The Mind Of Sirianni

The path to defending their status atop the NFL hierarchy for the Philadelphia Eagles officially begins next week, but don’t tell them that.

The messages expressed from prominent organizational figures this spring – including quarterback Jalen Hurts and head coach Nick Sirianni – depicted a hardened resolve along with a universal mentality equipped to combat complacency. There also wasn’t a sense of underlying pressure to optimize a fully loaded roster, which again qualifies among the league’s most complete.

Rather, the common thread throughout was a sentiment of remaining present and fixated on improvement.

In other words, there were no residuals of basking in the glow of triumphantly thumping the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LIX.

That temperature, if you will, is set by Sirianni and Hurts in principle, but there have been countless examples of this shared perspective at every turn.

From offseason sound bytes to Instagram posts illustrating a devotion to the process of self-betterment in the wake of a parade celebration, it should be evident to those paying attention that the bar has been raised by the Eagles themselves.

The yearning to continue building and growing as a collective is a testament to the enduring culture brewing under Sirianni’s leadership, though that objective is one that often eludes first-time champions at the pro ranks.

Nothing has changed for Sirianni. In fact, reaching the pinnacle of his profession has only emboldened and validated the unfairly scrutinized ideologies of the fifth-year head coach.

For Sirianni, it’s about the process of coming together as a team.

The winding journey that accompanies an NFL season is his primary focus. He knows what it feels like to come up short in defeat on the grandest of stages as much as he’s acquainted with the sensation of coming out on top. It’s all part of Sirianni’s story. And in victory or defeat, his outlook approaching a new season remains unchanged, a message Sirianni communicated this spring during a sit down with reporters.

GETTY IMAGES: Eagles HC Nick Sirianni finds an obsessive pleasure in helping others experience the success he’s experienced.

“Hungry,” he said, without pausing for a beat. Then he shared an anecdote of a “really phenomenal” former NFL player who recently talked to the Eagles’ leadership council, someone Sirianni didn’t feel comfortable identifying to the public.

“And obviously, he had won a Super Bowl, and he said something in there that I’ve thought about it, but it was cool to hear somebody else say it,” Sirianni explained. “He said something in there, like, ‘After we won,’ this is what he said: ‘After we won, the next thing I wanted to do was win for all the new coaches there and all the new players there. That drove me, too.’

“Obviously, he wanted to win another one for himself and for his team and for the guys he’s been around, but he wanted to be able to do that for … for whatever reason when he said that, and I’ve thought about that.”

Sirianni said he recalled feeling that way in 2023, coming off an Eagles trip to the Super Bowl that ended up in a loss but was still a tremendous feat for a second-year head coach. He wanted the newcomers to that team to experience what the Eagles had felt the year before.

“And that’s why it’s such a cool team game, because you’re trying to help other people,” he said. “And when he said that, I’m like, the first person that popped in my mind was like … [new pass game coordinator] Parks Frazier, a guy that I have had a past relationship with in Indianapolis, and I’m like, ‘Man, I want him to experience’ … again, not talking about repeating. I want him to feel what we felt through that journey last year. And [free agent] Adoree’ [Jackson] popped in my mind.”

Sirianni said he’s perpetually driven by having those who haven’t yet experienced what he has, and how to make sure their roles are designed for the team’s best chance to succeed and deliver that experience.  

“And you’re always looking to contribute, right? Any way you can contribute to a win, whether you’re in basketball and you have 10 assists or you have 20 points. Man, those are both really good stats,” he said. “Or even four and you played the best defense on the guy on the opposite team. You’re contributing to that win.

“And I always think about, I always want to be able to contribute. I don’t know if that makes sense. That’s what always keeps me hungry. How do I contribute?”

Sirianni actually repeated, “How do I contribute?” three more times consecutively, hammering home his obsession with that concept.

“And how do I help the guys that are new here feel what we felt?” he continued. “Again, not repeat, but the sustained success there. And again, I’m very careful about that. And there’s moments where you can feel that.”

“I think the other thing is when you have this will to win, if I’m playing my kids at Sorry, which is a really cool game, or Trouble. I want to win against my kids. You can’t just turn that off. It’s the same thing.”

Sirianni then recalled a conversation with another coach about being winning in pickup basketball.

“You don’t play a pickup basketball game, win a pickup basketball game, and go, ‘All right, I’m satisfied.’ No, you’re like, ‘Run that shit back. Let’s play again.’ That’s in your DNA,” he said. “I don’t know, I think that’s just something in your DNA that you don’t turn off, that you’re satisfied after you win.

“So it’s like, ‘All right, now that you won, how are you still hungry?’ Because I’ve been doing that. That’s what we’ve been doing our entire lives is competing. My best friend from high school said it, and I’ve read it in an article, ‘Competitors don’t always win, but competitors always compete.’ And I’m like, man, that’s such a good line, because it’s so true.

“No matter how many times you lost before or how many times you won before, you’re ready to compete and you’re ready to go. But to get to that, it takes the work, right? And you’ll always remember it takes the work to put yourself in position to compete each and every [week].”

The winds of change proved particularly gusty for the Eagles in free agency, as the team stomached departures of key contributors to the 2024 championship roster. The team will also experience life without the leadership and on-field impact of recently retired franchise great Brandon Graham for the first time in 15 years.

Outgoing free agents are one of the many fickle elements presenting unique challenges to every offseason, but the Eagles also welcome in a wave of new faces and personalities, two dynamics for which teams must account every season.

But for this particular franchise, the mission remains the same.

Being on top of the NFL can conceivably breed contentment without a solid infrastructure in place. There’s an incessant demand for time and attention. The adoration can be boundless. For there not to be regression, however, requires not only considerable talent, but also a strong leadership council, locker room and culture.

The Eagles, with Sirianni leading the charge, are armed with all the above.

While the team so far has avoided the trappings of fixating on replicating the success of last season, it’s apparent the franchise is built for sustained success. But the vision doesn’t come into focus on talent alone. Shrewd roster construction and allocation of resources, sound drafting and unwavering leadership are other prominent factors.

There’s also something to be said for having a fiercely competitive head coach like Sirianni, who exudes emotional intelligence and comfortability in his own skin, doubling down on his core principles with conviction to foster a winning atmosphere.

He’s a coach who approaches each season – each day – as if he and his team are looking up from the bottom of a mountain, requiring a collective effort to reach the summit. The slow and steady climb within the journey, serving as the metaphor in this instance, are the steps taken along the way of what could have another special outcome.

Just don’t tell him that.

– Andrew DiCecco (@AndrewDiCecco) is a Staff Reporter/Content Producer for InsideTheBirds.com.