but you have to be someone who is related to everyone and humble. And he has a group of players, who are humble, team-oriented and very confident,” said Jeffrey Lurie, owner of the Eagles.
Because of this, all the games and team-building activities that Sirianni hosted in Philadelphia during his first year as a coach stuck — things that were scoffed at at the time.
Philadelphia Eagles boss Jeffrey Lurie: “We have no background noise”
Of course, there are many other reasons why the Eagles are in the Super Bowl, like the quality of the roster. After all, they were the best team in the NFL prelims.
Sirianni’s interview with the Eagles two years ago was his first for a head coaching job and is still the only one he’s ever had. Hurts was the 53rd pick in the 2020 draft, the fourth quarterback selected and one who transferred from Alabama — where some pro scouts had rated him as not good enough — to Oklahoma following being benched.
The way this team was put together is different. It’s behind an owner who hired three coaches who got the Eagles into the Super Bowl — with three different quarterbacks.
“We follow what we think is right,” says Lurie. “We don’t have any background noise. With Nick or Andy’s attitude [Reid] or the hiring of Doug [Pederson] and nothing mattered to the choice of Jalen other than trying to do the right thing. And we’ve seen the benefits of Jalen; it was nothing more than that – it was a huge asset for someone who is an incredibly mature leader and wants to be great. … There are very few who really want to be great.”
The approach, which goes beyond just hiring a coach and GM, has resulted in a massive shift in player recruitment. They acted once morest disgruntled veterans (Darius Slay) and guys in contract disputes (AJ Brown, CJ Gardner-Johnson). They’ve signed big free agents (Haason Reddick, James Bradberry) and older street free agents (Linval Joseph).
Philly philosophy – hit it hard when you have to
And yet they’re still focused on building up front and regarding four guys (Johnson, Kelce, Graham and Cox), two on each side, who’ve been with them for a decade.
“There’s a recipe in football,” says offensive tackle Lane Johnson. “Even in college, you often see what Alabama did — throw the football and really hit it when it’s necessary.”
On defense, Philly was all regarding beating the quarterback. Brock Purdy and Josh Johnson’s injuries resulted from exactly what Sirianni and defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon worked out last week.
One such example is Haason Reddick, who had a drive-killing sack in the first quarter, bent backwards, and hyperextended Purdy’s throwing arm. With that, the fate of the Niners was more or less sealed. Another was Ndamukong Suh, who hit Josh Johnson so hard in the third quarter that his head snapped back as he fell to the ground.
“Haason’s onslaught and the exceptional play of the whole group – you never want to see that [ein Typ verletzt wird], I hope Brock is OK and I hope he recovers well because he’s had a phenomenal year but your job is to beat the quarterback and it’s a physical game,” says Sirianni. “I hope he’s fine, but our line of defense did its job, and legally, right? They did a phenomenal job of being physically rough on him and going following him, which made him uncomfortable.”
Eagles coach Sirianni: “My father had cancer twice”
As the offense drives hit double figures, hauling over 65 yards on three of their four touchdowns (the other being that odd Josh Johnson fumble that Reddick covered), the defense took advantage of the 49ers’ weakness around their quarterback — and that was it .
On February 12, 2023, the first Super Bowl coach Lurie hired will stand in the way of the third, who is set to bring Philly its second Lombardi trophy. But the importance of Sirianni and Hurts to their team is regarding much more than just the Eagles coach and quarterback.
“We didn’t have a Hall of Famer quarterback, so I think we were able to bring in a great culture, great leaders, great coaches and great players,” Lurie said. “It really takes everyone. Unless you have Tom Brady.” And of course the owner is part of it.
“He does everything he can to help us do our job at a high level. He provides us with all the resources we need and helps us in any way he can,” says Sirianni. “That’s huge. But then there’s thinking outside the box. I’m sure a lot of people around town were like, ‘Who did we hire? Who is the guy we brought in? What did he do ? So I’m really grateful to them for giving me this opportunity.”
“It’s just a well run club from the top down. From our PR department to our cafeteria staff to our coaches to our doctors, there are so many people here doing such a good job and it all starts with that Mr. Lurie is just doing everything he can to put the right people in place. It’s a special organization. I’m glad to be a part of it and hopefully we can bring another Super Bowl home following 2018.”
The Eagles took their chances once morest the 49ers. With that done, Sirianni returned to his family, adding another episode to the lesson he tried to convey to his players the night before regarding mental toughness.
“My father was the best example for me,” he says. “He had cancer twice while I was growing up and to be honest I don’t even know if I knew it because he just put his head down and left. I had a good role model there in my dad.”
His father just kept going. And Sirianni’s Eagles certainly too.
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ALL TEAMS IN THE NFL:
ALL NFL CHAMPIONS SINCE 1967
2023 ?
2022 Los Angeles Rams (2.)
2021 Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2.)
2020 Kansas City Chiefs (2.)
2019 New England Patriots (6.)
2018 Philadelphia Eagles (1.)
2017 New England Patriots (5.)
2016 Denver Broncos (3.)
2015 New England Patriots (4.)
2014 Seattle Seahawks (1.)
2013 Baltimore Ravens (2.)
2012 New York Giants (4.)
2011 Green Bay Packers (4.)
2010 New Orleans Saints (1.)
2009 Pittsburgh Steelers (6.)
2008 New York Giants (3.)
2007 Indianapolis Colts (2.)
2006 Pittsburgh Steelers (5.)
2005 New England Patriots (3.)
2004 New England Patriots (2.)
2003 Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1.)
2002 New England Patriots (1.)
2001 Baltimore Ravens (1.)
2000 Los Angeles Rams (1.)
1999 Denver Broncos (2.)
1998 Denver Broncos (1.)
1997 Green Bay Packers (3.)
1996 Dallas Cowboys (5.)
1995 San Francisco 49ers (5.)
1994 Dallas Cowboys (4.)
1993 Dallas Cowboys (3.)
1992 Washington Commanders (3.)
1991 New York Giants (2.)
1990 San Francisco 49ers (4.)
1989 San Francisco 49ers (3.)
1988 Washington Commanders (2.)
1987 New York Giants (1.)
1986 Chicago Bears (1.)
1985 San Francisco 49ers (2.)
1984 Las Vegas Raiders (3.)
1983 Washington Commanders (1.)
1982 San Francisco 49ers (1.)
1981 Las Vegas Raiders (2.)
1980 Pittsburgh Steelers (4.)
1979 Pittsburgh Steelers (3.)
1978 Dallas Cowboys (2.)
1977 Las Vegas Raiders (1.)
1976 Pittsburgh Steelers (2.)
1975 Pittsburgh Steelers (1.)
1974 Miami Dolphins (2.)
1973 Miami Dolphins (1.)
1972 Dallas Cowboys (1.)
1971 Indianapolis Colts (1.)
1970 Kansas City Chiefs (1.)
1969 New York Jets (1.)
1968 Green Bay Packers (2.)
1967 Green Bay Packers (1.)
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